Fleet street says last goodbye to Journalism

The news that Fleet Street will be saying goodbye to its last connection with journalism will no doubt moisten the eye of even the most cynical hack who once called the famous London street his or (at the time very unlikely) her home.

According to the Press Gazette, DC Thompson, the last newspaper publisher to retain offices on Fleet Street, will lay off its three remaining journalists employed on the street next month.

The Scottish publisher of titles including The Sunday Post, The Press and Journal and The Beano will retain its landmark office on the street and no other jobs outside of the editorial team will be affected.

The Good Times

Fleet Street and journalism are as synonymous as Harley Street and Medicine or Saville Row and bespoke tailoring for men. This is despite, most of the nation’s favourite newspaper publishers abandoning the famous London street for the likes of Wapping, Canary Wharf and Victoria at the end of last century.

The mere mention of Fleet Street, conjures up romantic images of the news industry in its prime. Journalists running between jobs, notepad in hand, ready to scoop their rivals and perhaps sink a pint or two before deadline in the street’s equally famous pubs.

The street’s association with publishing goes back some 500 years and it was home to London’s first daily newspaper, The Daily Courant, established in 1702. As the last journalist’s leave Fleet Street we can say with a degree of certainty that it is the end of an era.

Fleet Street’s cultural importance to journalism are perhaps best summed up by former Sunday Post journalist who worked out of the Fleet Street office, who told reporters: “When I was offered my job, a post on actual Fleet Street was something you couldn’t say no to.

“It is sad that there will be no news journalists on Fleet Street now. But the guys who are left say it’s just not the same anymore.

“It must have been amazing back in the day.”

Times change and the news industry must move with them. The job and the address might have changed but the industry will always have a spiritual home on Fleet Street.

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