History of the press and broadcasting

Journalism and Mass Communication · History and media in Pakistan. The idea in plain words, the rules to remember, the mistake to avoid and a worked example, written and checked by Mega Lecture.

Test this topic freeAll Journalism and Mass Communication topics

The idea

News was shared long before printing. In ancient Rome the Acta Diurna, a daily record of public events, was displayed in public places. The great change came in the fifteenth century, when Johannes Gutenberg of Mainz introduced printing with movable type in Europe. Cheap printed copies made regular newspapers possible, and the first English daily appeared in London in 1702.

In the subcontinent the press began with Hicky's Bengal Gazette, printed at Calcutta in 1780. It attacked senior East India Company officials and was soon suppressed.

Pakistan inherited radio stations at Independence in 1947 and began television in 1964. For most of their history Radio Pakistan and PTV have been state-owned broadcasters, while the major newspapers have been privately owned.

Rules to remember

Common mistake

Students write that Gutenberg invented printing. Printing existed earlier in East Asia; Gutenberg is credited with introducing printing with movable metal type in Europe.

Worked example

Which of these began publication first: Jang, Nawa-i-Waqt or the Pakistan Times?

  1. Jang began at Delhi in 1939.
  2. Nawa-i-Waqt began at Lahore in 1940.
  3. The Pakistan Times began at Lahore in 1947, so it is the latest of the three.

Answer: Jang (1939).

Ask about this

Type what you are stuck on. The helper finds the explanation, worked examples and the notes to read, free and instant.

Read the full notes

Keep going

← Normative theories of the pressRole of the press in the freedom movement →Take a Journalism and Mass Communication test