ABSTRACT
One of the London newsbooks published during the late 1640s was even named Packets of Letters, each item beginning with the salutation "Sir" and written more as a personal note to the editor than as a general correspondence to the readers of the pamphlets. After the start of the printing industry in Western Europe, printers faced violent attacks if the writings they published crossed the line in criticizing the aristocracy, the church, or any others with too much power and too little patience for dissent. Audience feedback obviously predates the printing press, because as long as there have been public statements there has been the potential for public response. The first European newspapers, in fact, were attempted in the early 1500s, perhaps in Venice where such publications cost one "gazetta", source of the Anglicized word "gazette". In fact, participatory journalism predates the Internet by more than four centuries, starting with the "newsbooks" of Europe of the 16th and 17th centuries.
