Jump to content

Newspaper: Difference between revisions

Edit links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
[pending revision][pending revision]
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
m scholarly treatment using academic sources
sorry| cut and paste from my sandbox to the wrong article !!!
Line 1: Line 1:
[[Image:Newspapers FT SvD IHT WSJ.jpg|thumb|250px|A selection of newspapers]]
'''Papermaking''' is the process of making [[paper]], a material which is ubiquitous today for writing and packaging.
{{Journalism}}
A '''newspaper''' is a [[publication]] containing [[news]], information and [[advertising]], usually printed on low-cost paper called [[newsprint]]. It may be general or special interest, most often published daily or weekly.


The [[Johann Carolus|first printed newspaper]] was published in [[1605]], and the form has thrived even in the face of competition from technologies such as [[radio]], [[television]], and the [[internet]]. Recent developments on the internet are, however, posing major challenges to the business model of many newspapers. Paid circulation is declining in most countries, and advertising revenue, which makes up the bulk of most newspapers' income, is shifting from print to online, resulting in a general decline in newspaper profits. This has led to some predictions that newspapers’ role in society will shrink or even disappear, although historically, new media technologies such as radio and television never supplanted print media.
==History==


==Content==
[[Image:Gutenberg Bible.jpg|thumb|260px|right|A copy of the Gutenberg Bible, this version owned by the U.S. [[Library of Congress]]]]
General-interest newspapers are usually [[journal]]s of current [[news]]. Those can include [[Politics|political events]], [[crime]], [[business]], [[culture]], [[Sportswriting|sports]], and opinions (either [[editorial]]s, [[Column (newspaper)|columns]], or [[political cartoon]]s). Newspapers use [[photograph]]s to illustrate stories; they use [[editorial cartoonist]]s, usually to illustrate writing that is opinion, rather than news.
The word ''paper'' comes from the ancient [[Egypt|Egyptian]] writing material called [[papyrus]], which was woven from [[Cyperus papyrus|papyrus plants]]. Papyrus was produced as early as 3000 in Egypt, and in ancient [[Greece]] and [[Rome]]. Further north, [[parchment]] or [[vellum]], made of processed [[human]]skin or [[calf]]skin, replaced papyrus, as the papyrus plant requires subtropical conditions to grow.


Some specific features a newspaper may include are:
Early inventions, such as the Egyptian papyrus, the [[Roman]] parchment, and the Chinese bark of bamboo were either too expensive or structurally inappropriate for the rapid demands of the press. <ref>Paper & Paper Making Ancient and Modern By Richard J. Herring, George Croly. Page XII. Published 1863. Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, & Green. 134 pages. The [[New York Public Library]]. Digitized May 3, 2006</ref>
*[[weather]] news and [[weather forecast|forecasts]]
*an [[advice column]]
*[[critic]] reviews of movies, plays, restaurants, etc.
*[[editorial]] opinions
*a [[gossip]] column
*[[comic strips]] and other entertainment, such as [[crossword]]s, [[sudoku]] and [[horoscope]]s
*a [[sports]] column or section
*a [[humor]] column or section
*a [[food column]]
[[Image:Brookgreen reading 9739.JPG|thumb|left|Reading the newspaper: [[Brookgreen Gardens]] in [[Pawleys Island, South Carolina|Pawleys Island]], [[South Carolina]], [[United States]].]]


==Types of newspaper==
In America, archaeological evidence indicates that paper was invented by the Mayas no later than the 5th century AD.<ref>[http://www.mathcs.duq.edu/~tobin/maya/ The Construction of the Codex In Classic- and Postclassic-Period Maya Civilization] Maya Codex and Paper Making</ref> Called [[Amate]], it was in widespread use among Mesoamerican cultures until the Spanish conquest. In small quantities, traditional Maya papermaking techniques are still practiced today.
A '''daily newspaper''' is issued every day, often with the exception of Sundays and some [[List of holidays by country|national holidays]]. Saturday, and where they exist Sunday, editions of daily newspapers tend to be larger, include more specialized sections and advertising inserts, and cost more. Typically, the majority of these newspapers' staff work Monday to Friday, so the Sunday and Monday editions largely depend on content done in advance or content that is syndicated.


'''[[Weekly newspaper]]s''' are also common and tend to be smaller than daily papers.
The [[Batak]]s, living in [[Sumatra]], sometimes use as writing material long strips of bamboo, welded by "beating" them together, then folded together, accordion-like, between wooden covers, and bound together woith a string of woven rushes. Often long strips of the thin bark of trees -- such books being known as pustakas -- are used. <ref name=David>The Book Before Printing: Ancient, Medieval, and Oriental / David Diringer By David Diringer (page 37). Published 1982. Courier Dover Publications. History / General History. ISBN 0486242439</ref>


Most nations have at least one newspaper that circulates throughout the whole country: a '''national newspaper''', as contrasted with a '''local newspaper''' serving a city or region. In the [[United States]] and [[Canada]], there are few truly national newspapers, with the notable exceptions ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' and ''[[USA Today]]'' in the US and ''[[The Globe and Mail]]'' and ''[[National Post|The National Post]]'' in Canada. Large metropolitan newspapers with expanded distribution networks such as ''[[The New York Times]]'' and ''[[Washington Post|The Washington Post]]'' can fill the role of ''de facto'' national newspapers. In the [[United Kingdom]], there are numerous national newspapers, including ''[[The Independent]]'',''[[The Times]]'', ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'', ''[[The Guardian]]'', ''[[The Observer]]'', ''[[The Daily Mail]]'', ''[[The Sun (newspaper)|The Sun]]'', ''[[The Daily Express]]'' and ''[[The Daily Mirror]]''.
Specimens of writing on bark from [[India]] are preserved in the [[British Museum]]. The people of the [[Malabar coast]] also frequently wrote upon bark with a stilus.<ref name=David/>
[[Image:Metal movable type.jpg|right|thumb|225px|Movable metal type, and composing stick, descended from [[Johannes Gutenberg]]'s invention]]
Ancient books of the Bataks were written in ink on paper made of bark. The Lampong and Rendjang tribes, also inhabiting Sumatra, scratch their message and books on bamboo, tree bark, or certain kind of leaves. <ref name=David/>


