A newspaper extra, extra edition, special edition, or simply extra is a special issue of a newspaper issued outside the normal publishing schedule to report on important or sensational news which arrived too late for the regular edition, such as the outbreak of war, the assassination of a public figure, or even latest developments in a sensational trial.[1]: 261
It replaced the earlier broadside, a sheet printed on one side only and intended to be pasted to the walls of public places.[2]
Starting in the mid-19th century United States, newspaper street vendors would shout "Extra! Extra! Read all about it!" when selling extras.[3] This became a catchphrase often used to introduce events into a narrative in films.[4]
With the development of radio, extras became obsolete in the early 1930s (in areas that had good radio coverage), replaced with breaking news bulletins.[1]: 36 That being said, extras have occasionally appeared into the 21st century. Multiple North American newspapers published an extra on the afternoon of September 11, 2001, to report on the terrorist attacks that morning, even if they had not done so for years before.[5][6]
- ^ a b W. David Sloan, et al., eds., American Journalism: History, Principles, Practices, 2002, ISBN 0786451556.
- ^ Annual Report of the Librarian of Congress, 1922, p. 59
- ^ Barbie Zelizer, Stuart Allen, Keywords in News and Journalism Studies, ISBN 0335221831, p. 90
- ^ David R. Stokes, The Shooting Salvationist: J. Frank Norris and the Murder Trial that Captivated America, 2011, ISBN 1586421891, p. 115
- ^ "PHOTOS: Star front pages Sept. 11-17, 2001". Toronto Star. Retrieved March 20, 2023.[dead link]
- ^ Swanson, Lillian (September 16, 2001). "Behind the coverage of a tragic event". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. C10. Retrieved September 12, 2023.
20 people worked to put together the paper's first Extra edition since O.J. Simpson's acquittal in 1995, and the only the fifth in 50 years.