News

====Europe====
In Europe, during the Middle Ages, elites relied on runners to transmit news over long distances. At 33 kilometres per day, a runner would take two months to bring a message across the [[Hanseatic League]] from Bruges to Riga.<ref>Distelrath, "Development of the Information and Communication Systems in Germany and Japan" (2000), p. 44.</ref><ref>Lampe & Ploeckl, "Spanning the Globe" (2014), 247.</ref> In the [[Early modern Europe|early modern period]], increased cross-border interaction created a rising need for information which was met by concise handwritten newssheets. The driving force of this new development was the commercial advantage provided by up-to-date news.<ref name=Pettegree3 /><ref>McCusker & Gravesteijn, ''Beginnings of Commercial and Financial Journalism'' (1991), p. 21. "Business thrives on the most recent news. The merchants of the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries, no less than those of today, required the 'freshest advices' in order to conduct their affairs profitably."</ref>

In 1556, the government of [[Republic of Venice|Venice]] first published the monthly ''Notizie scritte'', which cost one [[gazette|gazetta]].<ref name="WAN timeline">[http://www.wan-press.org/article2822.html Wan-Press.org] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111093302/http://www.wan-press.org/article2822.html |date=11 January 2012 }}, A Newspaper Timeline, [[World Association of Newspapers]]</ref> These [[avviso|avvisi]] were handwritten newsletters and used to convey political, military, and economic news quickly and efficiently to Italian cities (1500–1700)—sharing some characteristics of newspapers though usually not considered true newspapers.<ref>Infelise, Mario. "Roman Avvisi: Information and Politics in the Seventeenth Century." in ''Court and Politics in Papal Rome, 1492–1700''(Cambridge University Press, 2002) pp. 212, 214, 216–217</ref> ''Avvisi'' were sold by subscription under the auspices of military, religious, and banking authorities. Sponsorship flavored the contents of each series, which were circulated under many different names. Subscribers included clerics, diplomatic staff, and noble families. By the last quarter of the seventeenth century, long passages from ''avvisi'' were finding their way into published monthlies such as the {{Lang|fr|[[Mercure de France]]}} and, in northern Italy, ''Pallade veneta''.<ref>Selfridge-Field, Eleanor. ''Pallade Veneta: Writings on Music and Society, 1650–1750''. Venice: Fondazione Ugo e Olga Levi, 1985. Chs. 1 2, 3.</ref><ref>Selfridge-Field, Eleanor. ''Song and Season: Science, Culture, and Theatrical Time''. (Stanford UP, 2007). Chs. 10, 11.</ref><ref>Pettegree, ''The Invention of News'' (2014), p. 5.</ref>

[[File:Postkurse 1563.jpg|thumb|Some European postal routes in 1563]]
Postal services enabled merchants and monarchs to stay abreast of important information. For the [[Holy Roman Empire]], Emperor [[Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor|Maximillian I]] in 1490 authorized two brothers from the Italian Tasso family, Francesco and Janetto, to create a network of courier stations linked by riders. They began with a communications line between Innsbruck and Mechelen and grew from there.<ref name=LampePloeckl248>Lampe & Ploeckl, "Spanning the Globe" (2014), 248.</ref> In 1505 this network expanded to Spain, new governed by Maximilian's son [[Philip I of Castile|Philip]]. These riders could travel 180 kilometers in a day.<ref>Pettegree, ''The Invention of News'' (2014), pp. 17–18.</ref> This system became the [[Reichspost|Imperial Reichspost]], administered by Tasso descendants (subsequently known as [[Lamoral II Claudius Franz, Count of Thurn and Taxis|Thurn-und-Taxis]]), who in 1587 received exclusive operating rights from the Emperor.<ref name=LampePloeckl248 /> The [[La Poste (France)|French postal service]] and [[General Post Office|English postal service]] also began at this time, but did not become comprehensive until the early 1600s.<ref name=LampePloeckl248 /><ref>Starr, ''Creation of the Media'' (2004), pp. 30–31.</ref><ref>Fang, ''History of Mass Communication'' (1997), pp. 29–30.</ref> In 1620, the English system linked with Thurn-und-Taxis.<ref name=Bakker13>Bakker, "Trading Facts" (2011), p. 13.</ref>

These connections underpinned an extensive system of news circulation, with handwritten items bearing dates and places of origin. Centred in Germany, the network took in news from Russia, the Balkans, Italy, Britain, France, and the Netherlands.<ref>Smith,''The Newspaper: An International History'' (1979), pp. 18–19. "Since the late Middle Ages a formal network of correspondents and intelligence agents had come into being across the bulk of the European continent, busily sending news of military, diplomatic and ecclesiastical affairs along a series of prescribed routes. The information was handwritten and passed along carefully organized chains, each item being labeled with its place and date of origin."</ref> The German lawyer [[Christoph von Scheurl]] and the [[Fugger]] house of Augsburg were prominent hubs in this network.<ref name=Bakker11 /> Letters describing historically significant events could gain wide circulation as news reports. Indeed, personal correspondence sometimes acted only as a convenient channel through which news could flow across a larger network.<ref>Lim, "Take Writing" (2006), pp. 35–45.</ref> A common type of business communication was a simple listing of current prices, the circulation of which quickened the flow of international trade.<ref name=Bakker10>Bakker, "Trading Facts" (2011), pp. 10–11.</ref><ref>Kallionen, "Information, communication technology, and business" (2004), p. 22.</ref> Businesspeople also wanted to know about events related to shipping, the affairs of other businesses, and political developments.<ref name=Bakker10 /> Even after the advent of international newspapers, business owners still valued correspondence highly as a source of reliable news that would affect their enterprise.<ref>Kallionen, "Information, communication technology, and business" (2004), p. 21. "Although the businessmen obtained information from newspapers and other public sources, for instance, from the consuls stationed in foreign towns, they placed special value on the letters received directly from their foreign partners. This is precisely the key to the existence of a network relationship: the parties were dependent on the resources controlled by both parties, both goods and information, so by mutual co-operation both parties gained mutual benefits. Long-term, personal networks were particularly well suited for transmitting information that required high reliability.</ref> Handwritten newsletters, which could be produced quickly for a limited clientele, also continued into the 1600s.<ref name=Bakker11>Bakker, "Trading Facts" (2011), pp. 11–12.</ref>