International Snail Papers Day – April 7, 2025

History of International Snail Papers Day

Written news has a long history which can be traced back to the Roman empire in 59 BC. Rome was the center of the western world, and it was considered the hub of innovation. Historians believe that ‘Acta Diuma,’ a piece of hand-carved news on a stone or metal sheet, is credited to be the first medium of regular written news updates to the Romans. Acta Diuma was kept secret from the public at first, and it was later made public by Julius Caesar in 59 BC. The first printed newspaper was first introduced in the 17th Century in Europe when Johann Carolus published ‘Reiation alier Fumemmen und gedenckwudigen Historien’, which published the account of all distinguished and commemorable news in Germany in 1605.

The cost of newspapers fell after the advent of advertising in the 19th Century, and it could be afforded by a much wider population. Ad revenues grew with the circulation of the newspapers, and most of the publications were hugely profitable and were owned by wealthy individuals who used newspapers to spread their political views. The business of newspapers started in the U.S. in 1833 when Benjamin Day started the first edition of the New York Sun.

But newspapers rapidly also started to face competition first in the 1920s and 30s from radio transmission and then in the 50s from television. But newspapers were largely considered as parallel media rather than direct competition, however, in the last 25 years with the rapid rise of digital media, the print media has not been doing very well. Newspapers are facing a challenge from news websites and the rise of the yellow journalism