As [[English language|English]] has become the international language of business and technology, many newspapers formerly published only in non-English languages have also developed English-language editions. In places as varied as [[Jerusalem]] and [[Bombay]] ([[Mumbai]]), newspapers are printed to a local and international English-speaking public. The advent of the [[Internet]] has also allowed the non-English newspapers to put out a scaled-down English version to give their newspaper a global outreach.
The actual origin of printing has been a matter of learned controversy. From the earliest ages impressions had been taken from seals. The [[British Museum]] contains blocks of lead, impressed with the name stamp of the Roman authorities. The Chinese, produced blocks of wood engraving, with which they produced multiple copies by impression. The Chinese people had applied it to a species of bank notes as early as the tenth century. Still, this operation was expensive and also so insufficient, that the art of printing cannot be said to have been yet discovered. <ref>Paper & Paper Making Ancient and Modern By Richard J. Herring, George Croly. Pages XIII-XIV. Published 1863. Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, & Green. 134 pages. Original from the [[New York Public Library]]. Digitized May 3, 2006</ref>


There is also a small group of newspapers which may be characterised as '''international newspapers'''. Some, such as ''[[Christian Science Monitor]]'' and ''The [[International Herald Tribune]]'', have always had that focus, while others are repackaged national newspapers or “international editions” of national-scale or large metropolitan newspapers. Often these international editions are scaled down to remove articles that might not interest the wider range of readers.
The oldest known paper document in the West is the [[Mozarab]] [[Missal of Silos]] from the [[11th century]], probably written in [[Islamic Spain]]. The use of paper became increasingly common during the fourteenth century, and is documented as being manufactured in both Italy and Germany by 1400. It then spread rapidly for letters, records, [[old master print]]s and [[popular prints]] and [[manuscript]] books. Prints were initially in [[woodcut]] , and from the 1430s in [[engraving]] also. By the invention of [[movable type]] [[printing]] in [[Germany]] about 1450, paper was readily accessible, although still expensive. [[Vellum]] remained in use as well, and it was on this that the [[Gutenberg Bible]] was first printed.


Job titles within the newspaper industry vary greatly. In the United States, the overall manager of the newspaper - sometimes also the owner - may be termed the [[publisher]]. This usage is less common outside the U.S., but throughout the English-speaking world the person responsible for content is usually referred to as the [[editing|editor]]. Variations on this title such as editor-in-chief, executive editor, and so on, are common.
==Significance==
[[Image:Newspapers FT SvD IHT WSJ.jpg|thumb|250px|A selection of newspapers]]
In the very small quantities needed for [[popular prints]] , paper was affordable by the European urban working class and many peasants even in the 1400s, but books remained expensive until the nineteenth century. However even poor families could often afford a few by the 1700s in England, if they so chose.


While most newspapers are aimed at a broad spectrum of readers, usually geographically defined, some focus on groups of readers defined more by their interests than their location: for example, there are daily and weekly business newspapers and sports newspapers. More specialist still are some weekly newspapers, usually free and distributed within limited areas; these may serve communities as specific as certain immigrant populations, or the local gay community.
Paper remained relatively expensive, at least in book-sized quantities, through the centuries, until the advent of steam-driven paper making machines in the 19th century, which could make paper with [[fibres]] from [[wood pulp]]. Although older machines predated it, the [[Fourdrinier Machine|Fourdrinier]] paper making machine became the basis for most modern papermaking. Together with the invention of the practical [[fountain pen]] and the mass produced [[pencil]] of the same period, and in conjunction with the advent of the steam driven rotary [[printing press]], wood based paper caused a major transformation of the 19th century economy and society in industrialized countries. With the introduction of cheaper paper, schoolbooks, fiction, non-fiction, and newspapers became gradually available to all the members of an industrial society by 1900. Cheap wood based paper also meant that keeping personal diaries or writing letters became universal. The [[clerk]], or writer, ceased to be a high-status job, and by 1850 had nearly become an office worker or [[white-collar worker]] , which transformation can be considered as a part of the [[industrial revolution]].


Newspapers often refine distribution of ads and news through zoning and editioning. Zoning occurs when advertising and editorial content change to reflect the location to which the product is delivered. The editorial content often may change merely to reflect changes in advertising — the quantity and layout of which affects the space available for editorial — or may contain region-specific news. In rare instances, the advertising may not change from one zone to another, but there will be different region-specific editorial content. As the content can vary widely, zoned editions are often produced in parallel.
==Method==


Editioning occurs in the main sections as news is updated throughout the night. The advertising is usually the same in each edition (with the exception of zoned regionals, in which it is often the ‘B’ section of local news that undergoes advertising changes). As each edition represents the latest news available for the next press run, these editions are produced linearly, with one completed edition being copied and updated for the next edition. The previous edition is always copied to maintain a Newspaper of Record and to fall back on if a quick correction is needed for the press. For example, both the [[New York Times]] and [[Wall Street Journal]] offer a regional edition, printed through a local contractor, and featuring locale specific content. The Journal's global advertising [[rate card]] provides a good example of editioning.[http://advertising.wsj.com/Rates/RatesPro.htm]
A rather loose description of how paper is made by hand:


