History of American Journalism

Benjamin Harris 1690 First newspaper published in America Publick Occurrences was the paper Only one edition printed

John Peter Zenger 1734 Newspaper editor put on trial for criticism of government His acquittal forms the basis of the 1st Amendment and our right to argue against our leaders in print

Stamp Act 1765 Decree by the King of England Established tax on newspaper per page Result was the increase of size for papers

Penny Press 1833 Benjamin Day sold his newspaper for 1 penny New York Sun gained a large circulation

Associated Press 1848 Telegraph wire allows for a network of papers This network forms the basis of the modern AP wire service still crucial in journalism

1860 his New York Herald becomes the largest selling newspaper in the world Established the use of “beat reporters” crucial in his success James Gordon Bennett

His paper the New York World is first to use cartoons and regular sports coverage Greatly broadens the appeal of papers and its readership Joseph Pulitzer 1883

William Randolph Hearst 1895 most notorious example of yellow journalism Helps to push America into the Spanish American War “You provide the pictures, I’ll provide the war” Famous for his controversial and sensational journalism style William Randolph Hearst

Editor in 1896 of the New York Times who made the famous paper His motto was “ONLY THE NEWS FIT TO PRINT” Established an objective style of reporting that was the standard for a century in America Adolph Ochs

KDKA Nov. 2, 1920 First commercial broadcast use of the radio Pittsburgh, Pa (still on the air) Covered the presidential race KDKA Nov. 2, 1920

Conflict between radio and papers over content access Government stepped in and demanded that newspaper share information with radio news Result was that papers began to establish their own radio stations Radio Press War 1930-34

Dorothy Day 1933 Established the Catholic Worker Famous for a new style of journalism called “crusading” in which her paper fought injustice with its stories Dorothy Day 1933

Dewey Defeats Truman Most famous error in newspaper history Chicago Tribune printed the wrong winner in the election of 1948 Highlights the rush to report the news first which is even worse today Dewey Defeats Truman

Edward Murrow Tv journalist for CBS Set the gold standard for excellence Featured in a recent film entitled Good Night and Good Luck - his signature sign off Edward Murrow

The original alternative paper established in New York’s Greenwich Village Presented a different perspective and featured marginalized figures Village Voice

Walter Cronkite CBS TV anchor for over two decades starting in 1962 Covered the assasination of JFK His shift about the Vietnam War swayed much of America Walter Cronkite

Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 eventually led to the establishment of these two important public networks PBS has set the standard for children’s programming NPR remains one of the few viable radio news outlets NPR and PBS

60 Minutes First TV news magazine show in primetime Became the most popular show in America in 1981 and throughout much of the 1980s Made TV news a VERY profitable form of programming and led to 20/20 , 48 Hours, Dateline, etc 60 Minutes

1972-1973 the Washington Post did a series of articles on President Nixon’s involvement Defined the style known as “Investigative Journalism” Inspired a generation of youngsters to go into reporting Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein admired for not backing down even to the president Watergate Scandal

CNN First 24 hour news source Creates a desire for up to the minute reporting CNN

USA Today Established in 1982 as a national paper Highly visual – with lots of color and graphics so more like tv Gains a huge circulation through its placement in hotels and McDonald chains USA Today

Worldwideweb 1993 Creates a new outlet for immediate news Allows consumers to begin to contribute to the news Changes the economic model for delivering the news Worldwideweb 1993

FOX news The main news source fo conservatives Shifts news from objectivity toward a clear and transparent stance on issues/politics Offers more opinion than factual reporting as a 24 hour news outlet FOX news

Blogging 1999 Creates a new source of information Allows people to be “citizen journalists” Often comments on news provided by traditional media Blogging 1999

“Fake news” – a show on Comedy Central that satirizes people in the news and other news sources Won 18 Emmys over the past decade Very popular among young viewers and a main source of news for many college students Daily Show 2003

The Year the Paper Died 2009 over 100 newspapers go out of business Caused by economic downturn and losses in both circulation and advertising revenue The Year the Paper Died