A (brief) History of American Media

America’s First Newspapers  First newspapers characterized by government supervision, prior approval and censorship  Publick Occurrences Published in Boston, 1690 Published in Boston, 1690 Suppressed by British government after only one edition Suppressed by British government after only one edition  Boston News-Letter Published in Boston, 1704 Published in Boston, 1704 Published “by authority” or with government approval Published “by authority” or with government approval

Free Press Beginnings  Trial of John Peter Zenger, editor of the New York Weekly Journal, who was jailed in 1734  Zenger was tried for “seditious libel” for criticizing the government  Zenger was found “not guilty”  Case allowed journalists to print TRUTH without fear of censorship or lawsuits

Pressed for Independence  The founding fathers guaranteed freedom the press by including it in the First Amendment of the Constitution in  “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of RELIGION, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of SPEECH, or of the PRESS; or the right of the people peaceably to ASSEMBLE, and to PETITION the Government for a redress of grievances.”

Penny Press  Newspapers began in 1833 selling and distributing to the public masses. First newspapers were sold for a penny, hence the term “penny press”  Penny press increased literacy and knowledge of public affairs.

Information Explosion  Telegraph allowed reporters to transmit stories quickly over long distances  News “wire services” developed, such as the Associated Press (1849) and United Press. These are stories written by reporters and then sent over long distances for use in local papers. Still used today but sent via the Internet

Yellow Journalism  Late 19th Century  Unethical, irresponsible journalism: hoaxes, altered photos, screaming headlines, self-promotion: early tabloids

Muckraking  Early 20 th century  Socially conscious journalism  Reporters and editors crusaded for social change and battled corruption  Newspapers and magazines caused reform in medicine, child labor, meat packing, and the oil industry  Nellie Bly, famous muckracker who covered NY’s poor asylum conditions.

Radio  First Radio Newscast: Wilson- Hughes presidential election returns  Broadcast news sees golden age in 1930s, ’40s, and ’50s, with networks (CBS, NBC, ABC) leading the way  Radio broadcasters pioneer war coverage in World War I  Strong news coverage still exists on talk stations and National Public Radio

Magazines  At the beginning of World War I (1916), magazines started featuring articles on international issues. People started relying on newspapers and magazines for information on the worsening conditions.  The term news magazine was born.  Newsmagazines today include Time, Newsweek, U.S. News and World Report

Television  1940s - First TV newscast takes place  1960s - Networks (ABC, CBS, NBC) shift news power from radio to TV  TV news helps create phenomenon known as “global village” or bringing the world together through broadcast of major events like the Olympics, political events and natural disasters

Television  TV impacts world events, such as presidential elections and the Vietnam War  Ted Turner founds CNN, the Cable News Network, broadcasting news 24 hours a day

Internet  In the 1990s, the World Wide Web becomes widely available to consumers.  In 1995, is launched  Recent reports suggest that high school and college age youth use the Internet as their No. 1 news source

Instant Information  1999: Millions watch the attacks on Columbine High School. Cable in the Classroom made it possible for people inside the school to watch news coverage of the event as it was happening.  2001: Networks air hours of commercial free coverage of the 9/11 terrorist attacks (even MTV and ESPN).

Instant Information  2004: Cell phones with text messaging and online alerts keep people informed of news events around the clock. Shawnee Mission School District even uses phone alerts for snow days.  2005: Web Logs (“Blogs”) become immensely popular as a form of news coverage and also personal expression. Blogs are user-generated websites where journal-style entries are displayed in real time. Facebook, anyone?

What’s Next?  “Convergence” media gives information in both video and written formats via the same publication (print stories and video newscasts on paper’s website)  This recent trend forces journalists from different media (print, broadcast, photography) to work together in their coverage of stories. Future journalists must be prepared for a wider variety of job duties.