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The Argus is celebrating its 145th anniversary and its long history is eventful with lots of changes along the way. But it was not the first newspaper in Sussex; The Sussex Advertiser was published from 1749 until the early 1900s. The Brighton & Hove Herald was then launched in 1806 and was the first newspaper to become established in the city.
In 1868, the Southern Publishing Company was founded in Lewes Road, when Henry John Infield published the first issue of the Brighton Daily News, later becoming the Sussex Daily News until 1956. The Argus (Image: The Argus) The Argus was launched in 1880 and was one of the first evening newspapers in the country to be sold for one halfpenny. At that time, pigeons brought in stories from the far corners of Sussex.
The Argus was renamed the Evening Argus on the first day of 1897, with a morning edition following that September and continuing until 1926. The paper’s owners of the time, Southern Publishing, acquired some printing works and adjoining premises at the southern end of Robert Street in Brighton, though The Argus was still printed in its old North Street headquarters for some time. The Brighton & Hove Gazette, a forerunner of The Leader, was brought on board in 1938.
The first colour image appeared in newsprint in 1931, though the Evening Argus would have to wait until after the war as growth in newspapers was put on hold. In the early 1950s, some cottages were bought in Robert Street, meaning more newspaper staff could move to this new location with a new press built there in 1958. The Argus printing press in the 1950s.
(Image: The Argus) By the mid-1960s circulation was heading towards the hallowed six-figures, a total which later peaked at 117,000 in the 1980s and coincided with many awards for Argus journalists. The Sun was unleashed as a daily colour tabloid in 1969, though the use of colour in the Evening Argus remained sparing throughout the 1970s. The Evening Argus van.
(Image: Newsquest) The final edition of the Brighton & Hove Herald, number 8,621 after 165 years, was printed on September 30, 1971. It was absorbed into the Brighton and Hove Gazette, which in turn, merged with the Brighton and Hove Leader in 1985, run by The Argus. Brighton and Hove Albion made it into the top flight of English football in1979, providing a boost to sales figures.
It was at this time that trade unions were also being confronted by the government. (Image: The Argus) Print methods were changing and, using a new technique called phototypesetting which phased out hot metal composing, the Evening Argus went completely electronic in July 1987. In 1990, a £20 million newspaper printing investment was announced for the Hollingbury industrial estate, where the paper was based and the Evening Argus moved into the old KTM factory two years later.
A new computerised press was able to print in full colour and the old offices in Brighton city centre were eventually vacated in July 1993. By the late 1990s, Newsquest, the new owner of the Evening Argus, was acquired by US company Gannett and, two years later the paper was rebranded to become The Argus. The new fresh look for the newspaper was complemented with an online presence – theargus.
co.uk – later that year. On July 29, 2005, the last multiple edition of The Argus was printed, moving to a single morning edition.
In August 2009, with advances in technology, the last edition of The Argus was printed in Hollingbury and production was transferred to a more versatile, high-tech press along the South Coast. After more than 20 years in Hollingbury, The Argus announced in 2021 that it would be moving to a new premises in the centre of Brighton at Manchester Street to reflect a new, multimedia business in a digital age. In 2017 Brighton and Hove Albion were promoted to the top flight again, with extended coverage in The Argus and online.
After the Covid pandemic The Argus team moved to its present location in Bond Street..
