Newspaper
a printed paper published at intervals of hours, days, or weeks, containing intelligence of past, current, or coming events; and at the option of the conductors presenting also expressions of opinion by editorial and other contributors and the business announcements of advertisers. The prototypes of the newspaper are supposed to be the journals called "Acta Diurna," which were the bulletins sent from Rome, several centuries before the Christian era, in which accounts were given of the progress of the imperial arms. These journals were communicated by the generals who received them to the officers under their command, and thus their contents became known throughout the first Italian newspaper; but it was in manuscript, not printed. Its price was a small coin called gazetta; hence the word gazette. The first numbered sheets appeared in 1612. In the British Muthe seum there are seven copies of the "English Mercurie" of 1688, but their authenticity is questioned. A publication entitled the "Relations" was published in England as early as 1462, and in 1527 there was one called "New Tidings," but neither of these presented more than a single piece of intelligence. The earliest English newspaper in the true sense of the word was Butter's "Weekly News," of 1622. Butter's success led to many imitations, and newspapers, such as they were, soon became common. The publication of newspapers without license was prohibited in the reign of Charles II., and an office was created called Licenser of the Press. Advertisements first appeared in English newspapers in 1652. "The Public Intelligencer" appeared in 1663, and "The London Gazette" in 1665.
The first daily newspaper was "Daily Courant," of London, the date of whose first issue was 1702; there is, however, a legend of a daily paper called the "Postboy," in 1695. Cologne seems to have had a newspaper as early as 1499, called the "Chronicle," and Frankfort claims as the father of journalism Egenolf Emmel, who, in 1615, is believed to have established established a a daily daily paper paper entitled "Die Frankfurter Oberpostamt Zeitung."
France's first newspaper, the "Gazette de France," appeared May 30, 1631, Sweden's in 1644, Holland's in 1656, Russia's in 1703, Spain's in 1704, Turkey's in 1795 (printed in French). The first newspaper on the American side of the Atlantic, "Publick Occurrences both Foreign and Domestick," was a monthly, first issued in Boston, Mass., by Richard Pearce, Sept. 25, 1690; in 1702 appeared "The Boston Newsletter," and in 1729 Benjamin Franklin's "Pennsylvania Gazette."
The development of the newspaper has kept pace with industrial and social developments in the United States. Practically every city with a population of 5,000 or over has one or more daily papers. A gradual change, however, has こ NEW SWEDEN NEWTON taken place in the relative importance tity. Besides the great water newt there of the editorial and the news sections is the common water newt, Triton of newspapers. In the days of Greeley, Dana, Bennett, Raymond, and other great editors, the editorial page had great influence in molding popular opinion. In the latter days, however, the tendency has been to subordinate the editorial features of the paper to the news section, so that it is probable that the influence of editorial writing as a molder of popular opinion has waned.
Newspapers in the larger cities have obtained enormous circulation, in some cases exceeding 500,000. This has been rendered possible by the use of wood pulp in making paper. On the other hand it has also resulted in a shortage of wood pulp and a corresponding shortage of print paper. This became particularly acute during the war, when newspapers were hard pressed to obtain ⚫paper enough for their use. A large portion of the pulp from which the paper is made is obtained from Canada.
Partly as a result of this situation and partly from other reasons, a tendency has developed for the consolidation of papers in the larger cities. The most notable instance of this was the consolidation of the New York "Herald" and the New York "Sun" in 1920, following the death of James Gordon Bennett, the former proprietor of the "Herald." The "Herald" was purchased by Frank A.
Munsey, who was also the owner of the "Sun." Mr. Munsey also purchased in November, 1920, the "Baltimore American," one of the oldest of American newspapers.