The early modern period witnessed a revolution in the business of reporting the news. The periodical press, the first newspapers and the first news aimed at a popular readership all originated in this period. But news was not only a matter of print; the period maintained and developed a strong culture of manuscript transmission of news – both commercially and non-commercially – and oral transmission of news through sermons, plays, ballads and conversation.

How did these varying forms of production and dissemination affect contemporaries' perception of current events? And how do they inform our own understanding of the period? What affect did news reporting have on the subsequent development of events and ideas? How do new digital research methods contribute to our understanding of early modern news?

Scholars of all disciplines were invited to consider these issues at a conference held at the University of Sussex in June 2012.

A volume of essays inspired by the conference is now available, published by Brill.