Though now eclipsed by radio and television, news\papers were once the main source of news for people in the industrialized world.
The earliest known news\paper was Acta Diurna (Daily Events), a hand\written Roman news\paper that was posted in a public place. The first printed news\paper was called Ti-pao, a Chinese news\paper printed with wooden blocks around 700 AD.
News\papers boomed following the invention of the Linotype by Ottmar Mer\gen\thal\er in 1878. His invention cast lead into rows of letters much more quickly than they could be set by hand. The price of news\papers dropped and the circulation rose.
In the late 1800s many papers tried to outdo each other in printing lurid details of crimes, disasters and scandals, a formula called "yellow journalism."
Since then, newspapers have become more responsible, but today, with heavy competition, most news\papers no longer publish an afternoon edition, others have combined with competitors and some have gone out of business.
Though most major US newspapers no longer practice yellow journalism, it is still wise to be cautious about accepting everything they say, particularly on controversial topics. In addition to the pressures of producing stories on a daily basis, writers and editors have viewpoints on the news events they write about and may consciously or subconsciously include or exclude information that supports that view. Reading a variety of publications can give you different views and help you make up your own mind on a topic.