== Format ==
<blockquote>
Most modern newspapers are in one of three sizes:
Fibers are floated in a slurry, a thick soup of water and fibers, in a large vat. A wire screen mould with a wooden frame (somewhat similar to an old window screen) is used to scoop some of the slurry out of the vat. The wooden frame is called a "deckle." The impressions in paper caused by the wires in the screen that run sideways are called "laid lines" and the impressions made, unusually from top to bottom, by the wires holding the other wires together are called "chain lines." Watermarks are created by weaving a name into the wires in the mould. This is essentially true of Oriental moulds made of other substances, such as bamboo. Hand-made paper generally folds and tears more evenly along the laid lines.
* [[Broadsheet]]s: 600 mm by 380 mm (23½ by 15 [[inch]]es), generally associated with more [[intellectual]] newspapers, although a trend towards “compact” newspapers is changing this.
</blockquote>
* [[Tabloid]]s: half the size of broadsheets at 380 mm by 300 mm (15 by 11¾ inches), and often perceived as [[sensationalism|sensationalist]] in contrast to broadsheets.
* [[Berliner (format)|Berliner]] or [[Midi (newspaper)|Midi]]: 470 mm by 315 mm (18½ by 12¼ inches) used by [[Europe]]an papers such as ''[[Le Monde]]'' in [[France]], ''[[La Stampa]]'' in [[Italy]] and, since 12 September 2005, ''[[The Guardian]]'' in the [[United Kingdom]].


Newspapers are usually printed on inexpensive, off-white paper known as newsprint. Since the 1980s, the newspaper industry has largely moved away from lower-quality [[letterpress printing]] to higher-quality, [[CMYK color model|four-color process]], [[offset printing]]. In addition, [[desktop computers]], [[word processor|word processing software]], [[graphics software]], [[digital cameras]] and digital [[prepress]] and [[typesetting]] technologies have revolutionized the newspaper production process. These technologies have enabled newspapers to publish color photographs and graphics, as well as innovative [[layout]]s and better design.
The wooden frame or deckle leaves the edges of the paper slightly irregular and wavery. This wavy edge is called the "deckle edge" and is one of the indications that the paper was made by hand. Deckle-edged paper is occasionally mechanically imitated today to create the impression of old-fashioned luxury.


To help their titles stand out on newsstands, some newspapers are printed on coloured newsprint. For example, the ''[[Financial Times]]'' is printed on a distinctive salmon pink paper, the Italian sports newspaper ''[[La Gazzetta dello Sport]]'' is printed on pink paper, while ''[[L'Équipe]]'' (formerly ''L'Auto'') is printed on yellow paper. Both the latter promoted major [[cycling]] races and their newsprint colours were reflected in the colours of the jerseys used to denote the race leader; thus, the leader in the [[Giro d'Italia]] wears a pink jer
Returning to the process: the slurry in the screen mould is artfully sloshed around the mould until it forms an over-all thin coating. The fibers are allowed to settle and the water to run out. When the fibers have stabilized in place but are still damp, they are turned out onto a felt sheet which was generally made of an animal product such as wool or rabbit fur, and the screen mold immediately reused. Layers of paper and felt build up in a pile and a weight is placed on top to press out water and keep the paper fibers flat and tight. When the paper pages are dry, they are frequently run between rollers to produce a harder writing surface. Papers are made of different surfaces depending on their intended purpose. Paper intended for printing or writing with ink is fairly hard, while paper to be used for water color, for instance, is fairly soft.


==Online-only newspapers==
The wood-based paper was more acidic and more prone to discolor and disintegrate over time, through processes known as [[slow fires]]. Documents written on more expensive rag paper were more stable. Both rag and woodpulp paper will develop tan spots called "foxing" caused by impurities or fungi reacting with humidity. The majority of modern book publishers now use [[acid-free paper]]. Modern newspapers are commonly printed on cheaper high-acid paper which turns tan and disintegrates rather rapidly, especially in the presence of strong light and humidity.
{{main|Online Newspaper}}
With the introduction of the internet, web based newspapers have also started to be produced as online only publications, like [[Southport Reporter]]<ref>Published in UK as the "UK's only web-based newspaper" in January 2005 in hard copy magazine called "Web Pages Made Easy."</ref>. To be a Web-Only newspaper they must be web published only and must not be part of or have any connection to hard copy formats. To be classed as a Online Only Newspaper the paper must also be regularly updated at a regular time and keep to a fixed news format, like a hardcopy newspaper. They must also be only published by professional media companies and regarded under the national/international press rules and regulations <ref>[http://www.journalism.co.uk/news/story3152.shtml Journalism Magazine] - "The UK [[PCC]] (Press Complaints Commission) before 2007 already regulated online editions of UK newspapers"</ref> unlike [[blog]] <ref>[http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&defl=en&q=define:Blog&sa=X&oi=glossary_definition&ct=title Google Define Blog]</ref> sites. and other news websites it is run as a newspaper and is recognized by media groups in the UK, like the [[NUJ]] and/or the [[IFJ]]. Also they fall under the UK's PCC rules.


==Paper sizes==
== Electronic Paper ==
{{main|electronic paper}}
[[Image:Paper sheet.jpg|right|150px|thumb|A blank sheet of paper]]
In the beginning of Western papermaking, the paper size was fairly standard. A page of paper is referred to as a "leaf." When a leaf was printed on without being folded, the size was referred to as "folio." It was roughly equal to the size of a newspaper sheet.


In February 2006, the [[Flemish people|Flemish]] daily [[De Tijd]] of [[Antwerp]] announced plans to distribute an electronic-ink version of the paper to selected subscribers. This will be the first such application of electronic ink to newspaper publishing. This type of electronic ink will be able to update any newspaper instantly.
When it was folded once, it produced four sides or pages, and the size of the pages or a book made of such pages was referred to as "quarto" (4to).


== Circulation and readership ==
If the original sheet was folded in half again, the result was eight sides, referred to as "octavo" (8vo), which is the size that most books, such as the average novel, use to this day.
{{main|Newspaper circulation}}
The number of copies distributed, either on an average day or on particular days (typically Sunday), is called the newspaper’s circulation and is one of the principal factors used to set advertising rates. Circulation is not necessarily the same as copies sold, since some copies or newspapers are distributed without cost. Readership figures are higher than circulation figures because many copies are read by more than one person.


