A short little link here that I find pretty cool. The Twitter account @NEWS_XX14 tweets headlines from newspapers published on the same day in 1914. On one level, it’s something of a reminder of the commonalities between our news reporting today and that of the previous century.
ONE-CENT CAR TRANSFERS.: Cleveland Earnings Shrinking, Extra Charge May Be Allowed. – 07/26/14
— News from '14 (@NEWS_XX14) July 26, 2014
3 SHOT ON TRAIN BY CRAZED MAN: New Haven Express from Boston Held Up Near Williamsbridge. PASSENGERS FLEE IN PANIC Wo… – 07/26/14
— News from '14 (@NEWS_XX14) July 26, 2014
The thing about running newspapers from one hundred years ago, though, is that we’re coming up on some big events. If you were paying attention to the news a month ago, you may have heard about the anniversary of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the proximate cause of World War I. We’re just now starting to see some of the news stories showing the lead-up to open war:
'TO BERLIN!' THE CRY OF PARIS CROWDS: Popular Belief That Austria's Note to Servia Was Instigated by Germany. NO ONE … – 07/26/14
— News from '14 (@NEWS_XX14) July 26, 2014
RUSSIAN WARNING GIVEN TO GERMANY: Ambassador Told That the Invasion of Servia Cannot Be Regarded with Indifference. H… – 07/27/14
— News from '14 (@NEWS_XX14) July 27, 2014
INTENSE ALARM IN BELGIUM.: Army to be Mobilized to Preserve the Country's Neutrality. – 07/27/14
— News from '14 (@NEWS_XX14) July 27, 2014
The description for the Twitter account archly misquotes Nassim Nicholas Taleb, saying “To be completely cured of newspapers, spend a year reading the previous [century’s] newspapers” (the original quote says “week” instead of “century”), but I’ve come to find the feed fascinating. Maybe it’s just my background in history, but I think watching past events slowly unfold, as opposed to reading about months and years of events in one sitting, provides a neat perspective. Of course, it hasn’t exactly inspired me to read newspapers either, so maybe the point still stands.
