Early journalism lecture



An example of Chinese pictographic
writing dating from 6000 BC



The lecture was focused on the history of writing and how over a period of 6,000 years writing transformed from ancient Chinese pictographic script which was made up of small basic pictures that denoted a word or phrase to the Roman alphabet we use today consisting of 26 letters.  

The first step to producing journalilstic writing was the construction of the Guttenberg printing press in the 1440's. This enabled important literature such as the Bible to be printed in large quantities so it was accessible to everyone in society and it could be read at the home not just at church on a Sunday. The Guttenberg printing press paved the way for mass production of literature and today in the UK alone 206,000 books are printed every year.

The first newspaper, The Daily Courant began printing in 1702 and it encouraged the masses to buy and sell goods and informed the general public about about changes in the government. This was the first time that large numbers of people throughgout England were able to read about what was happening on a daily basis.It started a revolution for many newspapers in future years such as The Guardian which began in Manchester in 1821 before being printed across the country.
                                                                                                                      



Painting of Daniel Defoe



1703 is an important date in Early Journalism as it marks the introduction of Daniel Defoe, writer of the novel Robinson Crusoe and regarded by many as "the father of English Journalism". He bagan his career producing and selling pamphlets on the streets of London. He got arrested for his pamphlet entitled Proposals for the Establishment of the Church due to the satirical mocking of high power Tories.