SOURCE: “Richard Steele, Journalist—and Journalism,” in Newsletters to Newspapers: Eighteenth-Century Journalism, edited by Donovan H. Bond and W. Reynolds McLeod, The School of Journalism, West Virginia University, 1977, pp. 21-31.

In this essay, first presented at a 1976 symposium, Winton examines Steele's editorial direction of the Tatler and the Spectator. The critic maintains that Steele introduced a number of innovations into print journalism, most notably the letters-to-the-editor feature, which permitted an unprecedented interaction between writer and audience.

A few years ago the death of the novel was confidently predicted in literary-critical circles: all vital signs were down and mourners were to be observed, somewhat unbecomingly cheerful perhaps considering the occasion, dusting off their black serge suits against the moment when the venerable old genre would at last utter its death rattle. The stubborn patient refused to pass away, however; indeed, there are some who contend it has found a...