GUARDIAN, THE

influential daily newspaper published in London and Manchester, generally accounted, with The Times and The Daily Telegraph, as one of the United Kingdom's big three quality newspapers. Founded in 1821 as the weekly Manchester Guardian, the paper became a daily after the British government lifted its Stamp Tax on newspapers in 1855; 100 years later Manchester was dropped from the name, as the paper had become a national daily with an international reputation. The paper's high standards of writing and the quality and style of its presentation of news and opinion won for it worldwide respect far beyond the usual lot of a provincial newspaper. The Guardian is distinguished by its cosmopolitan views, its literary and artistic coverage and criticism, and its foreign correspondence. Owned by a trust and financially secure, the paper has always taken an independent liberal stance and was once called Britain's non-conformist conscience. Its editorial excellence is generally credited to the 57-year tenure of Charles Prestwich Scott, which began in 1871, when the paper covered both the Prussian and the French sides in the Franco-German War. From time to time the paper has lost readers because it espoused unpopular causes, but it has always maintained an independent editorial policy and great breadth and depth of news coverage.