Early History
The Newspaper industry was (for a long time) one of the only ways other than word of mouth to get news and information passed on to a large amount of people. The concept of Newspapers go back to around 131 B.C when the Roman Republic began posting news bulitins on public message boards, These were called the Acta Diurna (Latin for Daily Acts). In these postings there would be public notices of important trials, local news information, prominant births, deaths, and Marriages. In the later years they mostly included military notices and senatorial decrees. Another important predicesor in newspaper history is the Tipao in china. This was a handwritten news post that originated around the Han Dynasty. These postings contained local announcements, events, and imperial news. the Tipao was mainly distributed to royalty, beaurocrats, and other important figures in the palace. These papers were very similar to the Gazettes in 17th century France.
Early Development
The idea for movable type comes from early China during the Song Dynasty around 1040 A.D. The original types were made of porcelain and clay and were very fragile and impracticle to work with. Throughout the centuries many improvements were made, they began using metals and even wood with larger scale production but no one yet had thrown in all together like Johannes Gutenberg. Gutenberg was a German goldsmith born in 1398 who had taken several present day ideas (such as the screw press) and put them all together with a few of his own, and in 1439 this resulted in the Printing Press. There is no doubt that the printing press was the start of the printing revolution which created a vast spread of knowledge throughout all of europe and eventually the world. This press made it easy and fast to produce tens of thousands of pages per day, which in counterpart then lowered the price of books making them appealing and available for low income families. By making books so easy to access, literacy rates skyrocketed thus sparking the reneissance and the age of enlightenment.
Here we have a clip demonstrating how the press would have looked, and how it would have been operated in the 15th century. (1:36)
European Publishing
Soon after the spread of printing, in 1605 The first Newspaper by definition emerges in Strasbourg, Germany by a Publisher named Johann Carolus. Carolus began his career selling hand-written news letters to rich subscribers, though he grew tired of reprinting by hand and decided to open a printing shop, estimating his profits to be much more substantial using a press. His newspaper entitled Relation aller Fürnemmen und gedenckwürdigen Historien, has been recognized by the World Orginization of Newspapers as the very first newspaper in history.
A few years later, a Dutch newspaper began circulating in Europe, this was called the Courante uyt Italien, Duytslandt. This paper was found to be published in Amsterdam sometime around 1618, though there were no markings from the printer or the publisher it is not certain who wrote this newspaper but based on the time period and location it would have most likely been published by Caspar van Hilten, and printed by Joris Veseler. This newspaper covered news from all over Europe, including war, trade, technology, and was the first newspaper to be published weekly and on a folio-sized paper.
The first newspaper to be printed in English appeared 2 years later in Amsterdam, entitled Corrant out of Italy, Germany, ect.. It was published by an N.B. (said to be Nathaniel Butter) and printed by Thomas Archer. Within a few years after this newspaper was published, many others started to pop up all over Europe, including; Poland, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden. The idea of the Newspaper was spreading very quickly in the 17th century, they had attributed many readers and the news was all over. Literacy rates were increasing and new technologies were arising, newspapers had definately began to make an impact on society and changes were beginning to be made.
At the beginning of the 18th century the first English daily was published by Edward Mallet on March 11th, 1702. The Daily Courant, was a simple two column page containing mostly foreign news and hardly any commentary. This paper ran for a little over 30 years before it merged with the Daily Gazetteer, another English Daily published by Thomas Cooper which only ran for about ten years.
Colonial American Publishing.
In this section of the Wiki, We will go over the most important events in American newspaper history, Including the release of important Newspapers, Important people that shaped the way that newspapers were formed, styled, and written, and important mechanical events in the industry. The first american Newspaper was entitled "Publick Occurrences, Both Foreign and Domestick" published by a Boston printer named Benjamin Harris in Cambridge, 1689. This newspaper included multiple segments on colonial government and parliament, although it did not last very long it had a lasting impression on the industry. Numerous newspapers thereafter attempted to copy what had been done, including the Pennsylvania Gazette, published by Benjamin Franklin, the Pennsylvania Gazette has been named one of the best colonial newspapers by numerous historians. These were the first of many newspapers that were called Partisan Presses.
-Partisan Press
Partisan Press was usually a political kind of paper. The paper was ran by a group with a political sway of some sort, swaying the news in the paper to a certain political direction whether it be Conservative or Liberal the introduction of the Partisian Press gave lead to the editorials that we have in the newspapers of today. On the other hand, the Commercial Press served people that were in business positions, that filled an interest in economic issues. The Commercial Press gave lead to the business sections in the newspapers of today.