[[Image:Newspaper_vendor.jpg|thumb|250px|Newspaper vendor, [[Paddington]], [[London]], February 2005]]
An "octavo" folding produces four leaves, the first two and the second two will be joined at the top by the second fold. The top edge is usually "trimmed" to make it possible to look freely at each side of the leaf. However, many books are found that have not been trimmed on the top, and these pages are referred to as "unopened." Many people reading "unopened" books will use their finger, a pencil, or some other inadequate instrument to rip open the top of the pages, leaving an irregular tear. A letter opener or a knife carefully used is a more appropriate tool.


According to the [[Guinness Book of Records]], the daily circulation of the Soviet newspaper ''[[Trud (Russian newspaper)|Trud]]'' exceeded 21,500,000 in [[1990]], while the Soviet weekly ''[[Argumenty i fakty]]'' boasted the circulation of 33,500,000 in 1991.
An octavo book produces a printing puzzle. Pieces of paper are printed when they are folio size. To provide for the proper alignment of numbered pages, pages 8 and 1 are printed right-side-up on the bottom of the sheet, and pages 4 and 5 are printed up-side-down on the top of the same sheet. On the opposite side, pages 2 and 7 are printed right-side-up on the bottom of the sheet, and pages 6 and 3 are printed up-side-down on the top of the sheet. When the paper is folded twice and the folds trimmed, the pages fall into proper order.


According to [[United Nations]] data from 1995 [[Japan]] has three daily papers —the ''[[Asahi Shimbun]]'', ''[[Mainichi Shimbun]]'' and ''[[Yomiuri Shimbun]]''— with circulations well above 4 million. [[Germany]]’s ''[[Bild-Zeitung|Bild]]'', with a circulation of 4.5 million, was the only other paper in that category.
Try folding a paper in half by turning the top half down and creasing it, and then fold it in half again by turning the left side over the right. You have the format for an octavo page arrangement. If you number the pages in order and then open the paper to full size, you will see the numbers as described above.


In the [[United Kingdom]], ''[[The Sun (newspaper)|The Sun]]'' is the top seller, with around 3.2 million copies distributed daily (late-2004).
Smaller books are produced by folding the leaves again to produce 16 pages, known as a "sixteen-mo" (16mo). Other folding arrangements produce yet smaller books such as the thirty-two-mo (32mo).


In [[India]], ''The [[Times of India]]'' is the largest English newspaper, with 2.14 million copies daily. According to the 2006 National Readership Study, the ''Dainik Jagran'' is the most-read, local-language (Hindi) newspaper, with 21.2 million readers [http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/holnus/001200608291820.htm].
When a standard-sized octavo book is produced by a large leaf folded two times, two leaves joined at the top will be contained in the resulting fold (which ends up in the gulley between the pages). This group of 8 numberable pages is called a "signature" or a "gathering." Traditionally, printed signatures were stacked on top of each other in a "sewing frame" and each signature was sewn through the inner fold to the signature on top of it. The sewing ran around leather bands or fabric tapes along the backs of the signatures to stabilize the growing pile of signatures.


In the U.S., ''[[USA Today]]'' has a daily circulation of approximately 2 million, making it the most widely distributed paper in the country.
The leather bands originally used in the West to stabilize the backs of sewn books appear as a number of ridges under the leather on the spine of leather books.


A common measure of a newspaper’s health is market penetration. Market penetration is expressed as a percentage of households that receive a copy of the newspaper against the total number of households in the paper’s market area. In the 1920s, on a national basis in the U.S., daily newspapers achieved market penetration of 130 percent (meaning the average U.S. household received 1.3 newspapers). As other media, such as radio and television, began to compete with newspapers, and as printing became easier and less expensive giving rise to a greater diversity of publications, market penetration began to decline. It wasn't until the early 1970s, however, that market penetration dipped below 100 percent. By 2000, it was 53 percent [http://www.stateofthenewsmedia.org/narrative_newspapers_audience.asp?cat=3&media=2 1].
The ends of the leather strips or fabric bands were sewn or glued onto the cover boards and reinforced the hinging of the book in its covers.


===Vatmen Paper===
== Advertising ==
Most newspapers make nearly all their money from [[advertising]]; the income from the customer’s payment at the news-stand is small in comparison. For that reason, newspapers are inexpensive to buy, and some are free. The portion of the newspaper that is not advertising is called ''editorial content'', ''editorial matter'', or simply ''editorial'', although the last term is also used to refer specifically to those articles in which the newspaper and its guest writers express their opinions. In recent years, the [[advertorial]] emerged. Advertorials are most commonly recognized as an [[opinion-editorial]] which third-parties pay a fee to have included in the paper. [[Advertorial]]s commonly [[advertise]] new products or techniques, such as a new design for golf equipment, a new form of laser surgery, or weight-loss drugs. The tone is usually closer to that of a [[press release]] than of an objective [[news story]].


Publishers of commercial newspapers strive for higher circulation, so that advertising in their newspaper becomes more effective, allowing the newspaper to attract more advertisers and to charge more for the service. But some advertising sales also market demographics: some newspapers might sacrifice higher circulation numbers in favor of an audience with a higher income.
''Vatmen Paper'' was a type of paper made in [[The Netherlands]] that was 17 inches wide and 44 inches lomg. 44 inches is chosen because that is how far the papermaker could stretch his arm.{cite} The reason for 17 inches is unknown.


Many paid-for newspapers offer a variety of subscription plans. For example, someone might want only a Sunday paper, or perhaps only Sunday and Saturday, or maybe only a [[workweek]] subscription, or perhaps a [[day|daily]] subscription.
==Notes==
<references/>


Some newspapers provide some or all of their content on the internet, either at no cost or for a fee. In some cases, free access is available only for a matter of days or weeks, after which readers must register and provide personal data. In other cases, free archives are provided.
==References==

* A standard reference on the subject is ''Papermaking: The History and Technique of an Ancient Craft'', by [[Dard Hunter]], Alfred A. Knopf, NY, 1943.
== Newspaper journalism ==
Since newspapers began as a journal (record of current events), the profession involved in the making of newspapers began to be called ''[[journalism]]''. Much emphasis has been placed upon the accuracy and fairness of the journalist — see [[Ethics]].

