France

Origins

There is some debate among historians as to what were the first publications in France. Most believe that the first regularly printed publication was Paris's Cy est le Compost et Kalendrier des Bergiers in 1491. Between then and the 1630s, the bulk of publications produced were calendars and almanacs. While weekly newspapers were being imported into France from Amsterdam as early as 1620, the first French newspaper appeared in 1631. The Gazette de France remained almost unchanged in format until the French Revolution in 1789. Most periodicals' format between 1631 and 1789 resembled those of small books—columns of dense type with little illustration. Business and political events made up most content in newssheets prior to 1750.

For more than a hundred years after the first newspaper was produced in France, newspapers were a resource for the privileged. Under the monarchy during the 1700s, newspapers were more closely linked with literature than business. Literary critics and writers (who by definition were members of the aristocracy because literacy was almost solely limited to the aristocracy) would gather in “literary salons” discussing new works. The ideas of this aristocratic clientele were then printed in newspapers. Thus, both the readers and writers of newspapers were members of the aristocracy and essentially extensions of the state, and journalistic content remained primarily literary in focus. Given the high cost of printing and distribution, individuals would pass on handwritten copies to others. [Page 623]The rapid spread of news created by these networks strengthened the market for more newspapers.

The number of French language periodicals slowly grew worldwide, from 40 in 1700 to 277 in 1780. As in most countries, the press in France experienced periods of rigid censorship versus greater freedom depending on the nation's changing political climate. The Revolution of 1789 resulted in increased public and institutional freedoms. Prior to the Revolution, only Le Gazette (Gazette de France) was allowed to report political news. Subsequently, the press won the right to report on Parliamentary proceedings. Despite this newfound freedom, however, presentation of political news continued to lag behind arts, sciences, religion, and philosophy.

Claude Chappe helped bring France to the forefront of media development in the eighteenth century with his pioneering work in semaphore telegraphy. In 1793, the French National Assembly voted to have Chappe expand his invention, a semaphore telegraph, and build a state semaphore telegraph system from Paris to Lille.

The chaos of the French Revolution into the 1790s prompted a period of increased newspaper development, especially in Paris. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen (1789), the first step in constructing a new constitution, set the stage for press freedom. The Declaration states that “All citizens, being equal in the eyes of the law, are equally admissible to all public dignities, places, and employments, according to their capacity and without distinction other than that of their virtues and of their talents.” The Declaration also defined freedom of speech, stating: “The free communication of thoughts and opinions is one of the most precious human rights: hence every citizen may speak, write, print with freedom, but shall be responsible for such abuses of this freedom as shall be determined by the Law.” Newspapers started to appear in public places, quickly expanding readership beyond the bourgeoisie. Indeed, during the post-Revolution period, newspaper circulation in France became the highest in the world. Estimates put the peak circulation at 300,000 a day, about all the limited technology of the time could produce. By 1802, with greater social calm, Parisian newspaper circulation had fallen to 33,000.

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