I. Ancient newspapers

It is generally believed that The Newspaper of the Tang Dynasty in China and the Daily News of the Roman Empire are the earliest official newspapers in the world.

China During the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD), various counties and countries set up stations in Kyoto to deliver paper money, imperial edicts, court news and political news. The name "Bao Chao" appeared in the Tang Dynasty. This kind of official newspaper continued to exist in the name of "treasure" in the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, and became an official newspaper after the Revolution of 1911. Due to the nature of its official bulletin, it has existed for more than 2000 years and has never evolved into a modern newspaper.

BC 1 century, the Consul General of the Roman Empire ordered the publication of the official newspaper Daily Record. It is a handwritten notice published in public places in Rome and provinces, including referendums, official appointments, government orders, treaties, wars and religious news. With the demise of Western Rome in 476 AD, The Daily Chronicle was finally published.

Second, the emergence and development of print communication

Print communication refers to the newspaper media produced in modern times. The biggest difference between newspapers and handwritten tabloids is mechanical printing, so newspapers are printed.

1, the invention of printing

(1) China first invented printing.

As early as the 6th and 7th centuries, during the Sui and Tang Dynasties, China invented block printing (inspired by inscriptions and ink extension). During the Northern Song Dynasty (1045), Watson pioneered the typesetting and printing technology of clay movable type, and later someone invented wood movable type printing. During the Southern Song Dynasty, metal movable type made of tin alloy also appeared in China. In the late Middle Ages, China's printing technology gradually spread to Central Asia and Europe. At the turn of14th century and15th century, there are also block printing and wood movable type printing in Europe.

(2) the development of printing in western countries

1450, German craftsmen invented the typesetting and printing technology of metal movable type. He also made a wooden printing machine, which pressed the printing plate with screws instead of manual operation, thus improving the quality and efficiency of printing. Later, he printed important books, such as Latin grammar, forty-two bibles and reading in church. In the next decade, Italy, Switzerland, France, the Netherlands and other European countries introduced Gutenberg's metal movable type printing. By 1500, 250 printing plants have been built in European countries. In the16th century, this technology spread to Mexico and other parts of the American continent.

2. The initial application of printing.

At first, printing mainly printed religious books, bibles and atonement vouchers. Only after the rise of capitalist commodity economy, printing technology was widely used in the field of news communication.

3. The bud of print communication

By the end of 15, some printers had started to print some brochures to record the recent major battles, natural disasters and festivals. For the general reader, these notes are newsworthy. Among them, augsburg 1482 published Adventures in Brazil and so on. They are regarded as the seeds of printed news dissemination.

4. The rudiment of print communication

At the end of 16, while handwritten tabloids became popular, irregular printed materials appeared in western Europe and other places to report some important events. Compared with narrative pamphlets, it is obviously more newsworthy. Most of them are in the form of books, called news books, and there are also single-page news leaflets. Due to the opening of new air routes, geographical advantages and the birthplace of metal movable type printing, this kind of news printed matter developed earlier in Germany.

/kloc-In the late 6th century, regular news printed materials with fixed names began to appear. The earliest is 1588 Austrian Michael? Feng? In addition, there is a Latin publication named Fabian Messenger in Kelun, which was published by Ai Jin on 1594- 1635 and has been sold to Britain and other places. Later, in augsburg, Antwerp and other places, some monthly and semi-monthly chronological publications appeared. These news books have been developed for quite some time, and they are the embryonic form of modern newspapers.

Third, the emergence and development of modern newspaper industry.

(A), the background of modern newspaper industry

1, the rise of capitalist market economy and the social changes caused by it have formed the internal demand for journalism.

(1) From an economic point of view, people's demand for information has increased dramatically in order to compete and survive in the market. Some important commercial cities or ports have become the birthplace of modern news. For example, at the end of 16, Germany was the connection point of traffic and trade between southern Europe and northern Europe. Like Antwerp in the Netherlands, it was an important trade center in Europe, so news printed materials in these places appeared earlier than those in other countries.

(2) Politically, the birth of capitalist relations of production and system, especially at the turn of 16 and 17 century, led to social and political turmoil, a sharp increase in the amount of social information, and a sharp increase in the demand for news information from all walks of life. In particular, the emerging classes and political forces urgently need to spread information, publicize political views and influence public opinion in order to promote social change. Therefore, modern newspapers came into being under the background of the transition from feudal society to modern society in Europe.

