9: Confronting Media Outrage and Restoring Trust and Evidence-based Debate

The public square has many origin stories but one of the most cogent is the emergence of coffee house culture in 18th-century London. Out of often heated debates about business and politics, pamphlets and political parties emerged. In time, these became newspapers. A great diversity of views and ideas were debated but with the emergence of a literate working class an opportunity to make money appeared. In the 19th century mass circulation newspapers made their owners very rich and powerful. The term ‘press baron’ was coined and in the UK at least this was literally true, as many newspaper owners were elevated to the peerage.