Media and communication in Ancient Egypt

This was another one of Ms O'Neill's homework questions ...
How did people in Ancient Egypt get information around?

Newspapers?
The first Egyptian newspaper began in 1828, so there weren't any newspapers (or more appropriately, newspapyruses) in Hatshepsut's time. Instead, heralds would give oral reports to pharaohs and town criers would make important announcements in public areas.


A papyrus scroll

Pigeon post
The first known use of pigeons as couriers was in Egypt, where incoming ships of important people would release pigeons to announce their arrival.


This is 'Cher Ami',a celebrated carrier pigeon from World War 1. Carrier pigeons can actually carry up to 75g when they're trained.

Scribes
It was most commonly males who became scribes. After being educated at a scribe school, their skill was used in various civic activities, from recording the yields of harveset to writing protective spells on the walls of the pharaoh's tomb. Military leaders like Thutmosis III would have been initially trained as scribes so that they could read messages sent to them. In the government, scribes recorded taxes and could be promoted to government officials. In the religious sphere, priests were scribes so that they could read instructions for sacred rituals.


Here's the equipment used for carving wall reliefs

Sources:
http://www.egyptgiftshop.com/egyptguide/egyptian_newspapers.html
http://www.mediahistory.umn.edu/archive/PigeonPost.html
http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/writing/explore/main.html