Newspaper, publication usually issued on a daily or weekly basis, the main function of which is to report

news. Many newspapers also furnish special information to readers, such as weather reports, television
schedules, and listings of stock prices. They provide commentary on politics, economics, and arts and
culture, and sometimes include entertainment features, such as comics and crossword puzzles. In nearly all
cases and in varying degrees, newspapers depend on commercial advertising for their income.

The Wall Street Journal

The Wall Street Journal is one of the most widely circulated newspapers in the United States. The newspaper specializes in
business and financial news and also covers national and international affairs.

USA Today
USA Today began publication on September 15, 1982, with this issue. It became the largest-selling daily newspaper in the
United States.
The Liberator
In 1831 abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison began to publish a newspaper in Boston called The Liberator which demanded the
immediate liberation of black American slaves. He was deeply convinced that slavery had to be abolished by moral force and
applied Christian concepts to the abolitionist cause.

Electronic Newspaper
In the late 1990s newspapers began offering their content on the Internet in record numbers. By the end of the decade, more
than 1,000 North American newspapers offered online versions, most available to Internet users free of charge. Electronic
newspapers spared publishers one of their highest expenses—newsprint—and many brought publishers additional advertising
revenue. The New York Times on the Web, an exerpt of which is shown here, offers readers the same content as its print
publication as well as stories and features available only in its online version.

Kinds:
A.Daily Newspapers

Daily newspapers print at least one edition every weekday. Morning editions, printed in the
predawn hours, cover newsworthy events of the previous day. Evening editions are printed in
the afternoon and include information about events that happened earlier that day. Most dailies
also offer a larger weekend edition. In Canada, weekend editions generally come out on
 Saturdays. In the United States, Sunday editions are typical.

Stories featured in dailies generally cover a wide range of issues that appeal to an audience in a
specific geographic region, such as a particular metropolitan area. Daily general-circulation
newspapers average about 65 pages during the week and more than 200 pages in the weekend
edition. Commercial advertising takes up about two-thirds of both weekday and weekend
editions, and news and features fill the remaining third.

Most daily newspapers divide their content into separately folded sections. Newspapers
typically have sections for local news, sports, arts and entertainment, business, and classified
advertising. The newspapers’ front page features eye-catching headlines and photographs that
pique readers’ interests and direct them to stories featured in the inner sections. The first page
of each section follows the same general model to entice readers to explore that section’s
contents.

In the United States in 2000, about 1,500 daily newspapers printed a total of 56 million copies,
and on average, each copy was read by at least 2 people. Canada, which has just over one-tenth
of the American population, had about one-tenth the number of daily papers. In 2001, 105
Canadian daily newspapers printed a total of more than 5 million copies each day.

The newspaper with the largest circulation in the United States is USA Today, with a national
circulation of about 2.3 million. Other newspapers with large circulation are the New York
Times and the Los Angeles Times. The Toronto Star is Canada’s most widely read daily
newspaper, followed by the national Globe and Mail.

Many large daily newspapers publish regional editions that cater to the population of a smaller
geographical area. For example, each weekday the Wall Street Journal publishes five different
editions—three national regional editions, an edition in Europe, and an edition in Asia. Dailies
in large metropolitan areas may publish a city edition as well as suburban editions to circulate
among readers who live outside the city. Dailies in large urban areas also may publish two or
more city editions, each delivering news and advertisements directed at different neighborhoods
or boroughs.

Most North American daily newspapers print one edition a day and circulate fewer than
100,000 copies. In 2000 about 100 newspapers sold more than 100,000 copies per day in the
United States, and 10 Canadian papers had daily sales of 100,000 copies or more. Some papers,
especially those in small towns or rural areas, circulate only a few thousand copies per day.

B.Weekly Newspapers

Weekly newspapers publish once a week. General-circulation weekly papers often contain news
of interest to people in a smaller area than that of a daily paper, an area such as a small city,
town, or neighborhood. They feature less national or international news, focusing instead on
local happenings. High school sporting events, traffic accidents, and actions by local
 government frequently make front-page news in weekly papers.

Many large metropolitan areas also have weekly papers. In urban settings, weekly papers often
provide more detailed analysis of local news and politics than daily papers do. They may
contain in-depth commentary on the local arts scene and include comprehensive schedules for
music and theater productions.

Almost 7,600 weekly newspapers circulated in the United States in 2000, each selling an
average of more than 9,000 copies every week. Canada had about 1,100 weeklies, a number that
included many community papers, which publish twice a week.

C.Special-Interest Papers

Special-interest newspapers concentrate on news of interest to a particular group. An ethnic

community, for example, may have a newspaper that informs readers of news and events in
that community. Many special-interest newspapers are printed in a language other than
English. Corporations or divisions of corporations often publish their own newspapers, as do
unions and trade organizations, such as those for woodworkers, airline pilots, and people in the
fashion industry. Other special-interest papers feature news about a specific topic, such as rock
music or sports.

Special-interest papers may come out daily, weekly, monthly, or even less frequently. Daily
special-interest newspapers cover daily events from the perspective of members in that group.
The Wall Street Journal, for example, contains detailed financial news that appeals to members
of the business community. Ethnic communities in urban areas may have a daily special-
interest paper that examines local, national, and international news in terms of how it affects
their population. Large universities often have daily papers. Arts newspapers, such as
newspapers devoted to theater or music, often come out weekly. They include critiques of art
exhibits, performances, new music albums, and recently published books. They typically also
publish schedules of upcoming events, such as concerts and poetry readings.

ORIGINS OF NEWSPAPERS

Before the invention of printing machines, people spread news by word of mouth, written letters, or public
notices. As more people learned to read and write, news reports gained added reliability. Ancient Rome
had a particularly sophisticated system for circulating written news. Its publishing practices centered on
acta diurna (daily events), handwritten news sheets posted by the government in the public marketplace
from the year 59 BC to at least AD 222. Acta diurna announced news of politics, trials, scandals, military
campaigns, and executions. In China, early government-produced news sheets, called tipao, circulated
among court officials during the Han dynasty (202 BC-AD 220). At some point during the Tang dynasty
(618-907), the Chinese used carved wooden blocks to print tipao, making them the first printed
newspapers in history.
A printing press that employed movable type was developed in Europe in 1450, and European officials
soon began using it to publish news (see Printing). Short pamphlets, called news books, informed the
public of royal weddings, victorious battles, or other newsworthy events. News ballads recounted news
events in verse form. News books and news ballads were circulated sporadically in Europe and the
American colonies, usually when officials wanted to inform the public of important events.

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