WThe modern newspaper is a European invention. The oldest direct handwritten news sheets that circulated widely in Venice as early as 1566. These weekly news sheets were filled with information on wars and politics in Italy and Europe. The first printed newspapers were published weekly in Germany from 1609. Typically they were heavily censored by the government and reported only foreign news, and current prices. After the English government relaxed censorship in 1695, newspapers flourished in London and a few other cities including Boston and Philadelphia. By the 1830s high speed presses could print thousands of papers cheaply, allowing for low daily costs.
WThe history of American newspapers begins in the early 18th century with the publication of the first colonial newspapers. American newspapers began as modest affairs—a sideline for printers. They became a political force in the campaign for American independence. Following independence the first amendment to U.S. Constitution guaranteed freedom of the press. The U.S. Postal Service Act of 1792 provided substantial subsidies: Newspapers were delivered up to 100 miles for a penny and beyond for 1.5 cents, when first class postage ranged from six cents to a quarter.
WThe American Newspaper Repository is a charity whose purpose is to collect and preserve original copies of American newspapers. It was founded in 1999 by the author Nicholson Baker when he learnt that the British Library was disposing of its collection of historic American newspapers. He cashed in his retirement fund to successfully bid for the collection at auction. With support from the Knight Foundation and MacArthur Foundation, the repository was established in an old mill building in Rollinsford, New Hampshire. While serving as a director, Baker researched and wrote Double Fold: Libraries and the Assault on Paper about the way in which other library institutions were destroying rather than preserving such originals.
WThe history of British newspapers dates to the 17th century with the emergence of regular publications covering news and gossip. The relaxation of government censorship in the late 17th century led to a rise in publications, which in turn led to an increase in regulation throughout the 18th century. The Times began publication in 1785 and became the leading newspaper of the early 19th century, before the lifting of taxes on newspapers and technological innovations led to a boom in newspaper publishing in the late 19th century. Mass education and increasing affluence led to new papers such as the Daily Mail emerging at the end of the 19th century, aimed at lower middle-class readers.
WThe Burney Collection consists of over 1,270 17th-18th century newspapers and other news materials, gathered by Charles Burney, most notable for the 18th-century London newspapers. The original collection, totalling almost 1 million pages, is held by the British Library.
WThere were five important periods in the history of Canadian newspapers' responsible for the eventual development of the modern newspaper. These are the "Transplant Period" from 1750 to 1800, when printing and newspapers initially came to Canada as publications of government news and proclamations; followed by the "Partisan Period from 1800–1850," when individual printers and editors played a growing role in politics. The "Nation Building Period from 1850–1900," when Canadian editors began the work of establishing a common nationalistic view of Canadian society. The "Modern period" from 1900 to 1980s saw the professionalization of the industry and the growth of chains. "Current history" since the 1990s saw outside interests take over the chains, as they faced new competition from the Internet.
WThe decline of newspapers has been debated, as the industry has faced slumping ad sales, the loss of much classified advertising and precipitous drops in circulation. In recent years, newspapers' weekday circulation has fallen 7% and Sunday circulation 4% in the United States, their greatest declines since 2010. Overall, the industry continues to shrink, with Editor & Publisher’s DataBook listing 126 fewer daily papers in 2014 than in 2004. To survive, newspapers are considering combining and other options, although the outcome of such partnerships has been criticized. Despite these problems, newspaper companies with significant brand value and which have published their work online have had a significant rise in viewership.
WIn nineteenth-century Upper Canada, German language publications were in high demand, with Germans then the third-largest immigrant group in Canada after the English and French. German migration was concentrated in Waterloo County and its heavily German towns, Berlin and Waterloo, with most newspapers established there to service the population. Though Toronto was Canada West's population centre, it was unable to support a large German readership, with its only German language newspaper moving away after less than a year of publication. German is the only language other than English or French to have had a flourishing newspaper press in Ontario, with approximately thirty German newspapers having been published in the period from 1835 to 1918.
WThis list of the oldest newspapers sorts the newspapers of the world by the date of their first publication. The earliest newspapers date to 17th century Europe when printed periodicals began rapidly to replace the practice of hand-writing newssheets. The emergence of the new media branch has to be seen in close connection with the simultaneous spread of the printing press from which the publishing press derives its name. The oldest living newspaper in the world, and with the same title, is the Gazzetta di Mantova, regularly published in Mantua (Italy) since 1664.
WThe Omaha World-Herald is a daily newspaper in the midwestern United States, the primary newspaper of the Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area. It was locally owned from its founding in 1885 until 2020, when it was sold to a newspaper chain by its most recent local owner, Warren Buffett, chairman of Omaha-based Berkshire Hathaway.
WThe Ottawa Citizen is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
WTaxes on knowledge was a slogan defining an extended British campaign against duties and taxes on newspapers, their advertising content, and the paper they were printed on. The paper tax was early identified as an issue: "A tax upon Paper, is a tax upon Knowledge" is a saying attributed to Alexander Adam (1741–1809), a Scottish headmaster.
WThe Toronto Star is a Canadian broadsheet daily newspaper. As of 2015, it was Canada's highest-circulation newspaper in overall weekly circulation: although a close second to The Globe and Mail in daily circulation on weekdays, it overtakes the Globe in weekly circulation because the Globe does not publish a Sunday edition. The Toronto Star is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands division.
WA trench newspaper or front newspaper is a type of periodical that came into being during the First World War. Trench newspapers were produced for soldiers stationed at the Western Front, which had become bogged down in a trench war. They differ from the official military newspapers in that they were produced within the ranks or by private citizens.
WUSA Today is an American daily middle-market newspaper that is the flagship publication of its owner, Gannett. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, it operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virginia. It is printed at 37 sites across the United States and at five additional sites internationally. Its dynamic design influenced the style of local, regional, and national newspapers worldwide through its use of concise reports, colorized images, informational graphics, and inclusion of popular culture stories, among other distinct features.