2. Development of social and material technical conditions

The progress of printing and the development of paper industry provide a technical and material foundation for modern newspaper industry. The increasingly developed transportation and postal services have expanded the space for newspaper distribution and enhanced the timeliness of newspapers; The increasingly concentrated population and the increasing number of cities provide a large number of centralized markets for newspapers.

(B), the emergence of modern newspaper industry

The main form of modern news is newspaper. The symbol of the birth of modern newspapers-the appearance of weekly magazines.

1. The earliest periodicals, newspapers and periodicals were produced in Germany.

1609, two kinds of weekly newspapers appeared in Germany: ① notice-report or news, published on Wolfen Beattre; (2) the report, published in Strasbourg.

Why do regular newspapers and periodicals originate in Germany? Because after the opening of the new air route, Europe's trade distribution centers gradually moved to the Atlantic coast, and some important commercial cities appeared in countries such as Britain, France and Germany, replacing the Mediterranean cities such as Venice and becoming new information centers. Germany is the birthplace of metal movable type printing, and it is also the connection point of transportation and trade between southern Europe and northern Europe, so periodicals and newspapers appeared earlier.

The earliest daily newspaper was also born in Germany.

The New Arrival, founded by a bookseller in Leipzig on 1650, is generally regarded as the first daily newspaper in the world. 1663 Leipzig news is also one of the earliest daily newspapers in the world. The German Daily came into being 50 years earlier than the British Daily News, the French Paris News and the American Pennsylvania Evening News 1000.

(C), the development of modern newspapers and periodicals

1, political newspapers and periodicals during the bourgeois revolution

The development of bourgeois newspapers and periodicals is closely related to the development of bourgeois revolution. 1566 After the Dutch people untied the prelude of the bourgeois revolution, Britain, the United States and France successively carried out bourgeois revolutions. /kloc-After the middle of the 0/9th century, Germany, Italy and Japan also evolved from feudal society to capitalist society. Different countries have different national conditions and different processes, but the development of newspapers in different countries has the same law:

(1) Before the bourgeois revolution, bourgeois newspapers were suppressed by feudal rulers. Feudal rulers suppressed the spread of dissident ideas and information through publishing permission system and content censorship system, and Britain even set up "star court" and other means. On the other hand, feudal rulers published official newspapers, fostered royal newspapers, created public opinion and maintained their feudal rule. In bourgeois newspapers and periodicals, starting from their respective class interests, major issues such as revolution, improvement, conservatism or maintenance of feudal rule are debated, which is the so-called political newspaper period.

(2) In the process of bourgeois revolution, bourgeois thinkers first raised the banner of freedom of the press, publicized democratic ideas and discussed the importance of freedom of the press. After the bourgeois revolution, the bourgeois regime was established, and the development of bourgeois newspapers and periodicals was restricted by two factors: 1) whether the bourgeois revolutions in various countries were thorough and what kind of political systems were established; 2) Whether the bourgeois peace system in this country has been consolidated and whether there has been a feudal restoration.

2. Party newspapers and periodicals after the bourgeois revolution.

After the bourgeois revolution, newspapers all over the world experienced a period of political party newspapers, no matter how fast or slow they developed. The common characteristics of these party and government newspapers and periodicals are: obvious politicization tendency; The content focuses on current political news and remarks; The readers are mainly politicians and elites.

Judging from the characteristics of party newspapers, it is the development of political newspapers.

3./kloc-after the industrial revolution in the 0/8th century, cheap newspapers and periodicals dominated.

Cheap newspapers and periodicals refer to the tabloids that have appeared in various countries since the industrial revolution and are oriented to the middle and lower classes of society. They are named after their low prices. The first batch of successful cheap papers in the world is 1833. Benjamin? Dai founded The Sun in new york, USA. After that, other cheap newspapers and periodicals appeared one after another. In this way, newspapers will transition from the era of "party newspapers" to the era of "mass newspapers".

