1. Newspapers Chapter 8

2. The Skinny… Newspapers inform and entertain The industry has been losing readership and actual papers to the Digital Age No longer holds the monopoly of advertising A few ways newspapers are surviving the Digital Age—cutting days of publications, online-only publications, developing papers for New Age media BUT—newspapers are still considered the most dependable and trustworthy news!!

3. Colonial Newspapers First newspaper: (1690) Publick Occurrences by Benjamin Harris 1704: Boston News-Letter by John Campbell; first regularly-published newspaper 1721: New England Courant by James Franklin (Ben’s older brother), which consisted of articles for reader enjoyment 1729: Ben Franklin took over the Pennsylvania Gazette, which introduced advertising

4. Publick Occurrences

5. Colonial Newspapers 1733: John Peter Zenger was appointed printer of the New- York –Weekly Journal, which published anti-government articles. Zenger was arrested for seditious libel (defaming a public official’s character in print) in 1734 ---This was the first case of seditious libel, and he was found innocent because he was telling the truth, marking the case as a key foundation in the Bill of Rights in 1791 (freedom of the press to criticize govt.) About 30 newspapers in circulation by 1765 A few women did operate newspapers as well: ---Elizabeth Timothy (1738) ran the South Carolina Gazette after her husband died ---Anna Maul Zenger (1734) ran her husband’s paper, New- York-Weekly Gazette, while he was in prison and after he died in 1746

6. Penny Papers Penny Papers: cheaply produced, sold for 1 cent, marketed toward the middle class 1833: Benjamin Day: “The New York Sun”—printed sensational news and human-interest stories (stories about achievements and downfalls of people, crime stories, catching criminals) 1835: New York Morning Herald was founded by James Gordon Bennett, considered the first press baron of the U.S. – Paper was free of political influence and carried political essays, scandals, business news, letters section, fashion, moral reflections, society gossip, religious news, colloquial tales and jokes, sports news, and later, reports from the Civil War – By 1860: 80,000 readers, making it the world’s largest daily at the time Penny Papers were the first to assign reporters to cover crime and also thrived on advertising (would take anything) to keep costs down

7. The Associated Press In 1848, the Associated Press was founded by six NY newspapers; first major news wire service Wire services: commercial organizations that relayed news stories and information around the country and the world using telegraph lines (and later, radio waves and digital transmissions) Had reporters in bureaus across the United States, allowing coast-to-coast news to be reported, in which set the stage for modern journalism

8. Yellow Journalism “Yellow Journalism”, known for its sensationalistic reporting of crime and sex (led way for modern tabloids, reality TV, and TV magazine-style reporting) emerged in late 1800s Two major aspects: 1. Large headlines, overdramatic, sensational stories about crimes, sex, celebrities, disasters, scandals and intrigue 2. Investigative Journalism: news stories that found and exposed corruption, mainly with business and government (where the press began their “Watchdog” role) Joseph Pulitzer’s New York World vs. William Randolph Hearst’s New York Journal a. Pulitzer’s World: carried sensational stories on crime and sex, advice columns, and women’s pages, ads treated as news, which led to modern consumer culture and women as readers; fake stunts (reporter’s attempt to go around the world in 72 days) b. Hearst’s Journal: promoted large headlines, bold layout designs, fake stories, novelty---Hearst operated the biggest media empire in the world at the time

9. Contemporary Journalism in the TV/Internet Age 1980: Columbus Dispatch: first paper to go online USA Today (1982): emphasis on visual style Online journalism has own unique style, incorporates broadcast and print journalism, more conversational

10. Newspaper Types and Styles National newspapers: Wall Street Journal, NY Times, USA Today Dailies: Metropolitan and small Weeklies

11. Targeting Specific Readers Began with Ben Franklin’s Pennsylvania Zeitung (1732)—first immigrant newspaper (German), led the way for ethnic-targeted papers Now there are many papers targeted toward many different communities (Racial, veterans, gay/lesbian, retirees)

12. African-American Papers Freedom’s Journal (1827-1829): first black newspaper; provided voice against racism and for anti-slavery societies Most influential anti-slavery paper was Frederick Douglass’s North Star (1847-1860)-was a weekly that reached over 3,000 readers One of the most widely-circulated was Robert C Vann’s weekly paper—Pittsburgh Courier (est. 1910)—got up to 350,000 in 1947

13. Spanish-Language Papers First Spanish-language newspaper was El Misisipi (1808), founded in New Orleans Los Angeles’ La Opinion (1926) is now the nation’s largest Spanish daily In 2010, about 800 Spanish papers were in operation in the United States

14. Asian-American Newspapers 50 small papers are in Vietnamese in the United States 2008: News for Chinese was created The World Journal (Chinese Daily News on the West Coast) is the largest U.S. based Chinese newspaper

15. Native-American Newspapers Cherokee Phoenix (1828): first Native American newspaper formed in Georgia Cherokee Rose Bud (1848): founded by tribal women of Oklahoma Two national papers: Native American Times and Indian Country Today Have been more than 350 different Native American papers, mostly printed in English but a few in a tribal language

16. Underground Press (Alternative) Question mainstream political and social culture 1960s were when the Underground Press exploded The Village Voice—first and largest alternative press started in New York City More than 120 alternative press newspapers in press today

17. Newspaper Operations Today, a weekly might have 1-3 employees, while major metropolitan dailies have a staff of over 1,000 More than one half to two-thirds of a newspaper consists of advertising and the newshole (space not taken up by ads) accounts for the other 35-50% of content By 2010, newspapers and news have shrunk considerably in size

18. Providing Content… News and Editorial—General Assignment reporters, specialty reporters (beats), bureau reporters (have stories from other major cities), columnists, opinion editors Wire services: National--AP and UPI; NY Times has its own, and foreign wire services (Reuters—London, Agence France-Presse) Feature Syndicates: United Features and Tribune Media Services (groups of political writers, editorial columnists, comic strip artists, and advice columnists)- --provide these services for newspapers

19. News Chains Gannett is the nation’s largest chain, owns over 80 dailies and hundreds of non- dailies Chains are declining along with newspapers and newsrooms Recent selling of papers to private companies is disturbing, as they are more concerned with profit than journalism

20. Challenges for the Industry Today… I. Decline in readership --Newspaper audiences have grown again recently with online readership --Local papers (small dailies/weeklies) do well thanks to loyal readers, local advertising, and news-you-can-use for communities often overlooked by large metro dailies II. Decline in Young Readers --New generations have new reading habits and different interests

21. Convergence: Newspapers in the Digital Age More than 1,500 North American dailies were online in 2010 Still depend on print advertising and have been the only major media to suffer a decline in advertising sales Christian Science Monitor became the first nationally-circulated newspapers to replace their daily print edition with its Web site in 2009 Citizen Journalism: regular citizens’ use of the Internet and blogs to disseminate news and information

22. Advantages to going online… – Cutting cost of newsprint (Second largest expense for the industry behind salaries) – Newspapers are free on space and can post more online than in print, where limited on space – Can post stories faster than the traditional newspapers with next-day news and update news as it is happening – Can archive material for free or for a small fee Paywall—charging for online access

23. Final Thoughts… Newspaper industry is declining on both sides (reporters and readers) Internet is transforming journalism in every way – Agenda setting: media is no longer the gatekeeper of news – Accuracy and Credibility: breaking news is more important than editing or fact-checking – Style: Traditional style of reporting (Inverted Pyramid) and news lingo are becoming extinct – Blurring media distinctions: TV stations Web sites now have news articles and online newspaper sites now have video