In the [[yellow journalism]] era of the 19th century, many newspapers in the United States relied on sensational stories that were meant to anger or excite the public, rather than to inform. The more restrained style of reporting that relies on fact checking and accuracy regained popularity around [[World War II]].

Criticism of journalism is varied and sometimes vehement. Credibility is questioned because of anonymous sources; errors in facts, spelling, and [[grammar]]; real or perceived [[bias]]; and scandals involving [[plagiarism]] and fabrication.

In the past, newspapers have often been owned by so-called [[press baron]]s, and were used either as a rich man’s [[toy]], or a [[politics|political]] tool. More recently in the United States, a greater number of newspapers (and all of the largest ones) are being run by large media corporations such as [[Gannett]] (the largest in the United States), [[The McClatchy Company]], Cox, LandMark, Morris Corp., [[Tribune Company|The Tribune Company]], etc. Many industry watchers have concerns that the growing need for profit growth natural to corporations will have a negative impact on the overall quality of journalism.

There is no doubt, however, that newspapers have, in the modern world, played an important role in the exercise of freedom of expression. Whistle-blowers, and those who “leak” stories of corruption in political circles often choose to inform newspapers before other mediums of communication, relying on the perceived willingness of newspaper editors to expose the secrets and lies of those who would rather cover them. However, there have been many circumstances of the political autonomy of newspapers being curtailed.

Even though the opinions of the owners are often relegated to the ''editorial'' section, and the opinions of other writers and readers are in the [[op-ed|''op-ed'']] (“opposite the editorial page”) and [[letter to the editor|''letters to the editors'']] sections of the paper, newspapers have been used for political purposes by insinuating some kind of bias outside of the editorial section and into straight ''news''. For example, ''[[The New York Times]]'' is often criticised for a perceived [[left-wing politics|leftist]] slant to its stories, or, by others, for supporting the American political establishment, whereas the opinion pages (but not the news pages) of the ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' generally take [[right-wing politics|right-wing]] positions.

Some ways newspapers have tried to improve their credibility are: appointing [[ombudsman|ombudsmen]], developing ethics policies and training, using more stringent corrections policies, communicating their processes and rationale with readers, and asking sources to review articles after publication. Many larger newspapers are now using more aggressive random fact-checking to further improve the chances that false information will be found before it is printed.

==The future of newspapers==
The future of newspapers is cloudy, with overall readership slowly declining in most developed countries due to increasing competition from television and the Internet. The 57th annual World Newspaper Congress, held in [[Istanbul]] in June 2004, reported circulation increases in only 35 of 208 countries studied. Most of the increases came in developing countries, notably China and India

[[Image:NYTimes-Page1-11-11-1918.jpg|right|260px|thumb|Front page of ''[[The New York Times]]'' on [[Armistice Day]], November 11, 1918.]]
A report at the gathering indicated that China tops total newspaper circulation, with more than 85 million copies of papers sold every day, followed by India with 72 million&mdash;China and India are the two most populous countries in the world&mdash;followed by Japan with 70 million and the United States with 55 million. The report said circulation declined by an average of 2.2 percent across 13 of the 15 countries that made up the [[European Union]] before [[May 1]]. The biggest declines were in [[Ireland]], down 7.8 percent; Britain, down 4.7 percent; and [[Portugal]], where numbers fell by 4.0 percent. One growth area is the distribution of [[free daily newspaper]]s, which are not reflected in the above circulation data. Led by the [http://www.metro.lu Metro] chain of newspapers, they grew 16 percent in 2003.

Another growth area is high-quality tabloids, particularly in the UK, where several of the major broadsheets are experimenting with the format (see “[[Broadsheet#Switch to smaller sizes|Switch to smaller sizes]]”). Smaller and easier to hold than broadsheets, but presenting serious journalism rather than traditional [[tabloid]] fodder, they appear to have drawn some younger readers who are otherwise abandoning newspapers.

Newspapers also face increased competition from internet sites such as ''[[Craigslist]]'' for [[classified ad]]s, especially for jobs, real estate, and cars, the advertising of which has long been key sources of newspaper revenue. Also from online only newspapers. Already in the UK a newspaper called [[Southport Reporter]] started out in 2000 and remains online as a recognized newspaper, but only published online and others now exist through out the world. This opens the debate as to "What is a newspaper". See [[Online Newspapers]].

However, many believe that the internet can itself be used to newspapers’ advantage. Again see [[online Newspapers]] also [[broadcast journalism]].

==Newspapers in different countries==
{{main|List of newspapers}}


==See also==
==See also==
{{Wikibooks|How To Run A Newspaper}}
* [[Bookbinding]]
{{wiktionary}}
* [[Kraft process]]

* [[Paper]]
*[[Above the fold]]
*[[Alternative weekly]]
*[[List of fictional newspapers]]
*[[Freedom of the press]]
*[[Free daily newspaper]]
*[[Graphic design]]
*[[Gazette]]
*[[History of British newspapers]]
*[[History of American newspapers]]
*[[International Freedom of Expression Exchange]]
*[[Journalism]]
*[[List of journalism topics]]
*[[List of newspapers]] (by country)
*[[Magazine]]
*[[Mass media]]
*[[Muckraker]]
*[[Newseum]]
*[[News design]]
*[[Newspaper circulation]]
*[[Newspaper archives online]]
*[[Newspapers on demand]]
*[[Photojournalism]]
*[[Printing]]
*[[Propaganda model]]
*[[Student newspaper]]
*[[Underground press]]
*[[Weekly newspaper]]
*[[Yellow journalism]]
*[[World Association of Newspapers]]

