According to Dictionary.com, a newspaper is: "a publication issued at regular and usually close intervals, especially daily or weekly, and commonly containing news, comment, features, and advertising." It can also refer to the organization behind the newspaper or a particular edition of a newspaper.
As explained on Britannica School High's article about newspapers, the first routine newspapers emerged during the early 1600s. The movable type printing press allowed different newspapers to come into existence in Europe, like in Germany, the Netherlands, and Italy. The earliest American newspaper came about in Boston in 1960. It was called Publick Occurrences Both Forreign and Domestick. However, it only survived one publication before Massachusetts's colonial governor put an end to it. The Boston News-letter was more successful. It became a weekly publication after it began in 1704. Another early paper, also in Boston, was the Boston Gazette. It began in 1719.
I looked at a modern newspaper that I found in my own home. The Huntsville Times from Sunday, October 11 had its front page covered with the titles, "State's best fall colors naturally nearby" and "State's Black Belt countries fight 'nothing here' image." This paper wishes to convey to the reader is that now is a great time of year to go on a hike and enjoy the nice weather, but it also brings up the importance of racial issues in the South. The next few pages feature stories relating to prison reform, the death penalty, and recent court cases. Additionally, there is an eye-catching article about cancer research that will occur locally at HudsonAlpha.
If a newspaper is called a "newspaper of record," it means that a notably large community of people rely on it, and it known to be dependable, as Wikipedia clarifies. The New York Times was the first in the United States to be tied to this term. However, another U.S. paper that can also be categorized as one is the Washington Post. In addition, the Los Angeles Times.
As newspapers have modernized over time, so has human communication in general. Social media is now one of the main ways, if not the main way, that people stay connected and aware. Twitter and Instagram can spread information across the world instantly with just a few clicks or taps. Physical newspapers can only spin out news daily at the most. Social media accounts can also be personalized to one's preference; what one does not follow, one does not have to see. This cannot be said of the newspaper; everyone gets the same one, no matter their interests. Also, the Internet probably saves many more trees than the world's newspapers of record. However, the modern newspaper beats social media in many other areas. A smart phone, though it gives access intellectual content and relevant information, provides many distractions and temptations. Anything from a text to a Candy Crush notification can stray a reader from learning about world events. In contrast, a newspaper has all pertinent material organized neatly for the reader. Additionally, social media is the opposite of social. A person reading a newspaper invites intelligent conversation from the people in his or her environment. The bold headings are easily read by anyone around. A person reading an article on a laptop or cell phone, however, does not tempt anyone to start a discussion of world events, because he or she might very well be playing Candy Crush or texting an in-law. No one wishes to pry into his or her social life, so that person remains isolated, even if they would be pleased to discuss current events. Whether this trend toward Internet-based news is a step in the right direction or not, though, it seems that it continues to grow more and more popular.
This image sufficiently illustrates the human connection brought about by reading a physical newspaper that is mentioned in the above discussion.
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