History of Journalism in America

HISTORY OF JOURNALISM IN AMERICA

 1690: The first American newspaper, ______, was published in ______by ______. o This newspaper was discontinued after only one issue because:

 1704: The colonies had their first continuously published newspaper, ______, started by ______. o This newspaper was published “______,” meaning that it had the government’s approval. o As the pioneers moved to the south and west, more newspapers began appearing. o Most were closely supervised by the British government.

 ______: the stirring of rebellion. o In the early days newspapers that criticized the government were guilty of this. o The ______of statements was no defense (as it is today). o The basic principle then was, “The greater the truth, the greater the libel.”  The government figured that false criticism was easier to turn aside than true criticism.

 1735: articles were printed in the New York Weekly Journal by ______that were critical of Governor William Cosby. o ______wrote few of the articles himself, but he was arrested and jailed because he was the ______of the paper. o ______, of Philadelphia, considered to be the finest attorney of the period, defended him. o The judge denied Hamilton the right to prove the facts printed in the papers, so he appealed to the jury. Then:

 1775: The Revolution has begun – there are now approximately ______papers being published. o These papers generally took the side of the patriots because of their outrage over the ______. (This imposed a tax on periodicals.) o The papers backed the Revolution and printed the battle cries of the rebels. o These were the days of the ______. . Readers who supported the fight for independence bought a ______newspaper. . Readers who remained loyal to the British crown bought a ______newspaper.

 1777: The first student newspaper, ______, was started at the Friends Latin School in Pennsylvania.

 1783: The first daily newspaper, ______, was started.

 1791: The First Amendment to the Constitution is ratified. o This guarantees a ______. o “Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.”  1793: Editorials first appear in a separate column in the American Minerva, published by Noah Webster

 Most papers were published by printers who had to set the type by hand (letter by letter), then print them on clumsy, bulky presses. o The ______was just around the corner, and soon newspapers joined in the never-ending race for better technology.  The Penny Press: o Reached a mass audience because it was so inexpensive and was distributed by street sales rather than by ______. o The audience was mainly the new working class of the______. o Because of the larger audience, ______took on a major role.

 1833: ______founded the New York Sun. o While most earlier newspapers carried little actual news, instead filling the pages with opinions, essays, letters, and a few advertisements, Day filled the Sun with news and sold it for a ______. o Thus, the ______was born.

 1841: Horace Greeley, a social reformer, founded the New York Tribune. o Its weekly edition had more than ______subscribers.

 1848: The ______, providing the first wire service, was founded. o Originally, the AP served 6 newspapers.

 1849: The Harbor News Association, a news gathering service, is founded. o This service takes advantage of the newest technology, the ______, to sell news to papers that subscribed to it. o This service became known as a ______.

 1851: The New York Times was founded by ______. o The Times is considered by many professional journalists to still be the best newspaper in the country. o From the beginning it set a standard for fairness and accuracy in reporting.

 1861: Newswriting and news coverage began to change once reporters at ______battlesites made use of the ______, which had been invented 18 years earlier. o To make sure that the outcome of a battle got into a story in case the telegraph broke down during transmission, reporters became more concise and developed the ______format of writing: giving the most important facts in the first few sentences.

 ______: an unethical, irresponsible brand of journalism involving hoaxes, altered photographs, screaming headlines, frauds, and endless self-promotions by the papers. o The most notable of the yellow journalists were ______, publisher of the New York Journal, and ______, publisher of the New York World. o Competition between these two men was fierce. o Both attracted huge audiences, and with the competition, their circulations both rose dramatically. o Characteristics of Yellow Journalism: . ______– excessively large type, in red or black, screaming excitement . Lavish use of ______-- some without significance, some faked . Fraudulent stories – faked ______and stories, misleading headlines . Sunday supplement – color comics and sensational articles . Sympathy with the ______-- campaigns against abuses suffered by the common people

 1895: Yellow journalism and the Spanish – American War o A group of Cuban nationalists sought independence from Spain o The World and the Journal whipped up a war climate in support of the Cuban nationalists and tried to lure the United States into the conflict o “You furnish the pictures, and I’ll furnish the war.” – Hearst

 1898: U.S.S. Maine (a battleship) was blown up in Havana harbor o Hearst’s Journal ran the head: DESTRUCTION OF THE WAR SHIP MAINE WAS THE WORK OF AN ENEMY o Congress demanded that Spain leave the island – war resulted o While yellow journalism is not solely to blame for this war, it certainly contributed

 1901: Pulitzer changes his policies o He now emphasized the World’s responsibility to the public as both a crusader and an accurate reporter. o He established 8 annual Pulitzer Prizes for Journalism

 1910: By 1910, there were more than ______daily newspapers in the United States.

 Elizabeth Cochrane: better known as ______, she worked for Pulitzer’s World and was noted for her “stunts,” or stories where she made the news herself. o She once pretended to be mentally ill, was committed to an Asylum for 10 days, then wrote a story exposing the asylum’s poor conditions. . This sparked reform throughout the country. o Her most famous story is about her trip around the world. . She set out to mimic the Jules Verne story Around the World in 80 Days , and made it in ______.

 ______: term used for journalists who crusaded for reform in a variety of areas such as child labor laws, public corruption, etc. o Critics used this term in a negative manner. o Journalists took this as a compliment.

 THE DEVELOPMENT OF MINORITY MEDIA o 1905: ______, one of the nation’s largest and most influential African American newspapers was founded by ______. o His parents had been slaves. o The Defender took the lead in encouraging Southern blacks to move to the North in search of better jobs in that region’s growing industries. o The Defender became a daily newspaper in 1956.

o 1945: ______, an African American magazine is first published.

 MAGAZINES o This new medium came into its own during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. o Such publications as ______, ______, and the ______joined the newspapers in their fight for social justice. o They had circulations in the hundreds of thousands.

 RADIO o 1906: ______made improvements in the vacuum tube that made possible the new medium of radio. o 1920: ______in Pittsburgh broadcast the Harding-Cox presidential election returns, considered a milestone in radio journalism. o 1926: The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) was formed. o 1927: The Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) was formed. o 1927: Federal Radio Commission was formed. . It became obvious that some form of regulation was needed because the airwaves legally belong to the public, but stations were saturating them and interfering with each others broadcasts. . This later became known as the ______(FCC). o 1945: Part of NBC’s network was sold – it was renamed the American Broadcasting Company (ABC).

 TELEVISION o 1940: The first television newscast took place. o Because of television, newspapers deemphasized ______news. . It makes no sense for a newspaper to announce dramatically that an event occurred when most readers probably saw an account of it earlier on TV.