Origin Of Newspapers

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Origin Of Newspapers

• Lesson 2
• Grade 5

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Introduction

• This lesson gives you some real interesting news
  it tells you how and where the first newspapers
  was published.
• This lesson also teaches you to analyze text that
  is organized in sequential or chronological
  order.

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Origin Of Newspapers

1. The earliest known efforts at publishing a
   newspaper was the Roman Acta Diurna (The Daily
   Events), under the orders of Emperor Julius
   Caesar (10044 BC), started around 59 BC.
   Handwritten on large white boards and displayed
   in popular places like the Baths, the Acta kept
   citizens informed about government scandals,
   military campaigns, trials and executions.
2. Around AD 700 the Chinese developed the world's
   first printed newspaper, called the Dibao, which
   was produced with hand-carved wooden blocks.
3. Around 1450 German inventor Johannes Gutenberg
   (c. 13971468) introduced the movable-type
   printing press, which spurred the development of
   the modern newspaper. By the 1600s several
   newspapers were in circulation in Germany. The
   rotary press (a huge, automated roll-fed press
   that could print on sheets of any size) was
   invented in the 1800s and made wider circulation
   possible.

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Origin Of Newspapers

1. During this era, newsletters supplied a growing
   merchant class with news relevant to trade and
   commerce. These pamphlets were often highly
   sensationalized. One of these reported on the
   abuse that Germans in Transylvania were suffering
   at the hands of Vlad Tsepes Drakul, also known as
   Count Dracula.
2. In 1556 the Venetian government published Notizie
   scritte, for which readers paid a small coin, or
   gazetta.
3. In the first half of the 17th century, newspapers
   began to appear as regular and frequent
   publications. The first modern newspapers came
   from western European countries like Germany,
   France, Belgium and England London Gazette
   founded in 1665, and which is still published as
   a court journal. These periodicals consisted
   mainly of news items from Europe, and
   occasionally included information from America or
   Asia. They rarely covered domestic issues.

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Origin Of Newspapers

1. Newspaper content began to shift toward more
   local issues in the latter half of the 17th
   century. Newspaper headlines announced the
   sensational beheading of Charles 1 at the end of
   the English Civil War, although Oliver Cromwell
   tried to suppress all newspapers and books on the
   eve of the execution. In 1766, Sweden was the
   first country to pass a law protecting press
   freedom.
2. The invention of the telegraph in 1844
   transformed print media. Now information could be
   transferred within a matter of minutes, allowing
   for more timely, relevant reporting. Newspapers
   were appearing in societies around the world. By
   the middle of the 19th century, newspapers became
   the primary means of information
3. Between 1890 to 1920the period known as the
   golden age of print mediamedia barons such as
   William Randolph Hearst, Joseph Pulitzer, and
   Lord Northcliffe built huge publishing empires.
   They had enormous influence within the media
   industry.

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Origin Of Newspapers
10. Broadcast radio exploded onto the media scene
in the 1920s. Newspapers were forced to
re-evaluate their role as societys primary
information provider. 11. Like all new
technologies of today, the old was replaced with
the new. To respond to this new competition,
editors revamped the papers format and content
in order to broaden their appeal, and stories
were expanded to provide more in depth
coverage. 12. No sooner had newspapers adapted
to radio than they were forced to re-evaluate
themselves again in the light of a new and more
powerful medium television. Newspaper
circulation in America dropped sharply. Despite
this sharp decline, televisions omnipresence did
not render the newspaper obsolete. Some
newspapers, like USA Today, responded to the
technological advancements by using color and by
utilizing the short, quick and to the point
stories that are usually featured on television.
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Origin Of Newspapers
13. The technological revolution of today is
creating new challenges and opportunities for
traditional media. Never before has so much
information been so accessible to so many. By the
end of the 1990s, some 700 had web sites today
there are thousands. 14. The amount and
immediacy of information on the Internet is
unparalleled, but it has not signaled the end of
the newspapers relevance. Newspapers in print
remain a popular and powerful medium for the
reporting and analysis of events that shape our
lives.
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Check Your Understanding

• The very first newspapers were in the form of
• a. hand written pamphlets
• b. hand written white boards
• c. hand-carved wooden blocks
• d. printed sheets made by old fashioned
  printing machines

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Check Your Understanding
2. The first form of newspaper, however
primitive, was started in a. England b.
Germany c. China d. Rome
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Check Your Understanding

• People first started making payment of a small
  coin, for reading
• newspapers, for
• a. Chinese paper called Dibao
• b. London Gazette
• c. Notizie scritte, published by the Venetian
  Government
• d. USA Today

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Check Your Understanding
4. Some of these inventions impacted the
newspaper. Which of these came first? a. the
rotary press b. the movable-type printing
press c. the telegraph d. the radio
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Check Your Understanding
5. Which sort of news was contained in the
earliest Roman paper Acta Diurna? a.
government scandals, military campaigns, trials
and executions b. mercantile and trade news
c. abuse of Germans in Transylvania suffering at
the hands of Count Dracula. d.
news items from Europe, and occasionally
information from America or Asia
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Check Your Understanding
6. The golden age of print media during which
media barons built huge publishing empires,
lasted from a. 1766 - 1844 b. 1844 -
1890 c. 1890 - 1920 d. 1920 - 1980
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Check Your Understanding
7. The second occasion when newspapers faced
competition and had to revamp, was because of the
invention of (telegraph / radio
/ automatic printing machines).
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Check Your Understanding
8. Do you think the invention of the
telegraph impacted the newspapers positively
or negatively? Positive / Negative
Give a reason for your answer.