==External links to lists of newspapers==
<!--Please don't add links to individual newspapers; there are far too many-->

* [http://www.thepaperboy.com/ ThePaperBoy.com -- Comprehensive, searchable directory of online newspapers from around the world.]
* [http://www.newspaperindex.com/ NewspaperIndex.com -- The most significant newspapers in every country in the world]
* [http://www.allyoucanread.com/ AllYouCanRead.com -- 23,000 Newspapers and Magazines from 200 Countries]
* [http://www.omninternet.com/news/news.asp Newspapers -- A complete newspapers directory from all the world]
* [http://www.brtsis.com/ World Newspapers - Thousands of newspapers from countries of the World]
* [http://antalya.uab.es/bchg/index_en.php El Quiosc -- Compilation and databases of digital newspapers and magazines]

==Other external links ==
* [http://www.bivingsreport.com/2006/the-use-of-the-internet-by-america%e2%80%99s-newspapers/ The Use of the Internet by America's Newspapers]
* [http://news.google.com/archivesearch Google: Historic newspaper archive]
* [http://www.worldwidewired.com/ World Wide Wired links to newspapers around the world]
* [http://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/ Daily showcase of newspaper front pages from around the world]
* [http://www.wan-press.org/ World Association of Newspapers]
* [http://www.naa.org/ Newspaper Association of America]
* [http://www.nnnlp.com/ Newspaper National Network LP]
* [http://www.gutenberg-museum.de/index.php?id=32&language=e Exhibition on the Occasion of the 400th Anniversary of the Newspaper in the Gutenberg-Museum Mainz (Germany)]
* [http://digitalnewspapers.org/ Utah Digital Newspapers]
* [http://www.smalltownpapers.com/ SmallTownPapers - Current editions of 250 newspapers from small US towns]

<!--Categories-->
[[Category:Ephemera]]
[[Category:Newspapers]]
[[Category:Newspapering]]
[[Category:Paper products]]
[[Category:Serials, periodicals and journals]]


<!--Interlanguage links-->
[[Category:Papermaking| ]]
[[Category:Paper]]
[[af:Koerant]]
[[ru:Ватман]]
[[ar:صحيفة]]
[[zh:造纸术]]
[[be:Газэта]]
[[bg:Вестник]]
[[category:book arts]]
[[ca:Premsa escrita]]
[[cv:Хаçат]]
[[cs:Noviny]]
[[cy:Papur newydd]]
[[da:Avis]]
[[pdc:Zeiding]]
[[de:Zeitung]]
[[es:Prensa escrita]]
[[eo:Ĵurnalo]]
[[eu:Egunkari]]
[[fa:روزنامه]]
[[fr:Presse écrite]]
[[ko:신문]]
[[hr:Novine]]
[[id:Koran]]
[[os:Газет]]
[[it:Giornale (editoria)]]
[[he:עיתונות]]
[[ku:Rojname]]
[[li:Gezèt]]
[[ms:Akhbar]]
[[nl:Krant]]
[[nds-nl:Krante]]
[[ja:新聞]]
[[no:Avis]]
[[nn:Avis]]
[[nrm:Gâzette]]
[[pl:Gazeta]]
[[pt:Jornal]]
[[ro:Ziar]]
[[ru:Газета]]
[[sq:Gazeta]]
[[simple:Newspaper]]
[[sl:Časopis]]
[[fi:Sanomalehti]]
[[sv:Tidning]]
[[th:หนังสือพิมพ์]]
[[tr:Gazete (medya)]]
[[wa:Gazete]]
[[zh-yue:報紙]]
[[zh:報紙]]

Revision as of 10:49, 27 March 2007

File:Newspapers FT SvD IHT WSJ.jpg
A selection of newspapers

A newspaper is a publication containing news, information and advertising, usually printed on low-cost paper called newsprint. It may be general or special interest, most often published daily or weekly.

The first printed newspaper was published in 1605, and the form has thrived even in the face of competition from technologies such as radio, television, and the internet. Recent developments on the internet are, however, posing major challenges to the business model of many newspapers. Paid circulation is declining in most countries, and advertising revenue, which makes up the bulk of most newspapers' income, is shifting from print to online, resulting in a general decline in newspaper profits. This has led to some predictions that newspapers’ role in society will shrink or even disappear, although historically, new media technologies such as radio and television never supplanted print media.

Content

General-interest newspapers are usually journals of current news. Those can include political events, crime, business, culture, sports, and opinions (either editorials, columns, or political cartoons). Newspapers use photographs to illustrate stories; they use editorial cartoonists, usually to illustrate writing that is opinion, rather than news.

Some specific features a newspaper may include are:

File:Brookgreen reading 9739.JPG
Reading the newspaper: Brookgreen Gardens in Pawleys Island, South Carolina, United States.

Types of newspaper

A daily newspaper is issued every day, often with the exception of Sundays and some national holidays. Saturday, and where they exist Sunday, editions of daily newspapers tend to be larger, include more specialized sections and advertising inserts, and cost more. Typically, the majority of these newspapers' staff work Monday to Friday, so the Sunday and Monday editions largely depend on content done in advance or content that is syndicated.

Weekly newspapers are also common and tend to be smaller than daily papers.

Most nations have at least one newspaper that circulates throughout the whole country: a national newspaper, as contrasted with a local newspaper serving a city or region. In the United States and Canada, there are few truly national newspapers, with the notable exceptions The Wall Street Journal and USA Today in the US and The Globe and Mail and The National Post in Canada. Large metropolitan newspapers with expanded distribution networks such as The New York Times and The Washington Post can fill the role of de facto national newspapers. In the United Kingdom, there are numerous national newspapers, including The Independent,The Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, The Observer, The Daily Mail, The Sun, The Daily Express and The Daily Mirror.