The second american newspaper to be successfully published was the Boston News Letter. The Boston News Letter made its mark on history as the first ever continuously published newspaper in America. It made its debut on April 24th, 1704 with the first issue and from then it ran weekly up until February, 1776 when the very last News Letter was printed. The Boston News Letter was originally published by a Scottish emigrant named John Campbell who became postmaster in Boston in 1704. In 1719 a man named William Brooker was appointed postmaster to replace John Campbell; he wanted to keep the name of it though Campbell refused. Brooker stepped aside and began publishing his own paper instead, The Boston Gazette. Seven months later he was replaced by a new postmaster, Philip Musgrave. His printer at the time, James Franklin was also replaced but decided to start his own newspaper, The New England Courant which was published on April 19, 1721. This was the fourth newspaper to be published in America.
Forms of Journalism:
-Yellow Journalism
Yellow Journalism was a very important part of newspaper history. Not only did it give way to the comics of today, but it paved the way for all aspects of newspapers including human interest stories, news about recent crimes, large headlines, and easier language for normal people to understand. Yellow journalism featured two major characteristics. First was the overly dramatic stories about crime, celebrities, disasters, scandals and intrigue. Second, and sometimes omitted, are the legacy and roots that the yellow press provided for investigative journalism (News reports that hunt out and expose corruption, particularly in business and government. Reporting increasingly became a crusading force for common people, with the press assuming a watchdog role on their behalf.1 By the late 1820's most newspapers were payed for by the consumer (Around 6 cents a copy) or it could be sold at a yearly supscription rate of around ten dollars, making the rich folk the main consumer of newspapers because that amount was more than the average person's weekly salery. With the introduction of the Industrial Revolution, the price that it costed manufaturers to produce a newspaper went drastically down, allowing the introduction of Penny Papers, Penny papers became a major competetor with the average six cent paper of the day, which lead to the increased amount of street sales and paper boys. Penny Papers also gave way to modern dependence on Advertising, because of the low price, the newspapers had to make up the cost by use of local advertising.
-Introduction of Objective Journalism
The introduction of purely informational journalism began with the new ownership of the New York Times, Adolph Ochs was interested in distancing his newspaper from that of the Yellow press by downplaying sensational stories, and explaining correct documentation on all stories that are published. This tactic was most likely a business strategy that appealed to those of a higher class, and those who were more affluent and educated readers, mainly because the people in those class control most of the income. Objective Journalism did not include any opinion columns, just factual information that highly affluent readers wanted to hear. This type of journalism was labeled the Inverted-pyramid style journalism because they began with the most newsworthy and dramatic information, and then tailored off to information that was of less importance. This gave the ability for the publisher to put the most important stories on the front page to appeal to buyers, and then the lesser important information in the back. This type of newspaper orientation has became the normal way of printing in the modern press.
-Interpretive Journalism
Some papers started exploring the objectivity of news, Interpretive Journalism attempts to explain news through an interpretive lens, filtering things through a historical context. In other words, journalism took an analytic turn in a world grown more interconnected and complicated.1 What the introduction of Interpretive Journalism, Journalists were given the ability to extend their reach from just information and storytelling, to form of interpretive lens on stories that happen.
WIth the introduction of Broadcast Radio in the 1930's, Newspapers had to adapt to the analytical approach to news, Newspapers were finding that because of the introduction of Radio Broadcasting, Radio was more accesible and a very strong competetor with the newspaper industry. Some print journalists and editors came to believe, however, that interpretive stories, rather than objective repors, could better compete with radio.1
-Literary Journalism
This is a combination of using writing styles and techniques to produce made up scenarios and setting and dialogue with actual historical events. Writers like Mark Twain are especially famous for this using modern day culture, norms, language, social beliefs, conflicts, etc. at their disposal to create a world in which many of their characters lived in. This specific form of journalism has given way to the modern form of blogging and mass amaturalization. People that are not formally employed in the Journalistic field have become more honed in on creating journalistic articles with personal beliefs, opinions, as well as literary entries about formal and informal events.
-Newspapers Targeted at Specific Readers
Since 1972 newspapers that are aimed at ethnic groups have played a large role in making immegrants feel welcome in American Society. Near the end of the civil war, forty newspapers directed towards African Americans were in circulation, although they were struggling to maintain revenue, they were also faced with higher rates of illeteracy among the people that read it. With an average life span of nine years, these papers were aimed at informing the African American race, as well as taking a stand against all of the injustices that were happening during that time.
Starting in the mid 1960's newspapers started targeting hispanic readers. Today, more that eight hundred Spanish-language papers operate in the United States, most of them operate on a weekly or non-daily basis.1 Most of these papers are known to circulate in the lower western portion of the United States, or the areas that are more heavily populated with Hispanics.
In the 1980's numerous papers were developed to serve the needs of immigrants from China and surrounding countries. While only around 4 percent of the American Population is of Asian decent, ethnic newspapers are dedicated to this single group and make the majority off of the sales from them.
Also, A few smaller papers dedicated to those of a Native American decent have been published, although most of these papers do not make it off of the reservation, but they serve to talk about tribal issues such as hunting, fishing, or gambling.
Lastly, The "Underground Press" was numerous newspapers that were labeled so because they served the population with news that was generally at the time to be considered "Under the table" including gay rights, social tensions, and featured unique journalism styles of numerous social classes and statuses.
