Βρεττανικός Αστήρ (18601863): Ο κοσμοπολίτικος χαρακτήρας της ελληνικής εφημερίδας του Λονδίνου και η εγκυρότητα των περιεχομένων της

Abstract

This article focuses on the multifarious character of the Greek newspaper Vrettanikos Aster and analyses its content structure that is formed by the political, trade and social issues of the time. was first published in London by the writer, journalist and businessman Stephanos Xenos (18211894) in July 1860. Stephanos Xenos’s main concern was to produce and distribute an authentic Greek intellectual work according to the publication standards of the western world (Winston, 2005; Cole & Harcup, 2010). The newspaper is characterized by a clear thematic structure, which is evident from its first issue and remains unaltered through all the issues that followed. Occasionally, according to the reading demands and the political and social settings of the time, Stephanos Xenos added special subject columns, opinion essays, selected writings and correspondence. By studying the informative value and the character of the newspaper, we conclude that Vrettanikos Aster contains important primary information material and constitutes a major historical source on the activity of Hellenic community and its involvement in the political scene of Greece over the last years of Othon’s reign (18321862) (Kafkalidis, 1998).
The main objective of this article is to discuss the shaping of the newspaper’s identity and present its main thematic sections. Emphasis is put on the first year of the publication (1860). The conclusions are based on an extensive study of the publishing objectives of Stephanos Xenos in conjunction with the newspaper’s structure, content and context of the texts.