A newsletter is a printed or

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic co ...

report containing

news News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different media: word of mouth, printing, postal systems, broadcasting, electronic communication, or through the testimony of observers and witnesses to event ...

concerning the activities of a

business Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or buying and selling products (such as goods and services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for profit." Having a business name does not separ ...

or an

organization An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is an entity—such as a company, an institution, or an association—comprising one or more people and having a particular purpose. The word is derived f ...

that is sent to its members, customers, employees or other subscribers. Newsletters generally contain one main topic of interest to its recipients. A newsletter may be considered

grey literature Grey literature (or gray literature) is materials and research produced by organizations outside of the traditional commercial or academic publishing and distribution channels. Common grey literature publication types include reports ( annual, r ...

. E-newsletters are delivered electronically via

e-mail Electronic mail (email or e-mail) is a method of exchanging messages ("mail") between people using electronic devices. Email was thus conceived as the electronic (digital) version of, or counterpart to, mail, at a time when "mail" meant ...

and can be viewed as

spamming Spamming is the use of messaging systems to send multiple unsolicited messages (spam) to large numbers of recipients for the purpose of commercial advertising, for the purpose of non-commercial proselytizing, for any prohibited purpose (especia ...

if e-mail marketing is sent unsolicited. The newsletter is the most common form of

serial publication In publishing and library and information science, the term serial is applied to materials "in any medium issued under the same title in a succession of discrete parts, usually numbered (or dated) and appearing at regular or irregular intervals wi ...

. About two-thirds of newsletters are internal publications, aimed towards employees and volunteers, while about one-third are external publications, aimed towards advocacy or special interest groups.

History

ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom ...

, newsletters were exchanged between

officials An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority, (either their own or that of their s ...

friend Friendship is a relationship of mutual affection between people. It is a stronger form of interpersonal bond than an "acquaintance" or an "association", such as a classmate, neighbor, coworker, or colleague. In some cultures, the concept of ...

s. By the Middle Ages, they were exchanged between merchant families. Trader's newsletters covered various topics such as the availability and pricing of goods, political news, and other events that would influence trade. These commercial newsletters were in effect, the first "serious" outlet for news publishing, from which evolved

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, spor ...

s. The first full "newspaper" was '' Relation of Strasbourg'', printed in 1609 by

Johann Carolus Johann Carolus (26 March 1575 − 15 August 1634) was a German publisher of the first newspaper, called ''Relation aller Fürnemmen und gedenckwürdigen Historien'' (Account of all distinguished and commemorable stories). The ''Relation'' is re ...

. Many rivals soon followed, such as the German ''

Avisa Relation oder Zeitung ''Avisa Relation oder Zeitung'' was one of the first news-periodicals in the world. It was published in Wolfenbüttel, Germany, in 1609. The printer/publisher was Lucas Schulte. The first issue states that the news had been collected from variou ...

'' and the Dutch '' Nieuwe Tijdingen''. By the end of the 17th century, several newspapers were established all across Europe, and were often translated into other languages. By the late 17th century, several governments were censoring newspapers, which harmed their development. Wars, like the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of batt ...

, also imposed restrictions on trade, which could lead to shortage of paper in addition to censorship. Government censorship remains in effect in several countries to this day, although several countries now have laws guaranteeing

freedom of the press Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic media, especially published materials, should be considered a right to be exerc ...

Modern newsletters

Newsletter marketing is a form of

direct-to-consumer advertising Direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) refers to the marketing and advertising of pharmaceutical products directly to consumers as patients, as opposed to specifically targeting health professionals. The term is synonymous primarily with the ad ...

. This is used by companies that want to send information directly to potential and existing customers. When received unsolicited, they can be seen as

spam Spam may refer to: * Spam (food), a canned pork meat product * Spamming, unsolicited or undesired electronic messages ** Email spam, unsolicited, undesired, or illegal email messages ** Messaging spam, spam targeting users of instant messaging ...

. Newsletters are also used by organizations to inform their members of ongoing developments.

Production

Many paper newsletters are letter-size

pamphlet A pamphlet is an unbound book (that is, without a hard cover or binding). Pamphlets may consist of a single sheet of paper that is printed on both sides and folded in half, in thirds, or in fourths, called a ''leaflet'' or it may consist of a ...

s, sometimes made of side- or corner-stapled letter-size paper, sometimes of saddle-stitched (stapled)

tabloid paper A tabloid is a newspaper with a compact page size smaller than broadsheet. There is no standard size for this newspaper format. Etymology The word ''tabloid'' comes from the name given by the London-based pharmaceutical company Burroughs Wel ...

. Until the early 20th century, newsletters were generally produced by

letterpress Letterpress printing is a technique of relief printing. Using a printing press, the process allows many copies to be produced by repeated direct impression of an inked, raised surface against sheets or a continuous roll of paper. A worker com ...

. The development of spirit duplicators and mimeograph machines in the early 20th century made short-run reproduction more economical. In the 1960s, xerographic photocopying became ubiquitous.

History

Modern newsletters

Production

See also

References

Further reading