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Check Your Understanding

• Which 2 of these improvements were adopted by USA
  Today, because of the technological advancements
  then?
• a. the use of color
• b. glossy shiny paper
• c. short, quick and to the point stories
• d. extra inserts for competitions / special
  offers / coupons etc.

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Check Your Understanding
10. Match the details of A and B
appropriately. A
B
first known type
hand carved of newspaper
wooden blocks next
known type
rotary automated of newspaper
roll fed press
first known type of
hand written large printing press
white boards
next known type of
movable type printing press
printing press
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Check Your Understanding
11. Write T for true and F for false. a.
Broadcast radio exploded onto the media scene in
the 1920s b. by the end of the 1990s, some 700
newspapers had web sites c. because of
information on the Internet the newspapers
relevance has decreased d. by the 1600s
several newspapers were in circulation in
Germany
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Check Your Understanding
12. The latest invention that has impacted
newspaper, but not shaken it out of its
relevance is the . 13. If you had to
write a column for the newspaper in your city,
it would be on a. healthy diets and
fitness routines b. pollution and
cleanliness drives c. world leaders d.
preserving environment and wildlife
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Check Your Understanding

14. In 1766, Sweden was the first country to
pass a law protecting press freedom. a. Do
you think full freedom should be given to the
press to print whatever they like?
b. Or should there be censorship imposed?

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Check Your Understanding

15. For local news, which could prove to
be an embarrassment, do you think
(a) peoples privacy should be protected
.. (a) Yes / No (b) their names be
revealed (b) Yes / No

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Beginnings in America

1. In America the first newspaper appeared in Boston
   in 1690, entitled Publick Occurrences. Published
   without authority, it was immediately suppressed,
   its publisher arrested, and all copies were
   destroyed. Indeed, it remained forgotten until
   1845 when the only known surviving example was
   discovered in the British Library.
2. America's first continuously-published newspaper,
   the Boston News-Letter published its first issue
   on April 24, 1704. John Campbell, a bookseller
   and postmaster of Boston, was its first editor,
   printing the newspaper on what was then referred
   to as a half-sheet. It originally appeared on a
   single page, printed on both sides and issued
   weekly.
3. It was filled mostly with news from London
   journals detailing the intrigues of English
   politics, and various events concerning the
   European wars.

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Beginnings in America

• The rest of the newspaper was filled with items
  listing ship arrivals, deaths, sermons, political
  appointments, fires, accidents and the like.
• One of the most sensational stories published
  when the News-Letter was the only newspaper in
  the colonies was the account of how Blackbeard
  the pirate was killed in hand-to-hand combat on
  the deck of a sloop that had engaged his ship in
  battle.
• 6. Two more papers made their appearance in the
  1720's, in Philadelphia and New York. By the eve
  of the Revolutionary War, some two dozen papers
  were issued at all the colonies, although
  Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania would
  remain the centers of American printing for many
  years. At war's end in 1783 there were
  forty-three newspapers in print. Many more
  newspapers were started, and by 1814 there were
  346 newspapers.

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Beginnings in America

• Advances in printing and papermaking technology
  led to an explosion of newspaper growth, the
  emergence of the "Penny Press" it was now
  possible to produce a newspaper that could be
  sold for just a cent a copy.
• 8. Previously, newspapers were the province of
  the wealthy, literate minority. This sudden
  availability of cheap, interesting reading
  material was a significant stimulus to encourage
  reading.

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Check Your Understanding

16. Which of these apply to Americas first
newspaper entitled Publics Occurrences in Boston
in 1690? a. it was published without authority
b. it was printed on four pages c. only one
copy was discovered in the British Library d. it
had a long and successful run
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Check Your Understanding

17. After Publics Occurrences was stopped,
America's first continuously-published newspaper
which emerged on April 24, 1704, was called the
18. It was edited by a. a rich
newspaper baron b. the local school
headmaster c. a bookseller and postmaster of
Boston d. an author and writer of short stories

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Check Your Understanding

19. The Boston News-Letter carried reports
on a. English politics and European War b.
fires, accidents and deaths c. sermons,
political appointments d. ship arrivals

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Check Your Understanding
20. Do you approve of news articles of how
Blackbeard the pirate was killed in a
hand-to-hand combat on the deck of a ship?
Yes / No Such news in your opinion
a. scare readers / excite readers b. should be
published / should not be published
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Summary

• Now that you know the history of a newspaper, you
  can read one, from a new perspective.
• This lesson teaches you arrange and analyse text
  set in a chronological way.

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Great job today!