How did the small, one page tabloid of the last century evolve into today’s voluminous publication, often more than two hundred pages on Sunday? Early newspapers carried news from outside the local area. That was what the readers of Colonial times yearned for, especially news from overseas. There was little need for advertising in early newspapers. There was practically no need for sports news, the arts, business, entertainment or comics. Since the newspaper serves the needs and interests of its community, there was no need for specialized sections in a community’s early stages. As a community grew from farms, to village, to town and into a city, the need for more varied information grew as a diverse population emerged. Eventually the content and frequency of these “non essential” news items increased to the point where they required a regular segment of the daily or weekly edition. This gave birth to permanent specialized sections of the modern newspaper.
The following unit will discuss these sections and how they cooperate to intricately weave together the “strands of information” which provide the strength and coverage of today’s newspaper.
Later units will take a much closer look into each major section of the modern newspaper and how it evolved, how its staff operates, the gathering or creation of information, its audience, its substance and many more aspects of each individual vital section of today’s newspaper that has “something for everyone.”
