News is packaged information about current events happening somewhere else; or, alternatively, news is that which the news industry sells. News moves through many different media, based on word of mouth, printing, postal systems, broadcasting, and electronic communication. Common topics for news reports include war, politics, and business, as well as athletic contests, quirky or unusual events, an
d the doings of celebrities. Government proclamations, concerning royal ceremonies, laws, taxes, public health, and criminals, have been dubbed news since ancient times. Humans exhibit a nearly universal desire to learn and share news from elsewhere, which they satisfy by traveling and talking to each other. Technological and social developments, often driven by government communication and espionage networks, have increased the speed with which news can spread, as well as influenced its content. The genre of news as we know it today is closely associated with the newspaper, which originated in China as a court bulletin and spread, with paper and printing press, to Europe. The development of the electric telegraph in the mid-19th century revolutionized news by enabling nearly instantaneous transmissions, and by empowering a cartel of news agencies which consolidated the world news system. In the 20th century, the style of news and its impact on national populations expanded considerably with constant live broadcasting of radio and television, and finally, with the popularization of theinternet.
