The term "press" can be used to refer to two different but closely related issues. One of them is the press, machine or device that is used to print a written text and that presses the sheets of paper between plates of wood, metal or other materials. The second meaning of the word, which starts from the first, refers to the set of materials produced by journalists, which can be written or virtual press.
To start with the first meaning, we can say that the press is an artifact created to exert pressure on an object or space. The most common press used in different situations or for different purposes is the mechanical press, the one whose main effect is to crush or press an object or element between two rigid layers of material (wood, metal, stone, etc.). The mechanical press system was used when the printing press was created since it involved printing letters on paper by the use of force, that is, pressing the letter molds on the sheet of paper to form a text.
This is where precisely the second meaning of the term comes from, the one that refers to the press as information media, journalism. Normally, the notion of press is used to designate the written press, that is, newspapers, magazines and other types of material written on paper, although today the term has been vastly expanded thanks to the appearance of new media such as virtual (internet). The press could be described as the set of journalists and spaces that are dedicated to the communication of daily news and daily, having different work areas and specifications.
Today, the press and the media have a very important value in Western society since they are largely responsible for bringing information to a large part of the population, although many times it may be fragmented or be subject to to partialities due to political, economic or other interests. The role of the press vis-à-vis democracies or other forms of government today is undoubtedly a very complex phenomenon worthy of study.
