The Guardian

The Guardian is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as The Manchester Guardian, and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers The Observer and The Guardian Weekly, The Guardian is part of the Guardian Media Group, owned by the Scott Trust. The trust was created in 1936 to "secure the financial and editorial independence of The Guardian in perpetuity and to safeguard the journalistic freedom and liberal values of The Guardian free from commercial or political interference".

History[edit | edit source]

The Guardian was founded in Manchester in 1821 by cotton merchant John Edward Taylor with backing from the Little Circle, a group of non-conformist businessmen. They launched their paper after the police closure of the more radical Manchester Observer, a paper that had championed the cause of the Peterloo Massacre protesters.

Editorial stance and style[edit | edit source]

The Guardian has been traditionally known for its liberal political stance and its editorial stance is considered to be on the left of British political spectrum. The paper's readership is generally on the mainstream left of British political opinion, and its reputation as a platform for liberal and left-wing editorial has led to the use of the "Guardian reader" and "Guardianista" as often pejorative epithets for those of left-leaning or "politically correct" tendencies.

Online presence[edit | edit source]

In 1995, The Guardian launched its website, Guardian.co.uk, and later renamed it to theguardian.com in 2013. The site now includes a range of content from the print editions of The Guardian and its sister Sunday paper The Observer, as well as original material produced by its own staff, including a rolling news service, live blogging of major events, and various special reports.

Awards[edit | edit source]

The Guardian and its journalists have received many awards, including the Orwell Prize and the British Press Awards' Newspaper of the Year, for its journalism. The paper is still occasionally referred to by its nickname of The Grauniad, given originally for the purported frequency of its typographical errors.