INTRODUCTION TO PRINT MEDIA

NEWSPAPERS

Print media generally refers to newspapers. Newspapers collect, edit and print news reports and articles. There are newspapers published in the evening also. They are called eveningers.

Why do people read newspapers?

They read newspapers for a variety of reasons. Let us consider a few examples.

Yesterday while going to the city you might have seen an accident. Two buses had collided and by the mere sight you could make out that many passengers must have been killed or injured. You were busy with your daily engagements and forgot about the accident. Only today morning you recalled that incident. You were curious to know more about it. You wanted to know how many passengers were killed or injured.

Where will you look for these details?

In a newspaper, of course. So you would pick up a newspaper and read all about the accident.

Fig 5.1: News of a rail accident

Ramu and Ravi were planning to go for a movie. Both got pocket money from their parents and permission to go for a film. Ramu asked Ravi whether he knows the names of films playing in different theatres in the City. Ravi was also not sure about it. So they picked up a newspaper. The paper gave all the details about films shown in different cinema halls in the city.

Fig 5.2: Cinema theatre list

You must have seen such columns in the newspaper. They appear under the title ‘entertainment’. So you look into the newspaper for entertainment also.

Raju is a resident of Bhopal. He wanted to visit his uncle in Delhi. As he was busy during the weekdays, he was free only during weekends. Before booking the tickets, he wanted to know about the train timings. He used to see that the local newspaper carries a column on train timings. So he picked up that paper and decided on the train in which he should reserve a ticket.

Fig 5.3: Railway timings list

You must have seen such columns in newpapers. They give you such information. So you are reading the paper for information also.

Thus newspapers play a very important role in our daily life. We read the newspaper for :

·        News

·        Entertainment

·        Information

HISTORY OF PRINTING

Have you seen a palm leaf? There was a time when people used to write on palm leaves. This was before the discovery of paper. Some of the old manuscripts written on palm leaves are preserved in our National Manuscript Library in Delhi.

Fig 5.4: Old manuscript on palm leaves

The Chinese were the first to invent the art of printing. They made wooden blocks to print letters. This was started during the period of the Tang Dynasty in 600 AD. The oldest known surviving printed work in a woodblock is a Buddhist scripture of 684 AD. It is now exhibited in a calligraphy museum in Tokyo, the capital of Japan.

The first printed book published in China was the Buddhist text, the “Diamond Sutra” by Wang Chick in 868 AD. Some copies of the Buddhist scriptures printed in 1377 are preserved in museums in China.

Fig 5.5: Buddhist Text of 1377

Can you imagine a world without paper ? Nowadays paper has become an integral part of our life. We read papers in the morning, write on note books made of paper, send letters on paper, use paper boxes to carry things and so on and so forth. You have learnt in an earlier lesson how this paper is made. Though the Egyptians made paper by 3500 BC, it came to Europe only by the 11th century. The first paper mill in Europe was set up in Spain in 1120.

Block printing came to Europe by 1300. It is believed that Johannes Gutenburg of Germany had developed printing technology around 1439. Gutenburg also invented an oil-based ink for printing. He printed the Bible in 1450. It was in the Latin language and had 1282 pages .He used movable printing blocks for the book.

Printing technology came to India in 1556. It was the Jesuit priests who brought this technology to our country. The first book printed in India was in Portugese language in Old Goa. It was Doctrina Christa by St. Francis Xavier.

Fig 5.6: Doctrina Christa

The invention of printing has revolutionised mass communication. Books are printed in large numbers and circulated in many countries. No other invention has had such an influence in the history of mankind.