In the seventeenth century news was an investment in social relationships, a resource that concerned the interests of members of functional elites. Exchanging news entailed different forms of participation in functional elites and, thus, privilege. This business was part of the elites’ internal social structures; it constituted the fabric of all public institutions.
This book is a translation of: Das Geschäft mit Nachrichten: Ein barocker Markt für soziale Ressourcen (Bremen: edition lumière, 2018).