5Truly modern newspapers were not created, however, until after the invention of movable type. Movable type was a system of printing that involved special type pieces. These were metal or ceramic “stampers” with the image of a letter or number. A press operator would arrange these type pieces to form words and sentences on a larger block. By coating the block with ink and pressing blank pages to it, the operator could make many copies of the words.

6Movable type was likely invented in Asia about a thousand years ago. However, Johannes Gutenberg made the earliest printing press, as we know it today, around 1450. These presses used movable type to create many pages of news faster and more easily than any other process. The information spread this way helped people discover new ideas about the world. It helped usher in the era of thought and learning known as the Renaissance.

What can the reader infer the author means when he says that newspapers were not truly modern until after the invention of movable type?
A) To be truly modern, newspapers must cost more than a simple gazetta and have a sizable subscription base.
B) To be truly modern, newspapers needed to be strictly about news and not contain opinions or advertisements.
C) A modern newspaper is printed many more times than previous newspapers--and still is relatively cheap to buy.
D) Modern newspapers have editorial staff and hires an army of reporters to investigate every case of legal wrong-doing.