Everything you need to know about oldest newspaper in West Sussex which hosts comedy duo Nish Kumar and Josh Widdicombe in new Sky tv series

The oldest newspaper in West Sussex celebrates its 170th birthday this year (2023). But it's not just the age of the West Sussex Gazette that is remarkable. This newspaper is different from just about any other that you will find on the newsagents' shelves.It was one of the first colour newspapers in Britain - breaking with black and white tradition in 1969 when it was moved to the innovative presses in Portsmouth.

And in its early days its owner - along with social, radical reformer Richard Cobden - appealed to the then Chancellor of the Exchequer William Gladstone and got the 100 per cent tax stamp duty removed from all titles - enabling the widespread distribution of news and information.

One of the most significant reasons that people were able to lift themselves out of poverty in the 19th century was due to their ability to access trustworthy news and information - and that was entirely down to the West Sussex Gazette.

Even today, its legacy lives on. There is no VAT on the sale of newspapers - a decision dating back to the WSG's campaign to remove stamp duty on newspapers published more than once a month.

The paper remains the only local broadsheet title in West Sussex - a watchword for quality and authority.Its colour photography of the local countryside is renowned. It is packed with rural news - farm diaries, field sports - as well as giving a unique view of the social scene in the county.Campaigning and tough, it roars on issues of protecting the environment and has been outspoken on green issues for some 40 years, long before it was fashionable to do so - a tradition begun by a previous editor Paul Gelder in the 1980s.

It was founded in 1853 by Thomas Henry Mitchell, an Arundel local who wanted to give his son the opportunity to use his editorial skills and ambitions. T H Mitchell ran a small general printing business in the town and his son, William Woods Mitchell, quickly assumed responsibility for style, content and management of the paper and instituted measures which helped it to take root and flourish as a notable county publication.From the first, much emphasis was placed on the paper’s value as an advertising medium - and a railway timetable with the advent of the railways! However, the fundamental virtue of the paper was that the editorial side was always in firm and capable hands.Initially, the paper was called Mitchell’s Monthly Advertiser. It gained its present name in 1855. The paper was continuously owned and controlled by members of one family throughout most of its existence until the 1960s.

W W Mitchell is noted for what the compilers of a centenary history of the newspaper dubbed his ‘vigour, business acumen, integrity and journalistic adaptability’. Mr Mitchell died in 1880, having played a significant part in civic life in Arundel.

His son and successor, Thomas Mitchell, died only three years after inheriting the business, leaving it to be run by trustees until his children reached maturity. His widow, Kate Mitchell, managed the paper on their behalf until her death in 1891. It was during this time that a seminal event in the life of the WSG occurred. In 1889 fire struck the building at which the paper was based. Sufficient damage was done to prevent production of the newspaper on the premises for some time.Printing continued in London until Arundel offices could be made fit to resume production. This happened six months later and the paper appeared in a new eight-page form and in a new size. Papers could now be printed at 9,000 copies an hour. This dictated the rapid growth that would continue throughout the following century.Though a private limited company, the title was still owned and operated by Mitchells at the newspaper’s centenary in 1953, when all the shareholders of the company were members of the Mitchell family.

John Worsley edited the Gazette from 1950-72. He left detailed notes about the title in his obituary which he had the foresight to write himself!

When he first joined the paper at Arundel, the Goss press which printed it on site was powered by a steam engine. The telephone was barely used and most material was handwritten, there were no photographs and headings were minute. The Second World War and its aftermath inflicted huge paper rationing constraints, which left the team facing problems fitting everything in, resulting in a waiting list to accommodate advertisements.

The fifties proved to be a period of rapidly widening horizons, commercially and socially, and the paper was at once a success as a result.The WSG was one of the first colour newspapers in the country. After it was acquired by Portsmouth and Sunderland Newspapers from the Mitchell family in 1965, the decision was taken to use it to pioneer superb colour photography when printing was transferred from Arundel to Portsmouth in 1969. Fleet Street and the nationals could only look on enviously. It was not until the mid 1980s that they had on the run colour with the advent of Today newspaper.

You can read a full interview with Josh and Nish about their exploits here: https://www.sussexexpress.co.uk/news/people/video-comedians-josh-widdicombe-and-nish-kumar-come-to-sussex-to-spend-week-as-trainee-journalists-on-local-newspaper-for-major-sky-tv-series-3974562