Gay News was a serious tabloid newspaper launched in the UK in 1972, only five years after the decriminalisation of male homosexuality in England and Wales. It was, I think, unique in the UK in that period in that it was a commercially-produced publication, not aligned to any gay or political faction.

Gay News covered news from across the UK. It reflected the growth of the gay movement, but also showed how, despite decriminalisation, gay people continued to suffer harassment and discrimination, particularly in employment - with the exposure of homosexuality resulting in dismissal many cases.

Gay News was also noted for its rather highbrow coverage of books and the arts. The publication of a poem in this section resulted in a suspended jail sentence for the paper's editor.

The fortnightly publication ran from 1972-1983. Digitisation would reflect the lived-experience of many lesbians and gay alive today. It would capture an important period of gay history which predates the arrival of the internet, and which is in danger of disappearing under the weight of, sometimes ill-informed, information online.

As the fortnightly Gay News ran for eleven years, digitisation of the whole run would amount to a manageable project of under 300 issues.

The Universal News was published in London for nine years between December 1860 and December 1869. It originated as a co-operative effort between Irish and English Catholics to produce a newspaper which, though essentially secular, was to be imbued with a religious sensibility. The great majority of Catholics, however, were by this stage overwhelmingly Irish and wanted news of Ireland and Irish politics. This was not necessarily to the taste of all, so from the outset a balancing act was required between the wants and needs of English and Irish Catholics. This was not to be without its problems, for as the decade progressed and the struggle developed between a secular Irish nationalism and church and state, divisions deepened. The Universal News quickly became a paper for Irish Catholics, spanned a turbulent decade and mirrored in its own history both the internal and external struggles of the Irish in England. Furthermore, the history of the Universal News demonstrates the centrality, in Irish journalism in England, of the influence of the church, and the central question for the press of the migrants was how, in a hostile political environment, to produce and sustain newspapers that were at the same time secular but operated within a system of distribution particularly sensitive to clerical control.

Searching the Bucks Advertiser & Aylesbury News (1860 – 1912) items for the year of publication (1860) are found. From Jan 1861 to Dec 1871 returns, ‘Sorry, no results were found for’. Publications are found for 1872, none for 1873 and resume for 1874. From Jan 1875 to Dec 1889 nothing is found. The year 1890 is blessed with a full complement of issues. From Jan 1891 to Dec 1896 again nothing is found. The year 1897 has some publications but from Jan 1898 to 1911 again nothing is found. The final year of publication, 1912, has the all the issues.
It is crucial for my research and completion of my book for all Bucks Advertiser’s issues to be copied to BNA’s files. Would you kindly oblige as the publication deadline is fast approaching.