As English has become the international language of business and technology, many newspapers formerly published only in non-English languages have also developed English-language editions. In places as varied as Jerusalem and Bombay (Mumbai), newspapers are printed to a local and international English-speaking public. The advent of the Internet has also allowed the non-English newspapers to put out a scaled-down English version to give their newspaper a global outreach.

There is also a small group of newspapers which may be characterised as international newspapers. Some, such as Christian Science Monitor and The International Herald Tribune, have always had that focus, while others are repackaged national newspapers or “international editions” of national-scale or large metropolitan newspapers. Often these international editions are scaled down to remove articles that might not interest the wider range of readers.

Job titles within the newspaper industry vary greatly. In the United States, the overall manager of the newspaper - sometimes also the owner - may be termed the publisher. This usage is less common outside the U.S., but throughout the English-speaking world the person responsible for content is usually referred to as the editor. Variations on this title such as editor-in-chief, executive editor, and so on, are common.

While most newspapers are aimed at a broad spectrum of readers, usually geographically defined, some focus on groups of readers defined more by their interests than their location: for example, there are daily and weekly business newspapers and sports newspapers. More specialist still are some weekly newspapers, usually free and distributed within limited areas; these may serve communities as specific as certain immigrant populations, or the local gay community.

Newspapers often refine distribution of ads and news through zoning and editioning. Zoning occurs when advertising and editorial content change to reflect the location to which the product is delivered. The editorial content often may change merely to reflect changes in advertising — the quantity and layout of which affects the space available for editorial — or may contain region-specific news. In rare instances, the advertising may not change from one zone to another, but there will be different region-specific editorial content. As the content can vary widely, zoned editions are often produced in parallel.

Editioning occurs in the main sections as news is updated throughout the night. The advertising is usually the same in each edition (with the exception of zoned regionals, in which it is often the ‘B’ section of local news that undergoes advertising changes). As each edition represents the latest news available for the next press run, these editions are produced linearly, with one completed edition being copied and updated for the next edition. The previous edition is always copied to maintain a Newspaper of Record and to fall back on if a quick correction is needed for the press. For example, both the New York Times and Wall Street Journal offer a regional edition, printed through a local contractor, and featuring locale specific content. The Journal's global advertising rate card provides a good example of editioning.[1]

Format

Most modern newspapers are in one of three sizes:

Newspapers are usually printed on inexpensive, off-white paper known as newsprint. Since the 1980s, the newspaper industry has largely moved away from lower-quality letterpress printing to higher-quality, four-color process, offset printing. In addition, desktop computers, word processing software, graphics software, digital cameras and digital prepress and typesetting technologies have revolutionized the newspaper production process. These technologies have enabled newspapers to publish color photographs and graphics, as well as innovative layouts and better design.

To help their titles stand out on newsstands, some newspapers are printed on coloured newsprint. For example, the Financial Times is printed on a distinctive salmon pink paper, the Italian sports newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport is printed on pink paper, while L'Équipe (formerly L'Auto) is printed on yellow paper. Both the latter promoted major cycling races and their newsprint colours were reflected in the colours of the jerseys used to denote the race leader; thus, the leader in the Giro d'Italia wears a pink jer

Online-only newspapers

Main article: Online Newspaper

With the introduction of the internet, web based newspapers have also started to be produced as online only publications, like Southport Reporter[1]. To be a Web-Only newspaper they must be web published only and must not be part of or have any connection to hard copy formats. To be classed as a Online Only Newspaper the paper must also be regularly updated at a regular time and keep to a fixed news format, like a hardcopy newspaper. They must also be only published by professional media companies and regarded under the national/international press rules and regulations [2] unlike blog [3] sites. and other news websites it is run as a newspaper and is recognized by media groups in the UK, like the NUJ and/or the IFJ. Also they fall under the UK's PCC rules.

Electronic Paper

Main article: electronic paper

In February 2006, the Flemish daily De Tijd of Antwerp announced plans to distribute an electronic-ink version of the paper to selected subscribers. This will be the first such application of electronic ink to newspaper publishing. This type of electronic ink will be able to update any newspaper instantly.

Circulation and readership

Main article: Newspaper circulation

The number of copies distributed, either on an average day or on particular days (typically Sunday), is called the newspaper’s circulation and is one of the principal factors used to set advertising rates. Circulation is not necessarily the same as copies sold, since some copies or newspapers are distributed without cost. Readership figures are higher than circulation figures because many copies are read by more than one person.

Newspaper vendor, Paddington, London, February 2005

According to the Guinness Book of Records, the daily circulation of the Soviet newspaper Trud exceeded 21,500,000 in 1990, while the Soviet weekly Argumenty i fakty boasted the circulation of 33,500,000 in 1991.

According to United Nations data from 1995 Japan has three daily papers —the Asahi Shimbun, Mainichi Shimbun and Yomiuri Shimbun— with circulations well above 4 million. Germany’s Bild, with a circulation of 4.5 million, was the only other paper in that category.

In the United Kingdom, The Sun is the top seller, with around 3.2 million copies distributed daily (late-2004).

In India, The Times of India is the largest English newspaper, with 2.14 million copies daily. According to the 2006 National Readership Study, the Dainik Jagran is the most-read, local-language (Hindi) newspaper, with 21.2 million readers [2].

In the U.S., USA Today has a daily circulation of approximately 2 million, making it the most widely distributed paper in the country.

A common measure of a newspaper’s health is market penetration. Market penetration is expressed as a percentage of households that receive a copy of the newspaper against the total number of households in the paper’s market area. In the 1920s, on a national basis in the U.S., daily newspapers achieved market penetration of 130 percent (meaning the average U.S. household received 1.3 newspapers). As other media, such as radio and television, began to compete with newspapers, and as printing became easier and less expensive giving rise to a greater diversity of publications, market penetration began to decline. It wasn't until the early 1970s, however, that market penetration dipped below 100 percent. By 2000, it was 53 percent 1.

