The first newspaper known to have been published was started in Ancient Rome in the year 59 BC. It was called Acta Diurna, and the initiator was Julius Cesar. Though we have no physical copy now, we still have an idea about what it was about. In this newspaper ancient people could read recent events such as plebiscites, executions, lawsuits, marriages and so on; and it was mainly sent to people that lived in rural areas. The Acta Diurna continued to be published until 330 AD. Like the Acta Diurna, China had it's own newspaper, however; it came a bit later. In 618-907 AD there was a court bulletin. It had many forms and titles, but the first one continued to be in service until 1911, a long time, isn't it? In the Middle Ages, people had probably forgotten about it, later one, there were some published handwriting bulletins. There were also chronicles, like Mercurius Gallobelgicus, printed in XVI/XVII century. However, Regularly published newspapers appeared first in the Netherlands and Germany in the beginning of XVII century.
one of first newspapers

How does it look now?
We have many kinds of newspapers: daily, weekly, monthly... Many kinds of magazines: about sport, computers, internet, fasion, politics for kids. They are national, local.
The information comes to us thanks to reporters. They are where something interesting happens or, if they weren't there, the newspaper buys them from international agents that collect information from all over the world (like Reuter).
Of course, news is not everything, sometimes magazines print supplements about one subject: computers or cars. In daily we should news, sport, local events, music. The money that goes to newspaper isn't enough, so the editors include adverts and notices.

We have many kinds of newspapers: daily, weekly, monthly... Many kinds of magazines: about sports, computers, the Internet, fashion, politics, and kid magazines. And there are both national and local ones. Many times we receive news from reporters who usually track interesting topics, or if there not in the news, the newspaper buys them from international agents that collect information from all over the world (like Reuter). Then they print them and sell them. Of course, news is not everything, sometimes magazines print supplements about one subject: computers or cars. On a daily basis, we can get news on sports, local events, music, etc. However, the money the periodicals make on the articles isn't enough, so they advertise for many different companies.

After that they give the articles titles, and include photos. Then the number is printed.

BOOKS The oldest books are from Ancient Egypt. They had religious character that includes songs, prayers, and myths. They also contain law, medicine, magic, recipes, and astronomy. Then came time for laic literature (also originated in Egypt). Before books were written, there was verbal history in which people would pass down history and tradition orally. However, the oldest papyrus "book" we have is from 2620 BC. Ancient Greeks separated the book into volumes, and in Rome the parchment was collected in numbers called codes.

Book from Middleages

When Gutenberg had invented print, he started to print books because in Middle ages all books were written by monks. What used to be a long process of copying books by hand, became simple. I can't imagine living without books. But what happens before the books come to bookshops? First, there must be a writer who will write the book, let's say, a novel. Then he goes to the publisher and asks him if he can print his book. The publisher reviews it, and if the answer is yes, the publisher and his company copy the book and save it in computer. Sometimes a painter does some pictures. When it is done, they include the pictures, and decide about the final look of the novel. After that the text is corrected. Then it is printed, bind and sold.
Sometimes, the proof-reader doesn't find all the mistakes. So, the publisher has to add to the book an errata (from Latin: fault). It is a list of mistakes with correct forms. It is printed separately, and included to the book.

Another, different, but very important kind of book is Encyclopaedia. The first one was published in France in 1751-1772 and was called: "The First French Encyclopaedia of Vocabulary, Reason, Science, Art and Craft, the Domain of Objective Information in All Fields of Knowledge Collected in One Work in Alphabetical Order by a Group of People, who had worked on it for 20 years". It consisted 17 volumes of entries, 11 volumes of illustrations, 5 of supplements, and 2 volumes of index. The greater part of the illustrations were pictures like this based on Diderot's works.

LIBRARIES
The first library was in Ancient Egypt, the biggest one was in Alexandria. In Middle Ages they were in cloister, the books there were hand-written and pictured. Libraries that everybody could come and read were founded in XVIII/XIX, thanks to the French Revolution. People who lived in the countryside could also borrow books.

Books and press are printed, here you can see how does the printing work.
Journalists take pictures. See the history of a camera.

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