Reflections from the Clarke, Spring 2009, Volume 30
.)~~ Spring 2009 ",' Celebrating 200Years of Newspapers in Michigan If, as it has been said, journal all from the same source at the ism is the first draft of history, then same time. And when the rush newspapers are the original history of daily life passed by yester books. Because of the close relation days paper, it was taken up by ship between reporters and schol historians, who continued to use ars, it is particularly appropriate that it for their own purposes. the Clarke Library's current exhibit Newspapers are a peculiar celebrates the 200th anniversary of institution because although Michigan's first newspaper's publication. they often assume a public On August 31, 1809 the Michigan function they are, nevertheless, Essay; or) the Impartial Observer, privately owned, commercial appeared on the streets of Detroit. It enterprises. People often was a small paper of only four pages, talk about "our paper" and one of which was printed in French, towns sometimes celebrate and, in the end, a very short-lived and at other times bemoan enterprise. But those few pages the quality of their local opened one of the most important newspaper. But the bottom windows on Michigan and its people. line is that almost every Americans, then and now, learned newspaper has a bottom about their world, exercised their line, and if the ink printed democratic rights, discovered what there is not black the paper will disappear, was happening in their community, however much the community may and planned their weekly shopping trips believe it to be theirs. Because of this herently contradictory, Michiganians dichotomy the history of newspapers have lived with the contradiction, and is an unusual mixture of an institu made it work, for two centuries.
[Show full text]