newspaper

Daily or weekly publication in the form of folded sheets containing news and comment. News-sheets became commercial undertakings after the invention of printing and were introduced in 1609 in Germany and 1616 in the Netherlands. In 1622 the first newspaper appeared in English, the Weekly News, edited by Nicholas Bourne and Thomas Archer. Improved printing (steam printing in 1814, the rotary press in 1846 in the USA and in 1857 in the UK), newsprint (paper made from wood pulp), and a higher literacy rate (those able to read) led to the growth of newspapers. In the 20th century production costs fell with the introduction of new technology. The oldest national newspaper currently printed in the UK is The Observer (1791). The world's most widely-read newspaper is Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun, with a daily circulation of 10 million.

The first newspaper in colonial America was Publick Occurrences Both Forreign and Domestick. It was planned as a monthly publication, but it was only published once, in Boston in 1690. It was not until 1704 that another paper, the News-Letter, also published in Boston, appeared.

History One of the earliest newspapers, the Roman Acta Diurna, said to have been started by the emperor Julius Caesar, contained handwritten announcements of marriages, deaths, military appointments, and so on, and was posted in public places. In colonial America, small newspapers were in abundance. By the time of the Revolutionary War, newspapers were used to give opinions from both sides; Thomas Paine's first Crisis letters of 1776 were published in the Pennsylvania Journal. Later, newspapers represented political parties; The Federalist essays were first published in the Independent Journal, while the National Gazette represented Republican views. From 1830 newspapers became more like they are today. News was presented along with human interest stories, crime and court happenings, and other items to attract readership.

Most newspapers are issued daily, but many are weeklies. There are almost 2,000 daily newspapers in the USA today. The best-known and most widely read newspapers are The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and the Washington Post. Newspapers such as the Wall Street Journal and Women's Wear Daily are aimed at special interests and are widely read.

Readership Local US newspapers continued to lose readers and larger papers showed increases by mid-1999. Two out of every three newspapers declined in circulation during the period. Overall, US newspapers had recorded a declining readership for more than a decade. Those with more than 500,000 circulation, however, recorded gains, including the Daily News (New York City), Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Newsday, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and USA Today.