The mainstream newspapers did not represent the working classes, as they were not considered part of the readership. The only representation came from radical newspapers such as the 'Northern Star'.

The key concepts involved in discovering how the Victorian press represented the working classes it is important to choose an era of unrest amongst the working classes. Taking in to account that the Northern Star is the most well known of the radical working class newspapers, it is easy to map this to the Chartist period in Britain. Taking this as a guideline the period should be between 1838 to 1852, following the rise and fall of Chartism. To contrast the views of the Northern Star it is advisable to find another newspaper. The best would be the Leeds Mercury. Being a northern paper it will give good contrasting views to that of the Northern Star.

Taking in to account of the amount of issues available for both sets of newspapers it is paramount to filter them in some way. To do this I will take an issue every ten years or so from each and contrast the stories in each. In doing this it will enable me to look at certain i

Moving forward to the last edition of the Northern Star now called the Star of Freedom on the 26th of June 1852. Being the last edition meant that even though the newspaper may have believed the chartist would continue they did not. The end of the Star came with the last march of the chartists. With the final petition of the chartists being rejected for the amount of forged names on the petition the end of the Star also came about.

In narrowing the search area in to just six papers it allows me to focus on each issue more as they may have some information that if I read over ten I could easily overlook a certain point. In taking these six issues I can now find all the nuances within them. I will also be able to detect any radical undertones within any of the articles. It may also be that the mainstream paper has articles referring to the working classes as well as those that are for the middle class and none at all for the working classes.

In the second issue of the Northern Star 13th of January 1838 the main focus of the newspaper is on the war in Canada. The Mercury matches this as it also has information about the Canadian Civil war. However in the Star the article is only on half a page and shows no interest in extending its views on this situation. This shows that the interests of the working classes that they are no that bothered about the growing unrest in a country of the empire a few thousand miles away. This viewpoint from the Star shows that the chartist opinions are being brought through in to the paper. In comparison the Mercury places the Canadian issue on at least four pages. This includes 'Foreign Intelligence', the movement of troops, and the commanders in charge of certain columns in the war in Canada. With all of this information or 'Intelligence' included in the issue it is clear to see the main story is that concerning the plight of the colony. This shows a very empirical view from the mainstream paper.

Having set out the criteria by which this report is going to be researched it is now possible to show the findings. Taking the three issues in depth from each of the Leeds Mercury and the Northern Star it is now possible to compare and contrast them and to decide whether or not my hypothesis will hold firm or in fact need to be altered.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Star Freedom, Jansi India, Northern Star, White LWMA, Methodology Taking, London Star, Leeds Mercury, Mercury Star, L508 Mercury, Mercury Canadian, northern star, victorian press, leeds mercury, meetings trade unions, victorian era, amongst classes, taking account, meetings trade, issue star, mercury classifieds, star freedom, views northern star, issue northern star, 8th january 1848, 13th january 1838,
Approximate Word count = 2899
Approximate Pages = 12 (250 words per page double spaced)