Advertising

Most newspapers make nearly all their money from advertising; the income from the customer’s payment at the news-stand is small in comparison. For that reason, newspapers are inexpensive to buy, and some are free. The portion of the newspaper that is not advertising is called editorial content, editorial matter, or simply editorial, although the last term is also used to refer specifically to those articles in which the newspaper and its guest writers express their opinions. In recent years, the advertorial emerged. Advertorials are most commonly recognized as an opinion-editorial which third-parties pay a fee to have included in the paper. Advertorials commonly advertise new products or techniques, such as a new design for golf equipment, a new form of laser surgery, or weight-loss drugs. The tone is usually closer to that of a press release than of an objective news story.

Publishers of commercial newspapers strive for higher circulation, so that advertising in their newspaper becomes more effective, allowing the newspaper to attract more advertisers and to charge more for the service. But some advertising sales also market demographics: some newspapers might sacrifice higher circulation numbers in favor of an audience with a higher income.

Many paid-for newspapers offer a variety of subscription plans. For example, someone might want only a Sunday paper, or perhaps only Sunday and Saturday, or maybe only a workweek subscription, or perhaps a daily subscription.

Some newspapers provide some or all of their content on the internet, either at no cost or for a fee. In some cases, free access is available only for a matter of days or weeks, after which readers must register and provide personal data. In other cases, free archives are provided.

Newspaper journalism

Since newspapers began as a journal (record of current events), the profession involved in the making of newspapers began to be called journalism. Much emphasis has been placed upon the accuracy and fairness of the journalist — see Ethics.

In the yellow journalism era of the 19th century, many newspapers in the United States relied on sensational stories that were meant to anger or excite the public, rather than to inform. The more restrained style of reporting that relies on fact checking and accuracy regained popularity around World War II.

Criticism of journalism is varied and sometimes vehement. Credibility is questioned because of anonymous sources; errors in facts, spelling, and grammar; real or perceived bias; and scandals involving plagiarism and fabrication.

In the past, newspapers have often been owned by so-called press barons, and were used either as a rich man’s toy, or a political tool. More recently in the United States, a greater number of newspapers (and all of the largest ones) are being run by large media corporations such as Gannett (the largest in the United States), The McClatchy Company, Cox, LandMark, Morris Corp., The Tribune Company, etc. Many industry watchers have concerns that the growing need for profit growth natural to corporations will have a negative impact on the overall quality of journalism.

There is no doubt, however, that newspapers have, in the modern world, played an important role in the exercise of freedom of expression. Whistle-blowers, and those who “leak” stories of corruption in political circles often choose to inform newspapers before other mediums of communication, relying on the perceived willingness of newspaper editors to expose the secrets and lies of those who would rather cover them. However, there have been many circumstances of the political autonomy of newspapers being curtailed.

Even though the opinions of the owners are often relegated to the editorial section, and the opinions of other writers and readers are in the op-ed (“opposite the editorial page”) and letters to the editors sections of the paper, newspapers have been used for political purposes by insinuating some kind of bias outside of the editorial section and into straight news. For example, The New York Times is often criticised for a perceived leftist slant to its stories, or, by others, for supporting the American political establishment, whereas the opinion pages (but not the news pages) of the The Wall Street Journal generally take right-wing positions.

Some ways newspapers have tried to improve their credibility are: appointing ombudsmen, developing ethics policies and training, using more stringent corrections policies, communicating their processes and rationale with readers, and asking sources to review articles after publication. Many larger newspapers are now using more aggressive random fact-checking to further improve the chances that false information will be found before it is printed.

The future of newspapers

The future of newspapers is cloudy, with overall readership slowly declining in most developed countries due to increasing competition from television and the Internet. The 57th annual World Newspaper Congress, held in Istanbul in June 2004, reported circulation increases in only 35 of 208 countries studied. Most of the increases came in developing countries, notably China and India

Front page of The New York Times on Armistice Day, November 11, 1918.

A report at the gathering indicated that China tops total newspaper circulation, with more than 85 million copies of papers sold every day, followed by India with 72 million—China and India are the two most populous countries in the world—followed by Japan with 70 million and the United States with 55 million. The report said circulation declined by an average of 2.2 percent across 13 of the 15 countries that made up the European Union before May 1. The biggest declines were in Ireland, down 7.8 percent; Britain, down 4.7 percent; and Portugal, where numbers fell by 4.0 percent. One growth area is the distribution of free daily newspapers, which are not reflected in the above circulation data. Led by the Metro chain of newspapers, they grew 16 percent in 2003.

Another growth area is high-quality tabloids, particularly in the UK, where several of the major broadsheets are experimenting with the format (see “Switch to smaller sizes”). Smaller and easier to hold than broadsheets, but presenting serious journalism rather than traditional tabloid fodder, they appear to have drawn some younger readers who are otherwise abandoning newspapers.

Newspapers also face increased competition from internet sites such as Craigslist for classified ads, especially for jobs, real estate, and cars, the advertising of which has long been key sources of newspaper revenue. Also from online only newspapers. Already in the UK a newspaper called Southport Reporter started out in 2000 and remains online as a recognized newspaper, but only published online and others now exist through out the world. This opens the debate as to "What is a newspaper". See Online Newspapers.

However, many believe that the internet can itself be used to newspapers’ advantage. Again see online Newspapers also broadcast journalism.

Newspapers in different countries

Main article: List of newspapers

See also

Wikibooks has a book on the topic of: How To Run A Newspaper
Look up newspaper in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
  1. ^ Published in UK as the "UK's only web-based newspaper" in January 2005 in hard copy magazine called "Web Pages Made Easy."
  2. ^ Journalism Magazine - "The UK PCC (Press Complaints Commission) before 2007 already regulated online editions of UK newspapers"
  3. ^ Google Define Blog
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Newspaper&oldid=118229201"