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,  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 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 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.