News isn’t merely headlines on a news aggregator; it’s not just press-releases about events. A lot of it, however, is informed by virtue of the technology we have available. And a lot of that change has come in recent times.

Tradition and print

Traditional media has often meant print: newspapers churned out in bulk numbers to be distributed and sold as fast as possible. The newspaper’s history is as fascinating as it is strange.

The Historic Pages points out: “In the English-speaking world, the earliest predecessors of the newspaper were corantos, small news pamphlets produced only when some event worthy of notice occurred. The first successively published title was The Weekly Newes of 1622. It was followed in the 1640’s and 1650’s by a plethora of different titles in the similar newsbook format. The first true newspaper in English was the London Gazette of 1666. For a generation it was the only officially sanctioned newspaper, though many periodical titles were in print by the century's end.”

Of course it got stranger.

“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.”

But papers grew. Even in 1800, a census found there were 11 314 different papers. These days, many print publications have gone digital – partially or entirely, as the demands made via the internet meant people no longer wanted paper in their lives.

Rolling news

But one of the biggest hits to news was no doubt the television. Here, average people could see live images of distant events – whether good or bad, such as presidential ceremonies or the frontlines of battle. But television hasn’t had the effect many thought.

Marc Hooghe, from the Free University of Brussels, writes: “When the television set first made its appearance in American households during the 1950s, some expected that the new medium would provide a major boost to civic engagement and political awareness. After all, for the first time in history all citizens would get the opportunity to witness important public events and to follow the debates in parliament. Half a century later, the tide has clearly turned for television. Several authors now argue that the spread of television is one of the major causes for the decline of public life and social cohesion.”

Social media, however, offers the benefits of rolling news but creates a participation not possible in other mediums. Here, average citizens could create and document news, create it even, and be on a similar platform to the New York Times.

Sure, average Twitter or Facebook users might not have the sophisticated technology of a news media organisation with on the ground reporters, monitors on a TracWall video wall, or analysts from around the world – but they had an immediacy that makes news more tantalising and which news have to compete with.

News sites can have all the accolades, but to these days an ordinary Twitter user photographing an ongoing fire is bound to captivate the imagination.

There are obvious dangers, with both kinds of platforms – but it shows the evolution and constant growth of how we consume – and create – news media.

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