Technology, particularly the mobile Internet, puts current events at our fingertips, from distant aviation disasters to the ongoing migration crisis resulting from the civil war in Syria. The ultimate in immediate press coverage was live TV reporting of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. Currency of press coverage came up in a discussion of the book “Waterloo: the Aftermath” by Paul O’Keeffe on the 5/24/15 edition of “The History Show,” hosted by Myles Dungan on Radio Ireland (RTÉ Radio 1).

When a coalition of forces including British soldiers lead by the Duke of Wellington defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo on Sunday, June 18, 1815 it took three days for official news to reach London. Unofficial reports of the battle had arrived somewhat earlier, and people were desperate for news about the outcome and the British casualties. There were fifty six newspapers in London at the time, and none of them sent a journalist to cover the battle. This wasn’t done in 1815. In those days, journalism involved waiting for the news to come in and commentating on it. Sources included letters received by members of London society or directly from front line observers, like soldiers. The telegraph hadn’t been developed yet, so even this information moved only as fast as the post. In some respects, contemporary journalism is moving toward a similar model, also due in part to the speed of technology, which has created a different dynamic. Immediate news is readily available to all via the Internet, so news publications are moving toward analysis of the flood of information. Journalists once focused on analysis due to a dearth of timely information, now they focus on it due to a plethora.

Guests on the show included Brian Cathcart, author of “The News from Waterloo: The Race to Tell Britain of Wellington’s Victory,” Hough Gough, author of “The Terror in the French Revolution,” and Dr Jennifer Wellington, Lecturer in late 19th History Continental, University College Dublin.

To access the show, visit the URL listed below, then scroll down to the title of the program. You can listen to this program, or download a podcast to listen to at your convenience.

http://www.rte.ie/radio1/the-history-show/programmes/2015/0524/702811-the-history-show-sunday-24-may-2015/?clipid=1888648#1888648