The characteristics of cheap papers are: 1) politically, they flaunt independence and are not subject to a certain political party; 2) Economically operate independently and do not rely on political and legal subsidies or political party subsidies; 3) The target audience is the common people, and it has also become a popular newspaper; 4) Pay attention to local news, social news and all kinds of interesting soft news; 5) The written form is popular, the layout is vivid and readable; 6) Fully commercialized operation, with a large number of advertisements published, so as to reduce the selling price, expand distribution and win more advertisements.

The appearance of cheap papers made commercial newspapers more prosperous and gradually became the main body of bourgeois newspapers, which laid the foundation for its evolution to modern newspapers.

4. The emergence and development of proletarian newspapers and periodicals.

After the industrial revolution, society split into two independent classes: the industrial bourgeoisie and the industrial proletariat. The former has gathered great wealth in the development of production, while the latter is increasingly poor. The working class launched a labor movement to improve living conditions, and workers' newspapers and periodicals came into being. Workers' newspapers and periodicals are the product of the workers' movement.

(1) The development period of proletarian newspapers;

The workers' newspaper first appeared in Britain, and then appeared in some countries in Europe and America. Before the October Revolution in Russia, the development of proletarian newspapers can be divided into three periods:

1) The childhood of workers' newspapers and periodicals. Most of the earliest workers' newspapers and periodicals were founded by workers' organizations such as fraternity and mutual aid association. Its main contents are calling for protecting workers' lives and improving working conditions, propagating utopian socialist ideas and advocating economic struggle. The early workers' newspapers and periodicals were founded under extremely difficult circumstances, among which the well-known ones were the Herald of Causality and Poverty and the North Star.

2) Proletarian political newspapers and periodicals from the second half of 1940s to 1990s. Marxism was born and gradually combined with the workers' movement, which gradually developed from economic struggle to political struggle. Workers' newspapers and periodicals also evolved into proletarian political newspapers and periodicals with the development of proletarian political movement. 1848 The New Rheinische Zeitung, founded by Marx and Engels in Karen State, is the first Marxist daily newspaper in the world.

3) The development of Russian Bolshevik newspapers and periodicals. /kloc-at the end of 0/9, the Russian workers' movement rose and the workers' newspaper appeared. Newspapers and periodicals in this period are: 1900, the first Marxist all-Russian political newspaper founded and led by Lenin; After the newspaper was usurped, the Bolsheviks founded Pravda in 19 12. After the October Revolution, this newspaper became the first central organ of the ruling proletarian party in the world.

(2) the characteristics of proletarian newspapers and periodicals:

1) its aim in running a newspaper is to safeguard the interests of the proletariat and the broad masses of working people and publicize the program of the organization. 2) The content is mainly to criticize the old world, oppose all kinds of class enemies, and oppose all kinds of wrong thoughts and bourgeois influences within the workers' movement. He keeps extensive and close contact with the working people and relies on them to run newspapers. 4) It is the propaganda organization of the Party and trade unions, and the leaders of the Party and trade unions are often the heads or editors of newspapers.

Fourthly, the emergence and development of modern newspaper industry.

(A), the newspaper industry in transition

From the end of 19 to the first world war, due to the changes of social, political and economic conditions, modern newspaper industry gradually transitioned to modern newspaper industry. The characteristics of the newspaper industry in the transitional period are as follows:

(1) Commercial newspapers independent of the government or political parties have gradually replaced political party newspapers as the main body of the newspaper industry.

(2) Newspapers are distributed to the public, and the sales volume has increased greatly. Some major newspapers have a circulation of over one million.

(3) Newspapers merged and concentrated in the competition with each other, and several newspaper groups appeared.

The biggest change of newspaper industry in this period is the flood of "yellow news" and the emergence of newspaper groups.

(B), the development of modern newspaper industry

After World War I, world history entered the modern society, and modern newspaper industry came into being.

Taking commercial newspapers as the main body and the emergence of newspaper groups are two major signs of the emergence of modern newspaper industry.

1, the development of modern newspapers in capitalist countries

Newspapers in developed capitalist countries such as Britain, America and France have been commercialized continuously, and countries such as Germany, Italy and Chile have also used administrative means to make their own newspapers embark on the road of fascist monopoly.

