Text 1. History of Journalosm.

Early Journalism

The history of journalism, or the development of the gathering and transmitting of news, spans the growth of technology and trade, marked by the advent of specialized techniques for gathering and disseminating information on a regular basis that has caused, as one history of journalism surmises, the steady increase of "the scope of news available to us and the speed with which it is transmitted. Newspapers have always been the primary medium of journalists since 1700, with magazines added in the 18th century, radio and television in the 20th century, and the Internet in the 21st century.

Before the advent of the newspaper, there were two major kinds of periodical news publications: the handwritten news sheet, and single item news publications. These existed simultaneously.

The Roman Empire published Acta Diurna ("Daily Acts"), or government announcement bulletins, around 59 BC, as ordered by Julius Caesar. They were carved in metal or stone and posted in public places. In China, early government-produced news sheets, called tipao, were commonly used among court officials during the late Han dynasty (2nd and 3rd centuries AD).

In 1556, the government of Venice first published the monthly Notizie scritte ("Written notices") which cost one gazetta, Venetian coin of the time, the name of which eventually came to mean "newspaper". These avvisi were handwritten newsletters and used to convey political, military, and economic news quickly and efficiently throughout Europe, more specifically Italy, during the early modern era (1500-1800) — sharing some characteristics of newspapers though usually not considered true newspapers.

However, none of these publications fully met the classical criteria for proper newspapers, as they were typically not intended for the general public and restricted to a certain range of topics.

Early publications played into the development of what would today be recognized as the newspaper, which came about around 1601. Around the 15th and 16th centuries, in England and France, long news accounts called "relations" were published.

Single event news publications were printed in the broadsheet format, which was often posted. These publications also appeared as pamphlets and small booklets (for longer narratives, often written in a letter format), often containing woodcut illustrations. Literacy rates were low in comparison to today, and these news publications were often read aloud (literacy and oral culture were, in a sense, existing side by side in this scenario).

By 1400, businessmen in Italian and German cities were compiling hand written chronicles of important news events, and circulating them to their business connections. The idea of using a printing press for this material first appeared in Germany around 1600. The first gazettes appeared in German cities, notably the weekly Relation aller Fuernemmen und gedenckwürdigen Historien ("Collection of all distinguished and memorable news") in Strasbourg starting in 1605. The Avisa Relation oder Zeitung was published in Wolfenbüttel from 1609, and gazettes soon were established in Frankfurt (1615), Berlin (1617) and Hamburg (1618). By 1650, 30 German cities had active gazettes. A semi-yearly news chronicle, in Latin, the Mercurius Gallobelgicus, was published at Cologne between 1594 and 1635, but it was not the model for other publications.

In the following decades, the national governments in Paris and London began printing official newsletters. In 1622 the first English-language weekly magazine, "A current of General News" was published and distributed in England in an 8- to 24-page quarto format.

The first newspaper in France, the Gazette de France, was established in 1632 by the king's physician Theophrastus Renaudot (1586-1653), with the patronage of Louis XIII.^[7] All newspapers were subject to prepublication censorship, and served as instruments of propaganda for the monarchy. Jean Loret is considered to be one of France's first journalists. He disseminated the weekly news of music, dance and Parisian society from 1650 until 1665 in verse, in what he called a gazette burlesque, assembled in three volumes of La Muse historique (1650, 1660, 1665).

1. Read and memorize the active vocabulary to the text.

development (n) - развитие

transmitting (n) - передача

span (v) – охватывать

disseminate (v) –распространять

surmise (v) – предполагать

steady (adj) –устойчивый

scope (n) - границы, рамки, пределы

advent (n) - наступление (эпохи, события)

simultaneously (adv) - вместе, одновременно

convey (v) - сообщать, передавать

woodcut (n) - гравюра на дереве; ксилография

literacy (n) - грамотность, способность писать и читать

censorship (n) - цензура (государственный надзор за печатью и средствами массовой информации)

2. Commentary and Notes to the text.

Avvisi  - (plural of avviso) were hand-written newsletters used to convey political, military, and economic news quickly and efficiently throughout Europe, and more specifically Italy, during the early modern era (1500-1700). In the beginning avvisi were very similar to letters written from one dignitary to another, but diverged from such letters in the sixteenth century with more standardized practices. Avvisi can be divided into two categories: 'public' avvisi and 'secret' avvisi, though each copy was often written by the same person.

Gazette - a loanword from the French language; in turn, the French word is a 16th-century permutation of the Italian gazzetta, which is the name of a particularVenetian coin. Gazzetta became an epithet for newspaper during the early and middle 16th century, when the first Venetian newspapers cost one gazzetta. (Compare with other vernacularisms from publishing lingo, such as the British penny dreadful and the American dime novel.) This loanword, with its variouscorruptions, persists in numerous modern languages.

broadsheet - 1) газета большого формата (обычно солидное, респектабельное издание) tabloid 2) большой лист бумаги с печатным текстом на одной стороне 3) листовка; плакат

pamphlet - 1) брошюра; буклет, проспект; инструкция Syn: brochure 2) злая сатира, памфлет

3. Answer the questions giving below.

1. What does the history of journalism span?

2. Since when have newspapers been the primary medium of journalists?

3. What two major kinds of periodical news publications there were before the advent of the newspaper?

4. Why were the news publications often read aloud in the 15th and 16th centuries?

5. What do you know about the etymology of the the word “gazette”?

6. What was the name of the first English-language weekly magazine and when was it published? 7. Who was the first newspaper in France established by? When?

Text 2. Digital (on-line) journalism

Digital journalism also known as online journalism is a contemporary form of journalism where editorial content is distributed via the Internet as opposed to publishing via print or broadcast. What constitutes 'digital journalism' is debated by scholars. However the primary product of journalism, which is news and features on current affairs, is presented solely or in combination as text, audio, video and some interactive forms, and disseminated through digital media platforms.

Fewer barriers to entry, lowered distribution costs, and diverse computer networking technologies have led to the widespread practice of digital journalism. It has democratized the flow of information that was previously controlled by traditional media including newspapers, magazines, radio, and television.

A greater degree of creativity can be exercised with digital journalism when compared to traditional journalism and traditional media.

The difference of digital journalism from traditional journalism may be in its reconceptualised role of the reporter in relation to audiences and news organizations.

Mainstream news sites are the most widespread form of online newsmedia production. Blogs are also another digital journalism phenomenon capable of fresh information, ranging from personal sites to those with audiences of hundreds of thousands. Many news organizations based in other media also distribute news online, but the amount they use of the new medium varies.

Digital journalism allows for connection and discussion at levels that print does not offer on its own. People can comment on articles and start discussion boards to discuss articles. Before the Internet, spontaneous discussion between readers who had never met was impossible. Digital journalism opens up new ways of storytelling; through the technical components of the new medium, digital journalists can provide a variety of media, such as audio, video, and digital photography. Digital journalism represents a revolution of how news is consumed by society. Online sources are able to provide quick, efficient, and accurate reporting of breaking news in a matter of seconds.

Many newspapers have created online sites to remain competitive and have taken advantage of audio, video, and text linking to remain at the top of news consumers' lists.

Students wishing to become journalists now need to be familiar with digital journalism in order to be able to contribute and develop journalism skills.

Other significant tools of on-line journalism are Internet forums, discussion boards and chats, especially those representing the Internet version of official media. Internet radio and podcasts are other growing independent media based on the Internet.