ABSTRACT
In America, people expect journalists to have some independence from government and other leading power centers. Journalistic products emerged in many lands and in many varieties, but they most often promoted the official story of governmental power and wisdom. One of the better known early journalistic vehicles was the Acta Diurna, which emphasized governmental decrees but also gained readership by posting gladiatorial results and news of other popular events. Modem journalism began in 1517 as the German prince Frederick Georg Wilhelm Christoph, the wise, was putting the finishing touches on his life's work of building up Wittenberg's sacred relic collection. Martin Luther also made journalism significant by arguing that the path to progress is through change in ideas and beliefs, rather than through forced social revolution or reaction. In Luther's thought the most significant warfare was ideological, not material, so he emphasized dissemination of ideas through publication and opposed attempts to destroy opposing ideas through burning either books or authors.
