Lecture 3: Joseph Addison

Joseph Addison the English essayist and politician wrote the first pieces of western journalism during the restoration of Charles the II. Using his dry and sarcastic humour, Addison mocked the style of the empiricists and it was often that he appeared xenophobic in his writing, as he targeted foreigners. It appears to be the case that it is easier today to acquire Addison’s writings in America than it is in England and the real connection between England and America are the works of empiricist and philosopher, John Locke.

Before moving on to look at the ‘restoration period’ we were given Chris Horrie’s definition of journalism. “Journalism is the business of turning information into money” To be able to do this, however, printing and distributing facilities are needed and Guttenberg’s discovery of the printing press in the 1440s is what made this possible and as of this invention technology advanced rapidly. From this we went on to look at the ‘early modern period’ or ‘restoration’:

6,000 BC- Chinese pictographic script

4,000 BC- Egyptian hieroglyphic writing

3,800 BC- Summarian cuneform script

740- Lindesfarne Gospel

1440s- Guttenberg's printing press

1460s- Lorenzo, Medici, Florence, The Renaissance

1517- Martin Luther, 95 theses (reformation)

1540- Henry VIIIth- Tudor wars of religion

1563- Foxe's book of Martyrs- Pulpit as news media

1588- Spanish Armada- Elizabeth Tudor

1620- The Mayflower- American colonies/ Stuarts

1641-1651- The English Civil War

1660- Restoration of Sturat monarchy Charles II/ Restoration Literature

1667- John Locke Essay on Human Understanding

1688- The Glorious Revolution/ Act of Settlement/ William of Orange

1690- Battle of the Boyne (James II attempted Jacobite restoration)

1700- Issac Newton

1702- The Daily Courant

1703- Daniel Defoe- pilliard of his pamphleteering

1707- Act of Union with Scotland (Battle of Culloden 1745)

1709- The Spectator/ The Tatler/ Joseph Addison- Whig ascendancy

1731- Hogarth- Gin Alley (photojournalism)

1775- Samuel Johnson's dictionary

1776- American Revolution

1789- French Revolution

1815- Waterloo