Passadoc Gazette – No 130

The first known printed newspaper appears in 1605.
Johan Carolus – an Alsatian printer-publisher – launched the first weekly gazette: Relationship go Fürnemmen und gedenckwürdigen Historian → Communication of all important and memorable stories. The publication continues until 1681; At that date, Strasbourg became a French city, the company of Mr Carolus firm.

Does that mean that the information does not circulate before that date? No, of course... From ancient times, in Rome and Athens, news is spread from street to street, from village to village, almost always by word. « ...almost always » For in the big cities, the rulers display their decisions concerning taxation, justice, etc. The majority of citizens cannot read, but they will not be able to claim that they have not been informed!

Let us pass the time and see what happens in France.

– 1610. Contemporary by J. Carolus, Jean and Étienne Richer publish Mercury Francis, an annual of more than a thousand pages containing news from all over the world; he is considered an ancestor of the French press.

– 1631. By special permission of Louis XIII, Théophraste Renaudot publishes the first French periodical, which has the title... The Gazette Hey! It's a weekly.

– 1777. Publication of the first daily newspaper (in France): on four pages, The Journal de Paris reports the main cultural events associated with a few different facts.

All these publications are purchased by the notables because they are expensive for the small people who are usually illiterate; He also receives information from the colporteurs, street merchants who tell of the happiness and misfortunes of the villages they have traversed; Sometimes they amaze a little, that's how legends are born!

– The more time passes, the more newspaper titles are available and accessible to all. In 1900, the price of a daily is a few cents of francs. After the new policies, the stories of big business (Dreyfus... or Landru), we are passionate about the series signed by senior writers – Balzac, Féval, E. Sue, J. Verne, ... – or by young authors, such as Daudet who begins in literature; He's 19 when The Figaro (founded in 1826) opened his columns.

– 2019. There are 3,700 press releases, dangerously threatened by television (the « Mass of 8 p.m. ») and the Internet.

 – When does our gazette arrive?

But she's here... In front of you... And she's wearing number 130!

Jeanne Monin