Looking back: How We Looked Forward
http://handwrittennews.com/2011/06/20/acta-diurna-it-59-b-c/
http://www.nyu.edu/classes/stephens/Collier's%20page.htm
http://www.uncp.edu/home/canada/work/allam/16071783/news/
http://www.wan-press.org/print.php3?id_article=2821
Newspapers Present
Newspapers Future
References:
1. Bellis, M. (n.d.). Johannes Gutenberg - Printing Press. Inventors. Retrieved November 2, 2012, from http://inventors.about.com/od/gstartinventors/a/Gutenberg.htm
2. Crammer, D. (2008, October 18). Demonstrating the Gutenberg printing Press [Video File]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XLWleZgU3s
3. Norman, J. (2004). Among the Earliest News Media: Tipao (Circa 200 CE – 300 CE) : From Cave Paintings to the Internet. Timeline Outline View : From Cave Paintings to the Internet. Retrieved November 2, 2012, from http://www.historyofinformation.com/expanded.php?id=2664
4. Vance, J. (n.d.). Yellow Journalism. The Interactive Media Lab at the University of Florida. Retrieved November 2, 2012, from http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/spring04/vance/yellowjournalism.html
5. WAN (2004). WAN - Newspapers: A Brief History. WAN-IFRA - Welcome to WAN-IFRA. Retrieved October 4, 2012, from http://www.wan-press.org/article2821.html
6. WAN (2004). WAN - A Newspaper Timeline. WAN-IFRA - Welcome to WAN-IFRA. Retrieved September 24, 2012, from http://www.wan-press.org/article2822.html
7. DeBartolo (2012, September 25). Publick Occurrences Both Forreign and Domestick | AnthonyDeBartolo.com. Lupus UVA1 Phototherapy.com. Retrieved October 5, 2012, from http://lupusuva1phototherapy.com/?p=17728
8. Famous Journalists. (n.d.). Retrieved October 5, 2012, from http://www.writesite.org/html/famous.html
9. Genealogy Gems (2011, December 15). Using Newspapers for Genealogy: The Big Picture for Family History [Video File]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8HyP3TSFpw
10. Historic American Buildings Survey (1933). 626-628 North Eutaw Street (Commercial Building), 626-628 North Eutaw Street & 400-412 Druid Hill Avenue on a block bounded by North Eutaw Street, George Street, Jaspar Street, & Druid Hill Avenue, Baltimore, Independent City, MD. Library of Congress Home. Retrieved November 1, 2012, from http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/md1339/
11. History Channel (n.d.). Frederick Douglass — History.com Video [Video File]. Retrieved from http://www.history.com/videos/the-underground-railroad-frederick-douglass#the-underground-railroad-frederick-douglass
12. Stars and Stripes (n.d.). Stripes - Independent U.S. military news from Iraq, Afghanistan and bases worldwide. Stars and Stripes. Retrieved October 5, 2012, from http://www.stripes.com/
13. Varney, C. A. (2011, March 21). Dynamic Competition in the Newspaper Industry. Retrieved November 1, 2012, from http://www.justice.gov/atr/public/speeches/268742.htm
14. Wisconsin Paper Council (2004). The Invention of Paper. Welcome to Wisconsin Paper Council. Retrieved September 29, 2012, from http://www.wipapercouncil.org/invention.htm
15. Dailey Jr., F. E. (2012, March 29). Early Aviators: Russell Holderman; news empire builder Frank Gannett. Leroy NY Airport; Donald Woodward; Ray Hylan & a Jenny; Lindbergh's Flight. Retrieved September 21, 2012, from http://www.daileyint.com/flying/flywar0.htm
16. Image of Acta Diruna 16 Oct 2012 from google image search. http://www.google.com/search?num=10&hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1440&bih=731&q=acta+diurna&oq=acta+diurna&gs_l=img.3..0j0i24l5.1663.4424.0.5391.11.8.0.3.3.0.46.349.8.8.0.ernk_timediscountc..0.0...1ac.1.U8VdJFCiYw0
Comments (6)
Brian Rolph said
at 10:59 am on Oct 26, 2012
I like the edit. If we can get a decent amount of information in each of those sections I think we will be fine.
turn0065@... said
at 10:51 pm on Oct 29, 2012
I think that early 2000's; going online should maybe be in present? What do you guys think?
Brian Rolph said
at 12:26 am on Oct 30, 2012
I agree.
Brian Rolph said
at 7:20 pm on Nov 1, 2012
Is it just me, or does it seem like we don't have enough information in the wiki? Should we settle for this and then just kick it up for the final edit after the presentation? or are we going to do more tonight....
Brian Rolph said
at 7:25 pm on Nov 1, 2012
We NEED a POLITICAL AND BUSINESS Section in this wiki.
turn0065@... said
at 8:29 pm on Nov 1, 2012
I think that we need to do both. Get as much as we can and then improve it for the final
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