The Coffee House Chapter Summary

Improved Essays
As word of mouth being the oldest news medium (Stephens, 2007, p. 2), this chapter introduces different kinds of oral news, such as spoken news and news exchange in coffee houses. The latter is presented with its historical context and significance for the French Revolution, because of its strong impact to society. The use of language goes back until 100,000 B.C. with the rise of the homo sapiens (Stephens, 2007, p. XI) and is a basic tool for human communication and interaction.

Tikopia
Raymond Firth, an anthropologist from New Zealand, undertook significant research in the field of oral news in the 20th century (Stephens, 2007, p. 8). In this example, the focus lies on his exploration of how news were spread on Tikopia, a Polynesian island.
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52). They were an alternative to the royal court as institution where political discourses took place and necessary for the growth of the French revolution in its early stage. The consumption of coffee was not longer a private, but a public event which provided the foundation of news exchange in coffee houses in Paris and London (Stephens, 2007, p. 34). These locations were used by noblemen, citizens, intellectuals, merchants, writers, and politicians for discussing about news on a political, societal and cultural level (Kuhn, 2009, p. 53). Unofficially, the purpose of many meetings was to spread new information and results of such discussions, which were relevant for the society in Paris, because the majority of the population was unsatisfied by the economic and political situation. The coffeehouses became centres of communication and also started to adapt democratic characteristics, such as votings for topics of discussion or the acceptance of new discussion participants, even before a widespread democracy was established in France (Kuhn, 2009, p. 54). Nowadays, the free, independent discourse of such coffee house societies is seen as an inevitable component in the growth process of pre revolutionary discussions and ideas (Kuhn, 2009, p. 54)

Written News

One of the first printed news stories was about
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In general, newspapers started to adjust their business approach by including advertisements in the early 19th century and aimed to reach relatively wealthy and the poor parts of the society. The first group was attractive for advertisers, while the poor citizens would demand a high circulation (Stephens, 2007, p. 183). Between 1820 and 1835 the growth of the newspaper sector was slower than the years before, which is why publishers concentrated on an audience that was willing to pay, by offering the newspapers for just about six to eight pennies or subscriptions for a whole year (Stephens, 2007, p.

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