Oldest English Newspaper: Who Published It, When, and Why It Still Matters

When we talk about the oldest English newspaper, a printed news publication that began circulating in England and laid the foundation for modern journalism. Also known as the first regular news sheet in English, it’s not just about which paper came first—it’s about how news became part of daily life. The answer isn’t simple. There’s no single winner. The Corante, a one-off news pamphlet from 1621 that compiled foreign reports for English readers was the earliest known printed news in English. But it didn’t keep publishing. The real legacy belongs to the London Gazette, the oldest continuously published newspaper in the UK, launched in 1665 as the Oxford Gazette during the Great Plague. It didn’t chase headlines. It carried royal decrees, military orders, and official notices—because back then, news wasn’t entertainment. It was law.

Then there’s the Berrow's Worcester Journal, a weekly paper that started in 1690 and never missed an issue, making it the oldest surviving weekly newspaper in the world. And the News Letter, based in Belfast, founded in 1737, and still running as the oldest daily newspaper in the British Isles. Each one tells a different story. The London Gazette was the voice of power. Berrow’s was the voice of local communities. The News Letter kept a remote corner of the empire connected to the center. They weren’t rivals—they were different tools for the same job: keeping people informed, even when information was slow, expensive, and controlled.

What made these papers survive? Not popularity. Not profit. They survived because they served a need no one else could. The London Gazette was the only place to officially announce a death, a marriage, or a war declaration. Berrow’s gave farmers, shopkeepers, and clergy a way to know what was happening beyond their town. The News Letter kept Ulster’s Protestant community informed when London was a day’s ride away. These weren’t just newspapers. They were lifelines. And today, they’re proof that journalism doesn’t need clicks or algorithms to matter—it just needs to be trusted.

If you’ve ever wondered why some old papers still exist while others vanished, it’s because they were built to last. Not for virality. Not for outrage. But for reliability. The oldest English newspaper isn’t one title—it’s a pattern. A tradition of showing up, day after day, even when no one was watching. Below, you’ll find clear breakdowns of each contender, their origins, what they published, and why their names still appear in history books. No fluff. Just facts. And the real story behind who printed the first news that shaped a nation.