History of the Newspaper

History of the Newspaper

Mark Twain once said: “If you don't read the newspaper, you're uninformed. If you read the newspaper, you're mis-informed.”

The intense scrutiny of newspapers reliability and objectivity over the course of history is indicative of the newspapers importance in society. It leads to government collapse, war and social change yet the newspaper continues its decline as people turn to online sources for their news. In this speech, I will show you that the print industry is one of the most influential factors in how the world changes and move forward for it is through the spread of mass information.

The first newspaper had humble beginnings in Rome. The  Acta Diurna (Daily Public Records) were official records published on metal or stone slate and displayed in places such as the Forum of Rome. This is widely considered the first newspaper. Chinese Dibao was also an early newspaper. It was official government news sheets published during the Han dynasty. In this period, newspapers were manufactured solely by government and were not intended for the eyes of the public, where it would find its most powerful application.

The first non-government newspapers were founded in Europe. Usually written and distributed by merchant traders, this source of news was often out of date and was limited to those with the money to afford it. These papers often contained information on economic outlooks in countries and news of wars which was often infomation their governments didn’t provide to their citizens.

The biggest change in the history of newspapers was the development of the printing press which while traditionally printed books, was soon adapted to newspapers. The American industrial revolution created the first mass printing scale capability enabling low cost papers to the population. Finally, the revolutionary ability to print on both sides of the paper allowed the cost of newspapers to reach an all time low. The accessibility of the newspaper and the spread of mass information has led to massive social and political change since its creation. Accountability of governments became important to the mass population not just those with wealth.

“Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.”

Thomas Jefferson, 1787

Recently we have seen examples of the power of newspapers. Edward Snowden, the NSA contractor came out to the Guardian paper in an article by Glenn Greenwald who exposed the nature of the spying on American people and the organisation of five eyes which New Zealand is apart of. Napoléon once said “Four hostile newspapers are more to be feared than a thousand bayonets..” Indeed this is true for websites such as Wikileaks which break news in the same way newspapers used to.

A famous newspaper story was the uncovering of the Thalidomide scandal. The morning sickness drug which caused deformed babies. The Sunday Times published a front page article exposing the truth behind the drug with the headline: “Our thalidomide children, a cause for national shame”. This was significant mainly because since 1961 the truth behind Thalidomide had been suppressed by commercial interests but though the act of public pressure via the newspapers, Thalidomide victims were compensated.  

Perhaps the most significant example of newspaper influence in the last 50 years was the uncovering of the Watergate scandal by The Washington Post journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. The scandal revolved around the wiretapping and burglary of the Democratic Watergate complex which was subsequently covered up by president Nixon ultimately leading to his resignation. The paper used an anonymous source known as “Deep Throat ” to break the story to the public and exposed breaches of power through the use of harassing activist groups through the use of government organisations such as the FBI, CIA and IRA. The sourcing of information at an underground parking garage at 2am led to uncovering of further crimes and the FBI tapped journalist involved with the investigation in an attempt to repress the news.

Despite the impact of newspapers and magazines their rein is no doubt declining. Advertising and subscription revenue continue to fall resulting in staff layoffs across the industry. Many say the future is even more bleak with subscription revenue falling 6% annually worldwide and NZ Herald subscriptions falling 3%.

This is not to say newspapers are becoming irrelevant. NZ Herald readership has been steadily increasing to the current 844,000 per day readership figure and 1.34 million people per week interacting with the publication. Advertising revenue continues to increase (though not enough to make up for lost subscriptions) and news organisations have the ability to grow to the become worldwide papers. The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post, Guardian have always been large news organisations but the advent of the internet has made them even more cheap and accessible.

Now more than ever there is an opportunity for organisations to become worldwide powerhouses controlling the spreading of information over the internet. BuzzFeed and The Huffington Post were both founded in 2006 are both high valued companies. BuzzFeed which is well known for its clickbait (provocative titles to increase readership) titles such as “You won’t believe what they found” and “23 reasons group projects should be wiped of the face of the earth” and exaggerated inaccurate news stories is reportedly valued at over $850 billion USD due to its large user base and significant social media presence.

The Huffington Post was purchased by AOL in 2011 for 315 million after only 5 years in existence proving news organisations still have the power and value like old times. Along with the clickbait news organisations like BuzzFeed, Vice and Lad Bible epitomise the rise of the community news website. These sites which become popular through social media have the ability to influence more than any other time in history, especially since this information is exacerbated by an element of social pressure.

The fall of newspapers has been largely attributed to the internet and the creation of hundreds of thousands of more interact news sources such as Youtube, Snapchat, Twitter and Facebook. Another reason for the decline in newspaper subscriptions is the rise of the opinion blog. Whale Oil, The Standard, Kiwi Blog, No Right Turn and the satirical blog the Civilian are some examples of popular political blogs which are replacing the need for opinion columnists. As a reader, it is now more easy to find a blogger who identifies with having the same views as you, but does this propose a dangerous future. If you select opinions you only agree with, does this ever allow you to challenge your own views in the way a “balanced” news piece does.

One element of the newspaper that is changing is advertising. Normal advertisements are far less profitable than printed advertisements so some news organisations are moving towards native advertising. Advertising embedded within the article. BuzzFeed and the Verge are just two examples of websites using advertising within the news. Segments are often sponsored by companies but the line between truth and advertising is becoming increasingly blurred.