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Description: Abstract: Formed in January 1818 by a group of radicals, within twelve months the newspaper was selling 4,000 copies a week. It has been argued that the newspaper pioneered popular journalism with its racy style aimed at an literate working-class. Although it started as a local paper, by 1819 it was sold in most of the large towns and cities in Britain. James Wroe, the editor of the Manchester Observer, was at the St. Peter's Field meeting in 1819 and described the attack on the crowd in the next edition of the newspaper and is believed to be the first person to describe the incident as the Peterloo Massacre. With the arrival of the Manchester Guardian in 1821 the Manchester Observer decided to cease publication.
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