News and Society in the Greek Polis

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UNC Press Books, 1996 - 206 pages
Sian Lewis explores the role of news and information in shaping Greek society from the sixth to the fourth centuries, b.c. Applying ideas from the study of modern media to her analysis of the functions of gossip, travel, messengers, inscriptions, and inst

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Contents

Introduction
1
1 News in society
2
2 Defining news
3
3 The significance of news in Greek society
5
4 Approaches
7
News Within the Community
9
1 Reputation
10
2 Information and the citizen
13
2 Criteria for evaluation
80
3 Analysis and response
93
The Assembly
97
1 Symbolic functions of the assembly
98
2 Information and leadership
102
3 The nature of the discussion
109
4 Secrecy within government
115
5 The limitations of the assembly
119

3 Status within the polis
19
News Independent of the Polis
25
1 Travel and news
27
2 Perceptions of other poleis
46
Official Communications
51
1 Heralds inside the polis
52
2 Control of information
56
3 Failures of communication
60
4 Communication outside the polis
63
5 International announcement
68
Unofficial News
75
1 Problems with news
77
News and Writing
125
motivation
127
text and symbol
133
3 Inscriptions and oligarchies
137
4 Inscriptions at Pan Hellenic shrines
140
5 Letters
142
Conclusion
155
Notes
159
Bibliography
193
Index
201
Copyright

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About the author (1996)

Sian Lewis is tutor in ancient history at University College Swansea.

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