الصحف في العصور القديمة .. كتاب معلم الصحافة والإنشاء

Newspapers in ancient times:

If we trace its beginning in the past, then follow its continuous development until the present era, we find:

1 - Manuscript newspapers: The first to rely on them as a basis for the growth of trade was excellent, then it was Italy, because of its prestigious commercial status and geographical location, it began moving towards partisan politics when businessmen began exploiting it to gain people’s attention.

2 - News periodicals: They first appeared in Cologne, a German city, in the year 1415, then in England, France, and America. A type of newspaper was known in Egypt during the Middle Ages, especially during the days of the Crusades, but in a limited manner.

3 - Newsletters: Manuscripts continued to appear during the time of the existence of printing presses, and they included various topics in the form of small letters, due to their low costs and the heavy costs of printing and its lack of availability. Due to the intensity of government control over printed matter, this did not last long until printing presses spread, their wages were reduced, and the authorities’ control gave way in the face of the advancement of the human mind, so organized news letters began to be issued.

4 - Manuscript literary newspapers: Perhaps I will not mistake the truth of this statement based on what was known in the pre-Islamic era among the Arabs of publishing their poetry, which was famous for the hangings on the wall of the Kaaba, and this was their recognition of the superiority of the poet who was judged to have the upper hand over his rivals and for his poetry to be known to the people, and it was Manuscript of course. Manuscript literary newspapers took different directions depending on the development of governance after the spread of Islam. We see them in ancient literature books.

E - Manuscript political and social letters: This is another term for a special type of letters that appeared between the Prophet, peace be upon him, and the kings of his time, as he did with the Negus, and between him and the companions distributed throughout the countries during the conquests and elsewhere. Then the Rightly Guided Caliphs and the Caliphs of Islam after them - especially in the Abbasid era - followed the method of free messages to persuade public opinion, and it became the link between them and their workers in the provinces regarding every matter that concerned the state or the nation, and these people broadcast it in turn. On the people, such as Omar bin Al-Khattab’s letter to one of his workers about organizing the judiciary, and Abd al-Malik’s letter to Al-Hajjaj about politics. These letters were written by writers and scholars who had a prominent position in their time in politics, religion, society, and literature, which almost constituted a complete press at that time. They were a source of danger to the state at times and a means of security and support at other times. If we look at the production of Al-Jahiz, for example, which is a book of the third century AH, we would judge its author to be an excellent journalist in relation to the society in which he lived.

6 - Printed newspapers: They began with the invention of the printing press in the middle of the fifteenth century, and were a means of disseminating literature and sciences and directing public opinion first, then distributing the dangers of human thought, exchanging opinions, and spreading scientific ties between various nations second. Hence, we find that printing and its steady development towards improvement are the basis of the idea of ​​organized journalism and its renaissance. The availability of raw materials and the ease of postal, telegraphic, wired and wireless communications and means of transportation helped to organize it, speed up its issuance, reduce its costs, and spread its circulation, just as the alertness of human thought and its revolution that overcame the censorship and pressure of the authorities. The diversity of editing in newspapers, the presence of specialists in them, their abundance and the large number of people working in them, and their teaching at a high level. All of this gradually eliminated all the factors that made the development of journalism slow, until today we see in our hands various types.
Each of the newspapers has a special feature, a specific form, a limited tendency, and a known direction. There is a difference in the history of the preparation of the first printing press that used Arabic letters. Some historians believe that it was founded in Rome in 1514 AD, and during the sixteenth century a number of scientific books were printed there, in addition to many books related to the Christian religion, and these publications were sent to the eastern markets and sold there. This opinion was supported by some publications issued by the Ottoman Sultan Murad III, which were printed in this printing press in the year 1594. Then the number of Arabic printing presses increased in the seventeenth century in various European countries. It then entered the capital of the Ottoman Empire, nearly three-quarters of a century before the arrival of the French campaign to Egypt, when Napoleon brought there his well-known Arabic printing press. There was also one printing press at that time in Aleppo and another in Al-Shuwair in Lebanon.