(1) After World War I, monopoly was the basic feature of its newspaper development. There are two signs of newspaper monopoly, one is the increase of circulation, and the other is the widespread phenomenon of "one newspaper per city".

(2) After the Second World War, with the economic recovery and prosperity, the newspaper industry entered a new period of development. The characteristics of newspaper development in western developed countries are basically the same: 1) a few "super newspaper groups" have been formed; 2) There is a cross-media or cross-industry monopoly; 3) There has been a transnational and trans-regional monopoly.

(3) Two basic modes of newspaper monopoly in modern capitalist countries: market merger and monopoly (the most typical in America); State administrative monopoly (the most typical in Germany).

2. The development of modern newspaper industry in socialist countries

The development of modern newspaper industry in socialist countries can be roughly divided into the following three stages:

(1) With the victory of the October Revolution, the first socialist country appeared in the world. Soviet Russia established and formed a brand-new socialist newspaper system.

(2) After World War II, a series of countries in Europe, Asia and Latin America broke away from the capitalist system and took the socialist road, and the socialist newspaper industry developed greatly.

(3) After the drastic changes in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, the structure and nature of newspapers in these countries have undergone major changes.

3. The development of newspapers in developing countries

After World War II, the Asian, African and Latin American regions set off a climax of national liberation, and the vast number of independent countries were between capitalist and socialist countries, forming "developing countries".

(1) They have the same characteristics:

1) Early newspapers and periodicals, especially those countries whose newspapers originated earlier, were mostly founded by colonists;

2) With the development of the anti-colonial struggle, the national newspapers and periodicals in these countries gradually developed, which promoted the process of anti-colonialism and feudalism;

3) After the victory of the national liberation movement, most newspapers have achieved unprecedented development, but some national newspapers have declined under the control of their dictators.

(2) News control in developing countries can be roughly divided into three categories:

1) government or ruling party newspapers and periodicals are the main ones. All or most newspapers are official newspapers of the government or quasi-official newspapers of the ruling party. The ruling authorities directly control newspapers and control public opinion.

2) Party newspapers and business newspapers coexist. Newspapers of the ruling party, newspapers of the opposition party and private commercial newspapers should be kept within the scope permitted by law.

3) Mainly commercial newspapers and periodicals. Political parties rarely directly control newspapers and conduct business operations.

Five, the basic trend of the global newspaper industry

Since 1930s, there have been some remarkable new changes and trends in the development of newspapers in major developed countries, especially in the United States.

1, grouping

First, it is not just a newspaper group, but a cross-media group that is integrated with radio, television and network on the basis of advanced technology and information technology; Second, it is not satisfied with the expansion of domestic mergers and acquisitions, and it has penetrated into any profitable place in the world; Thirdly, media groups not only compete fiercely, but also seek win-win cooperation; Fourth, media groups pay attention to both immediate interests and cultivating potential audiences.

2. Difference

Focus is a communication mode that classifies audiences and uses digital technology to make information directly hit the target audience. With the rapid development of economy and society, different social and environmental factors have influenced and contributed to the different needs of contemporary audiences. At the same time, the media began to change from meeting the needs of the public to meeting the needs of some people and some aspects, and from the public to the focus.

3. Localization

In the United States, almost all daily newspapers have regional positioning. In other words, they are only distributed to readers in the city where the newspaper is located and in the suburbs near the city. Media in other countries are also increasingly pursuing localization.

4. Build a working network

According to statistics, more than 5,000 newspapers in the world have settled on the Internet, and more than 500 newspapers in the United States have established their own websites. Website reporting is not a simple copy of the original media content, but more detailed and faster than the original media content. The New York Times believes: "Rich content and brand effect are the two advantages of traditional media online version."

5. Miniaturization

The British Independent successfully slimmed down in September 2003, followed by The Times, which became a tabloid edition. According to the statistics of the World Press Association, 36% of the newspapers in the world have been changed into four tabloid editions. In 2004 alone, 56 major newspapers were changed into tabloid editions. Since the second half of 2005, representative newspapers in major western countries have successively carried out miniaturization reforms.

References:

1, History of Foreign News Communication, Zheng, Cheng, Wang Taixuan.

2. China Newspaper Magazine, No.2009 12 Author: Dou

3. Network information: Baidu/Encyclopedia/World Newspaper History

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