When the News was Sung: Ballads as news media in early modern Europe

Abstract

News-songs differ in crucial ways to the other news media of the early modern period. As a result, historians need to ask different questions of these multi-media artefacts. How did the presentation of this performative genre affect the dissemination and reception of information about events? What part do orality and aurality play in how the news was sold and received? What kind of information can ballads provide about specific news events that other documents cannot or will not provide? This article seeks to answer these questions, and suggest some of the skills historians need to develop in order to appreciate the full meaning of songs as the most popular of news media in early modern Europe. Show more