M E D I A * M A T T E R S * print & newspapers

The Chinese use wood blocks and ink to print by laying paper over the blocks and rubbing until it imprinted. This is called "frotton printing." Europeans used this method to make playing cards and devotional prints.
In 1455, Gutenberg invented mass production by making a printing press based on wine presses of the time. His style and layout came from manuscripts with scribes in the middle ages. His finished pages resembled manuscripts of the time.
Typefaces and fonts developed over the next several hundred years based on scripts used by scribes in different countries.
Woodcuts were used for illustrations and could be printed along side the type. Different styles were developed in different countries and were used with complementary fonts.
The Dutch used copperplate engraving to make accurate and detailed navigational maps.

Books remained rare and expensive for nearly 350 years after the invention of the press. Rulers and theologians felt threatened by the printed word and there was prejudice that print was inferior to manuscript. Where possible, printers relied on patronage. They were scholars that found and verified their work out of existing manuscripts. They cast them into type, printed them and were their own booksellers. By the early sixteenth century, printing came into maturity. The main fonts had been established; independent type founders began to make and sell type to any printer. The reading public grew with the emerging middle class.

Printers began to hire agents to sell their books. These agents became the first publishers.

Forms of printing: printing press-1455
type writer-1898
In 1608 Captain John Smith, the leader of Jamestown settlement published his newsletter Newes from Virginia.
The first American newspaper called Publick Occurrences, Both Foreign and Domestick is published in Boston in 1690.
The year of 1721 Benjamin Franklin's older brother John publishes the first newspaper that provided the readers with both news and literature called New England Current.
New England Weekly Journal is the first paper to report news from nearby communities in1727.
Benjamin Franklin in1729 published the best paper in the colonies with the most literary columns, the highest income from advertising, and the largest circulation, the Pennsylvania Gazette.
By 1750 in the six most populated colonies, fourteen weekly papers are read.
Between 1768 and 1769 the Journal of Occurrences spreads news about the British. Patriot Samuel Adams and the Sons of Liberty published this paper.
In 1769 Isaac Doolittle of Conneticut makes printing presses in America.
In 1776 the Massachusetts Spy, Thomas Paine's Common Sense, and other papers containing the full text of the Declaration of Independence spread the word of the cause of freedom in the US.
The Pennsylvania Post, the first daily newspaper comes out in 1783.
In 1791 the first amendment to the constitution, giving people the freedom of the press is approved.
Reporters are allowed in both the House of Representatives, and the Senate in 1795.
The year of 1800 brought forth the publication of 21 newspapers in the new west, beyond the Appalachian Mountains.
Between 1800 and 1830 quarterly, monthly and weekly newspapers began to appear.
The El Misisipi the first Spanish newspaper is published in 1808.
Niles Weekly Register, the first news magazine appears in 1811.
Congress says that at least 2 papers in each state must print the laws that were passed for the nation.
Reporters from 3 papers begin the coverage of Congress that has continued to this day in 1827.
In 1828 the first Native American paper published partly in English partly in Cherokee, the Cherokee Phoenix appears.
Throughout the 1830s pigeons as well as the pony express carried news from long distances.
In 1833 the first penny paper is the New York Sun.
The New York Herald introduces new "extra" sections. (sports, money society news etc.)
In 1840 views on many things are offered through Horace Greeley's New York Tribune.
In the 1840s railroads and steam ships are used to ship new items quickly and to distribute newspapers.
The New York Times is founded in 1851.
The telegraph is used to convey news over great distances.
Groups of newspapers come together and form the associated press in 1849.
In 1856 the New Orleans Daily Creole, the first African American daily is published.
Many photographers including Matt Brady are issued passes to cover the war story. Papers start using war action as headlines.
Between 1870 and 1900 the number of papers printed quadruples. More women work in the newspapers, telephones and change the way work is done in the newsroom, and cable links make the gathering of news faster.
Between 1870 and 1880 magazines treat readers to literature, and humor as well as political views.
Between 1880 and 1900 bigger, faster presses are built to meet tighter deadlines and serve the growing number of readers. Number of African American papers increases.
Sensationalism, yellow journalism, is used to win papers more readers in the 1890s.
Color is used in the papers for Sunday editions in 1893.
Political cartoons between 1900 and 1925 offer commentary on news.
Newspaper groups (United Press Association, Associated Press, and International News Service) compete in gathering news from around the world.
2,600 daily papers, and 14,000 weekly papers are published between 1910 and 1914.
There are 1,323 ethnic papers published in foreign languages in1917.
In the 1920s TV and radio begin to compete for people's time and attention with newspapers and magazines. Many papers begin including political columns.
Personalized columns appear in papers for the first time in the 1930s. Also, picture magazines become very popular giving wonderful opportunities to photojournalists.
In the 1940s newsreels give people a new way of getting their news.
People begin to turn to the television for the news in the 1950s.
Alternative papers and magazines begin to criticize the country's political and social structure in the 1960s.
Between the 1960s and the 1990s investigative reporters find out information about the government and other organizations.
Computers begin to change the process and the speed of making newspapers.
Daily papers decrease because costs to print papers increase during the 1980s.
By the 1990s reporters are able to file stories from around the world by using lap top computers.