Periodical press and port cities: Creation of knowledge, representations and networks1

Port cities constituted dynamic axes of national territories and stood out for their opening to the outside world for the transaction of goods, the reception of the new and the exchange of ideas. They were also free spaces for new technological experiences and the foundation of modern economic, scientific, social and political projects. They stood out as privileged territories for the establishment of networks of knowledge and through these networks maintained the contact with distant lands. Intellectual production in them is remarkable and the periodical press, providing general or specialized information, as an information industry at the service of new political, scientific and economic projects, finds space for its development within the port cities. This Special Section brings together researchers working on these subjects, allowing a multidisciplinary approach involving scholars from such scientific areas as communication, information, history, literature and international relations. The objective is to analyse the relationship between the periodic press and port cities and how these urban spaces fostered public opinion and debate projects, as well as new specialized information.