History of Journalism

Humble Beginnings

Colonial period – Benjamin Harris’ Publick Occurences Both Forreign and Domestick Printed on stationery size paper and the fourth was left blank so readers could

add their own news before passing it on. Authorities were not pleased with content so paper was shut down after one

issue

Continually Published Newspaper

First Continually published newspaper came 14 years later The Boston News-Letter premiered on April 24, 1704. Paper appeared on a single page, printed on both sides, issued weekly

News was mostly from London telling about English politics and events of European wards

Also included items listing ship arrivals, deaths, sermons, political appointments, fires, accidents, etc

**Only paper to tell about Blackbeard the pirate being killed in hand-to-hand combat

May 14, 1761 Issue

Peter Zenger

Publisher of New York Weekly Journal

Accused and tried for libel against the colonial British government in 1735. His printing press was burned by Colonial authorities.

Peter Zenger

Found innocent and verdict helped pave the way for a free, independent press in America.

From this time on, it was considered proper for the press to question and criticize the government.

Ben Franklin

Became one of the most famous journalists in the Colonial Era.

At 12 years old, he became a printing apprentice for his brother.

At 17, he ran away from home to Pennsylvania. He worked at a paper there and eventually bought the Pennsylvania Gazette.

Pennsylvania Gazette

Became the best of its era. Join or Die was the famous editorial cartoon in the paper Snake is

labeled with all 13 colonies.

Student News

The first student newspaper, The Students Gazette, was founded in Pennsylvania in 1977

Benjamin Day

Arrived on the scene in 1833. Opened the New York Sun and created the Penny Press.

10 Cents

Newspapers of the day cost about 10 cents each… too expensive for most people. Day took advantage of the fact that he could print thousands of papers per day and sold them for a penny each.

He also changed the content of newspapers to make it more sensational and popular to the lower class.

Hired boys to sell the newspapers on the street.

Added advertising to help cover the cost of the newspaper printing.

Penny Press

One of the most influential papers was the New York Tribune founded by Horace Greeley in 1841 – its weekly edition had more than 200,000 subscribers

The New York Times was founded in 1851 by Henry Raymond It was not unusual for a city to have 8 or 9 competing newspapers

Photography

The Civil War era brought “new” technology to the publishing industry. Photography became the popular addition to newspapers.

Matthew Brady set up a camera on the battlefields.

Telegraph

The invention of the telegraph helped speed up the news. Reporters were able to send encoded news back to their papers as it was happening.

Abraham Lincoln became the first president to direct armies in the field from the White House directly.

Inverted Pyramid

The telegraph wires went down on a regular basis. This meant the story was sometimes cut off before it was finished.

To help this, reporters developed “the inverted pyramid” to put the most important facts at the beginning of the story.

Pulitzer and Hearst

As newspapers began to compete more with one another in circulation and advertising, different styles of journalism emerged.

In the mid 1890s, Pulitzer and Hearst transformed newspapers with sensational and scandalous news coverage, the use of drawings, and the inclusion of features like comic strips.

Yellow Journalism

When Pulitzer began publishing color comic sections that included “The Yellow Kid” in 1896, the papers were labeled “yellow journalism.”

The movement became unethical and involved hoaxes, altered photos, frauds, and “scoops.”

Nellie Bly

Elizabeth Cochrane wrote under the name Nellie Bly.

Wrote under cover to expose many things wrong in cities after industrial boom

Mostly wrote about women Directed writing at upper class

to motivate them to help lower class who were not represented anywhere else

In Depth Investigation

Bly went under cover to expose conditions of insane by pretending to be crazy and getting herself committed. She also investigated sweat shops, perry crime, and Corps de Ballet undercover.

Advent of Radio

In 1906, Dr. Lee De Forest made improvements to the vacuum tube that made the new medium of radio possible.

De Forrest made the first newscast in 1916, Regular daily programs started in Detroit in 1920

National Broadcasting Company (NBC) formed in 1926 Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) in 1927 Mutual Broadcasting System in 1934, was sold and renamed American

Broadcasting Company (ABC)

Radio Regulations

Airwaves needed regulations In 1912, a law was passed to assign wavelengths to applicants The Radio Act of 1927 broadened the power and created the Federal

Communication Commission (FCC which has power over both radio and television.

Impact of Television

First television newscast took pace in 1940 TV took much of the entertainment role away from radio and claimed

much of the breaking news role held by newspapers Papers today put less emphasis on breaking news

Watergate

In 1972, two burglars were caught stealing from a government building. The incident was made national when two reporters, Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, were able to tie it to the president.

A famous, yet anonymous, source labeled “Deep Throat” helped uncover the story.

In 2005 Mark Felt announced that he was Deep Throat. The publicity led to Nixon’s impeachment and resignation.

Influential Papers

In 1982, using satellite transmissions and color presses, the Gannett chain established the USA Today, published and circulated it throughout the USA, Europe, and Asia.

The Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and USA Today are read all over the country.

Small towns or rural districts usually have daily or weekly local papers Local papers are usually filled with political information

Suburbs

The shift of the American population into the suburbs and alternative media outlets have forced large city newspapers to merge, cease publication, or be taken over by chains of publishers.

Gannett Company Knight-Ridder, Inc

Rapid Gathering News

Reuters in England Agence France-Presse in France Associated Press and United Press International in USA Sell services to newspapers, write articles for them that can be

published by anyone who pays fees

Photocomposition and Printing

Improvements have enhanced the quality of print and made publications much faster.

Newspapers are primarily supported by sale of advertising space. Computers have also greatly impacted production of news and

newspapers.

Internet

By the 1990s, technology had deeply impacted newspapers. During the 90s, the first independent daily newspaper appeared on the

Internet. By 2000, 700 papers published their news electronically before the print

edition was available.

Free Online Newspapers

Many newspapers are publishing their work online. Some only allow readers to see headlines. To get full stories, you must

pay a membership fee and log on.

Functions of Journalism in America

Political Watchdog – monitor activities of government Entertainment – not everything is serious. We need comic relief, comic

strips, advice from Dear Abby, MTV. Social – provide topics to talk about in the hallway, around the

watercooler, over coffee at Starbucks Economic – advertising helps stimulate economy and provide info to

customers Record Keeping – we know who is born, gets married, gets divorced,

dies, who won the game, etc.