What makes news new? This book investigates how news has re-invented itself at different historical moments--from medieval storytellers to 19th century telegraph news agencies to 21st century bloggers. It reaches beyond traditional journalism studies to track the evolution of the news and survey its wider cultural and historical context.

What is news, and why sell it? What is one buying when one buys news? Is it the 'objectivity' of news that matters, or is it rather its newness, and the public's appetite for the latest scoop? If so, how is news made new?

When News was New investigates how news has re-invented itself at different historical moments--from medieval storytellers to 19th century telegraph news agencies to 21st century bloggers. Rantanen argues that the newness of news has been regularly reconstructed, and that news is mostly old stories made new. Reaching out from journalism and journalism studies, this book surveys the wider social implications of news.

From hawkers and ballad-mongers in the 1800s, to the current moment of blogging and pod-casting, where modern bloggers 'sing' their stories alongside other performers, When News was New book tracks the evolution of the news, concluding that the era of 'pure' news is over: the difference between news and new stories has again become blurred.