The Evolution of News Reporting Over the Centuries

Five hundred years ago, there were no breaking news broadcasts relayed directly to people's homes. They relied on word of mouth during that time, and they seldom cared about issues not referring to their small settlement. Monarchs and other important men owning fiefdoms maintained their own network of messengers to exchange information between their various outposts.

Other news regarding the interaction of foreign lands was bringing mainly by merchants and travelers. It was not until 1456 that Herr Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press and paved the way for the advent of newspapers. However, it took another 150 years for the world's first newspaper to appear. Mercurius Gallobelgicus was published in, what is today called, Germany, in the Latin language. It became quite popular in no time, and its readership spread as far as England. The first newspaper that was regularly published appeared in 1665 as the Oxford Gazette. It was later renamed the London Gazette and is still published. However, being published only twice every week, it was not the first daily. It took another 100 years before the Daily Courant appeared on the scene. It is interesting to note that the first editor of the Daily Courant was a woman, the first woman editor in the world history.

The newspapers became more popular after the invention of wired communication. This enabled newsrooms to report fresh developments from around the world, especially from the battlefronts. Newspapers also became a means of spreading an organization's ideology as almost all of the political, rebellious and revolutionary groups maintained their mouthpiece weekly or monthly publications. From Napoleon to Nazis, everyone exploited the newspapers for their propaganda, as it made them a wider reach to the masses.

Broadcasting was born in 1901 with the advent of wireless communication. Radio channels are still quite popular at many places. Once they were the only source of international news. Today, however, they fulfill a completely different role of reporting local events. In many cities, big and small, people rely on radio for many important things, such as live traffic information and other news.

News channels became a norm in every home as television increased in popularity. Today, online news, both textual and multimedia, is the buzzword. Many dedicated news channels started providing specialized news about niches, such as finance and sports.

The Internet thought yet another revolution in this field. You can access the newspapers online and watch the telecasts of all major news channels. Today, anyone can report video or other news independently using self-publishing portals, such as video sharing websites and blogs. The Internet is broadly regarded as the future of news reporting. It already accounts for a significant share of news market.

A number of researchers conducted by various independent agencies indicate that the newspaper readership is falling rapidly. At the same time, they also suggest a dramatic increase in the readership of online versions of these newspapers. Nearly all of the major newspapers also maintain an online edition.

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Source by Baker Giles Gibson