Newspapers: still the most important medium for understanding the world

Once new media themselves, newspapers have gone on to outlast cinema and television – but for how long?

By Peter Wilby

(Photo By Hold the front page: rail travellers in 1850. In the 19th century it was predicted that newspapers would become â?othe greatest organ of social lifeâ??. Image: Time & Life Pictures/Getty.)

The Invention of News: How the World Came to Know about Itself
Andrew Pettegree
Yale University Press, 448pp, £25

The News: a User’s Manual
Alain de Botton
Hamish Hamilton, 272pp, £18.99

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Peter Wilby

Peter Wilby was editor of the New Statesman from 1998-2005. Following his conviction in August 2023 for possession of images of child sexual abuse, four articles by him were removed from the New Statesman website. Please see this statement for further details.