News sources have been around since the advent of mankind. Humans need a source to be aware of all the happenings around them and strive for detailed and accurate news as evidenced by the development of various sources of news through the history. It is a social requirement of humans to know what's happening around the world and especially locally. The news sources for today are varied and multi dimensional catering to various needs. The popular sources for news today are newspapers, television, internet, magazines, radio etc. But, people did not have it that easy a few decades ago. Let us take a look at how the sources of news evolved over a period of time.
During the medieval times, there would be a central area of announcement where people would be updated regularly about the news and announcements from the rulers. This was a very inaccurate source of news as the monarchy would control what got out in the news and would release selective news with a partial view. This news would spread from person to person and reach the entire kingdom. Later, this was replaced by a bulletin board or announcement board as the people became literate which was updated by the ruling power.
The predecessors of current day newspapers are the pieces of cloth on which news was written and circulated by the government. In the 8th century in china, government controlled news was written on silk and distributed amongst the people. The first privately owned newssheets were circulated in China in the 16th century. In the 19th century, newspapers began to circulate with the earliest news agency being founded in 1835. In the 20th century, newspapers became the major mode of news and remained so until the 21st century.
Magazines developed around the same time as newspapers. The "Gentleman's magazine" published in England in 1731 is one of the earliest known magazines. Magazines appealed to a section of audience that required coverage of news in a particular niche. Hence, magazines evolved and became popular. Various types of magazines came in to being such as magazines that catered to art, sports, fashion, teens, hobbies etc. Newspapers and magazines ruled the media scene for a couple of centuries till radio and television began to overtake the media.
Radio and television became a household requirement in the middle to late 20th century. Popularly termed as the "idiot box", people took an instant liking to it. It became the primary source of news for the people and it evolved to include channels which were only for the news. The 20th century for media belonged to television and radio.
The Internet developed in late 1990's and evolved exponentially to become a part of everyone's lives. It was an invention which wasn't initially intended for public use but was later utilized to do so. Various websites catering to news cropped up and ruled the media online. Today, Internet has overtaken television as the preferred source of information. You can get on demand information from various sources so that you get an outlook which covers both sides of the story.
Although, Television and Internet have taken over the mainstream media, the written media which include the newspapers and magazines still appeal to a section of audience and hold a large number of followers.
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