"Man's desire to obtain information, to know the inside story, is as old as human society itself." For four centuries, this desire has spawned news, changed the face of the world, and in turn shaped humanity itself.
Recently, "The Invention of Journalism: How the World Knows Itself" written by Andrew Pettigli, a British historian and professor at the University of St Andrews, was published by Guangxi Normal University Publishing House Xinmin Shuo. The book won the 2015 Harvard Goldsmith Award.
The invention of journalism is the invention of public power; and the history of journalism is the process by which man tries to connect the world, the world tries to know himself. Long before the invention of printing, people craved information. In the pre-industrial era, people collected and shared news through talks, gossip, celebrations, sermons, and announcements. The printing age gave birth to pamphlets, periodicals and the earliest newsprint, expanding the news community from the local to the world.
The book traces the history of journalism in several European countries over the four centuries from 1400 to 1800, showing the power to control news, the role of news in politics, the Reformation, and social events, the entertainment and timeliness of news, the credibility of journalists, and the changes that have taken place after people pushed open the window of the world of news.
The Times Literary Supplement commented: "A fascinating book—beautifully written, well-choreographed, and informative about the way news was collected and disseminated before 1800, even the most obscure." ”
Prospect Magazine called the book "a painstaking study of the news network before and in the early days of newspapers ... [It] challenges our preconceptions about journalism. If you have faith in examining your life and reflecting on your own behavior, this book is extremely interesting. ”
Nandu reporter Huang Qian
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