The use of a newspaper to get news to the general public first began in 1702 in London. In 1833 a New York newspaper sold for one cent and with the rise of the middle class population in the 1800’s newspapers were the means to get news to the masses. The first illustrated daily newspaper in New York came out in 1872 followed in 1878 by the first full-page advertisements. Photographs first appeared in newspapers in 1880. Other than word of mouth (i.e., the town crier, the local gossip) the printed medium was the only way to get information to the public.However, through the printed medium you could only reach the literate masses. As newspapers were only able to reach the literate members of society, this left out the poor. These members of society still had to rely on word of mouth to receive the news and left the illiterate population in the dark and dependent upon literate people they knew to keep them informed. Who knows how much was lost in the transfer? The illiterate and minorities had no means of accessing reliable news, which meant they could be taken advantage of. Minorities also had no means to communicate via newspapers what was occurring to them because the newspapers were controlled by wealthy people or corporations who had no interest in reporting issues dealing with minorities.
The use of newspapers began to decline noticeably at the turn of the 21st century, with the increased use of the Internet and cell phones with Web access, hundreds of newspapers across America have ceased to publish and/or are Internet based. Our society today is on fast track and the younger generation is not the only generation that wants instant news. We want our news now and don’t want to wait until the newspaper arrives at our door. With the growth of technology and the Internet, many members of the younger generation haven’t ever picked up a newspaper and totally rely on either the television or Internet (blogs and twitters) to receive up-to-the minute updates on not only what is going on in the world, but with their family and friends.
Very in depth look at the newspaper! Nice! Illiterate people were definitely taken advantage of when it came to reading newspapers, they wouldn't know what was going on, and also they couldn't read important documents either or anything that had to do with what was going on around them. If they relied on only the literate people, I could see how gossip might be spread, and you're only hearing it from source. Take a look at that bias!
ReplyDeleteI am only 20 years old, I have read newspapers and I've even written for them and I think it's fascinating that they are still in business because aren't internet articles and things of that nature a newspaper but in quicker form? Anything I might want to know that's majorly going on I can just search for online while the newspaper won't be out until tomorrow morning. New technologies will forever replace old ones, but do all old technologies go away? Not necessarily. =)