{{short description|Periodical publication}} {{redirect2|Official gazette|Official journal||Official Gazette (disambiguation)|and|Official Journal (disambiguation)}} {{multiple image |direction = vertical |align = right |width = 170 |footer = |image1 =Last issue of the Official Bulletin of Portuguese Macao.pdf |caption1=The last issue of the government gazette of [[Portuguese Macau]] with farewell messages from the [[Politics of Portugal|Portuguese leadership]].<ref>{{cite web|publisher=Government of Macao Special Administrative Region|trans-title=Official Bulletin|date=December 19, 1999|access-date=March 17, 2026|language=pt-PT|title=Boletim Oficial|url=https://bo.dsaj.gov.mo/bo/i/99/51/out01.asp|publication-place=Macau}}</ref> |image2 =First issue of the Official Bulletin of Macao SAR.pdf |caption2 =The first issue of the government gazette of [[Macau]] under [[Politics of China|Chinese rule]], published on the following day<ref>{{cite web|publisher=Government of Macao Special Administrative Region|trans-title=Official Bulletin — Number 1, Series I, 1999|date=December 20, 1999|access-date=March 17, 2026|language=zh-hk|title=公報 - 第1期第一組一九九九年|url=https://bo.dsaj.gov.mo/bo/i/1999/01/bo01_cn.asp|publication-place=Macau}}</ref> }}

A '''government gazette''' (also known as an '''official gazette''', '''official journal''', '''official newspaper''', '''official monitor '''or '''official bulletin''') is a [[periodical]] publication that has been authorised to publish public or legal notices. It is usually established by [[statute]] or official action, and publication of notices within it, whether by the government or a private party, is usually considered sufficient to comply with legal requirements for public notice.<ref>{{cite book|title=Black's Law Dictionary, 6th edn.|year=1980|publisher=West Publishing|isbn=90-6544-631-1}}</ref> Gazettes are published either in print, electronically or both.

==History== {{see also|History of newspapers}}

In [[Ancient Rome]], ''[[Acta Diurna]]'', or government announcement bulletins, were produced. They were carved in metal or stone and posted in public places. In China, early government-produced news-sheets, called ''[[Dibao (ancient Chinese gazette)|Dibao]]'', circulated among court officials during the late [[Han dynasty]] (second and third centuries AD). Between 713 and 734, the ''[[Kaiyuan Za Bao]]'' ("Bulletin of the Court") of the Chinese [[Tang dynasty]] published government news; it was handwritten on silk and read by government officials. In 1582, there was the first reference to privately published newssheets in Beijing, during the late [[Ming dynasty]].<ref name="brook xxi">{{cite book |author-link =Timothy Brook (historian)|last =Brook|first = Timothy|date =1998|title = [[The Confusions of Pleasure: Commerce and Culture in Ming China]]|location = Berkeley|publisher = [[University of California Press]]|isbn = 0-520-22154-0|page = xxi}}</ref>

In [[early modern Europe]], the increased cross-border interaction created a rising need for information which was met by concise handwritten news-sheets. In 1556, the government of [[Republic of Venice|Venice]] first published the monthly ''notizie scritte'', which cost one ''gazetta'', a small coin.<ref name="WAN timeline">{{cite web|url=http://www.wan-press.org/article2822.html|title=WAN&nbsp;– A Newspaper Timeline|publisher=Wan and-press.org|access-date=21 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111093302/http://www.wan-press.org/article2822.html|archive-date=11 January 2012|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref> These [[avviso|avvisi]] were handwritten [[newsletter]]s and used to convey political, military, and economic news quickly and efficiently to Italian cities (1500–1700)—sharing some characteristics of [[newspaper]]s though usually not considered true newspapers.<ref>Infelise, Mario. "Roman Avvisi: Information and Politics in the Seventeenth Century". ''Court and Politics in Papal Rome, 1492–1700''. Cambridge: [[Cambridge University Press]], 2002. 212,214,216–217</ref> However, none of these publications fully met the classical criteria for proper newspapers, as they were typically not intended for the general public and restricted to a certain range of topics.

==Publication within privately owned periodicals== In some jurisdictions, privately owned newspapers may also register with the public authorities in order to publish public and legal notices.<ref>See, for example, L.N. 362 of 1997 of The Government of The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Gazette</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Texas Local Government Code – Section 52.004. Official Newspaper |url=http://law.onecle.com/texas/local-government/52.004.00.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130630020845/http://law.onecle.com/texas/local-government/52.004.00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2013-06-30 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://cityofmccleary.com/index.asp?SEC=%7B821D9B2C-D6B1-4D12-AB18-1A88DE86A30D%7D&Type=B_LIST|title=1.12 Official Newspaper – City of McCleary|website=cityofmccleary.com|access-date=2021-01-18|archive-date=2021-12-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211227132244/https://cityofmccleary.com/index.asp?SEC=%7B821D9B2C-D6B1-4D12-AB18-1A88DE86A30D%7D&Type=B_LIST|url-status=dead}}</ref> Likewise, a private newspaper may be designated by the [[court]]s for publication of legal notices. These are referred to as "legally adjudicated newspapers".<ref>{{cite web|title=Fictitious Names: Adjudicated Newspapers |url=http://www.sonoma-county.org/Clerk/HTML_Documents/FictitiousNames/Newspapers.htm |work=County Clerk |publisher=[[Sonoma County, California|County of Sonoma]] |access-date=4 October 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121029074233/http://sonoma-county.org/Clerk/HTML_Documents/FictitiousNames/Newspapers.htm |archive-date=29 October 2012 }}</ref>

==See also== *[[List of government gazettes]] *[[List of British colonial gazettes]] *[[Journals of legislative bodies]] *[[Annals]] *[[Newspaper of record]]

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * {{Wikisource-inline|Portal: Government gazettes|Government gazettes}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Government gazettes| ]]