Printed Publications
With the advent of the automated press there has been an exponential growth in printed publications of various types, all of which are easily available for purchase from newsies, bookstores, and publication market stalls.
Major cities tend to have at least one, if not several, newspapers. The cost of a large automated press needed to print a city wide newspaper is rather high, and newspaper companies are usually owned by rather rich individuals who make even more money from their circulation. In a large city this can make the industry very hard to break into. However in a smaller town a smaller automated press makes starting up a new newspaper a bit more feasible. With widespread literacy, anyone with the means usually buys and keeps up with at least one daily newspaper. Business owners who are wealthy may follow more than one newspaper to ensure they have all the news from different perspectives. Newspapers during this time can be available for home delivery by subscription to wealthy or aristocratic patrons, but everyone else has to either make a deal with a newsie to have it delivered, or buy a copy from a newsie on the street.
Although large automated printing presses are the norm, there are still manual and small scale presses, and enough of these exist in printer’s shops to allow for a brisk business in the printing of pamphlets. Anyone with the funds can commission short printing runs of pamphlets on any topic imaginable. These pamphlets are either handed out for advertising, political reasons, or sold cheaply from market stalls. Pamphlets tend to run the gamut from informational (dog grooming tips) to political arguments. Some are highly sensational to drive up sales, some are impassioned arguments for or against various social movements (Genasi Citizenship Now!). Pamphlets on informational topics are most popular among those of modest and comfortable lifestyles. Free pamphlets agitating for social issues will be handed out to anyone on the street who will take one, but most often those who are squalid, poor, or of a modest lifestyle are targeted.
A specialized type of pamphlet which is normally in high demand is known colloquially as ‘gossip rags’ or ‘scandal sheets.’ These are short run publications that detail the latest gossip and scandals of the nobility, important government figures, and other notable people in a city. Gossip rags are almost always published anonymously, and sold for profit. Some are more discreet and allude to situations without names or much identifying detail. Some will not name names but that is hardly necessary as enough details are provided to make it clear who is being discussed. Publications of scandal sheets come and go, an author may be popular for a few social seasons to only suddenly stop publishing and be replaced by the newest version. Those with a Wealthy or Aristocratic lifestyle are most likely to keep an eye on scandal sheets in order to stay up on the newest gossip, and most will have a favorite gossip rag they read even if they do not admit to it. Newsies will often carry and sell copies of the most popular scandal sheets along with their newspapers, and servants of these affluent households always know which gossip rag to purchase for their employers when they are available.
Broadsheets are small poster-like sheets which are pasted to walls or on civic bulletin boards. In the case of civic boards, regularly updated broadsheets are considered a public service to put out the most critical news to the public. In the case of advertisements, broadsheets are pasted up on all sorts of flat surfaces, wherever the advertiser can get away with it. These are regularly cleaned up and removed from nicer areas of towns, but in the warrens there could be a wall papered with broadsheets several layers deep.
Participants
Printed publications are most closely associated with The Transeisen Order of Messengers and Journalists, and in any reputable newspaper almost all of the staff writers and editors will be guild affiliated. Even small scale printers shops and the newsies and messengers which deliver and sell printed publications are affiliated with this guild.
Related Organizations