The cosmopolitanization of news

In this article I argue that, in contrast to earlier research on the relationship between “national” and “international” news, news was not originally “national” or “international”, but rather cosmopolitan, between cities rather than nation-states. Introducing cities as a starting point for analysis opens up new ways to understand empirical materials that have previously been theorized by using the national-international framework. I explore the birth and development of news exchange in and between major cities in Europe, and how this has changed with the use of new communications technology such as the printing press and the telegraph. I argue that the transmission of news is connected to territorial transformation, changing these cities into world cities.