Blog Post #5

 The First Newspaper

    

The first Newspaper was written by Johann Carolus in 1604. It was a weekly newspaper that was published in Germany. It was considered to be a "true" newspaper because it covered the four categories that make up a newspaper. Accessible to the public, published at regular intervals, the information is current and it covers a variety of topics. In 1618, other German newspapers followed with the world's first broadsheet printed in folio size in Amsterdam. 

The first English Newspaper was published in 1655 in Oxford, England. It was known as the Oxford Gazette which later switched to the London Gazette when it moved to London in 1666. It is also still being published today. Soon after the newspaper was spread throughout the European countries, it finally made its way to the New World. 

The first "true" American Newspaper was published in 1690. The publisher, Benjamin Harris was later arrested after his newspaper was published because he wrote about political criticisms, and all other copies were later destroyed. In 1704, John Campbell published the Boston Newsletter, it was the first successful newspaper in America. 

At first, Newspapers were only available to wealthy people. The cost of a subscription would be the same amount a laborer would make in a week. So most could not afford them. That all changed in 1830 when advances in printing and paper-making made it so each copy could sell at one cent. The telegraph was later created which made it a lot easier. 

This article, shares why newspapers are so important to our civil society. Newspapers provided information to citizens or really anyone in the area that was looking to read about recent events or issues. It connects people in the community, city, state, and the world and fills them in on recent news and issues. 

Today's World 

Nowadays, everyone turns to their phones to find out about recent news and issues. Some sources online are giving out false information that people actually believe. Not a lot of people buy newspapers anymore. The only person that I know still does is my grandfather! 

Newspapers are continuously decreasing in today's world. According to this article, “More than one-fifth of the U.S. population--approximately 70 million Americans--now live in an area with little or no access to local news.” That goes to show that people are not being told the right and credible news. Having a lot more access to newspapers would allow that issue to go away and people can have access to local news. 

Newspaper businesses are continuing to lay people off because they are not bringing in enough money to fund all of their workers. Local journalists are now not able to be profitable. The market is letting it go when it is something that we need and can be very beneficial. It is a way where everyone can learn and read about everything going on in the world and their communities. It can also bring everyone together in hopes that it will form a strong community.

Everything on social media is now favored to where they are going to put things on your feed that they think you want to hear. They can be totally in control of your thoughts and beliefs. People are going to TikTok to find out "reliable" information, which is the complete opposite of what you actually should be doing. People need to be finding out information from reliable sources and Newspapers are just one example of a reliable source.