Print Media. General Principles.

The Situation in the U.S.

American Studies, MA I

Introduction
What is a newspaper?
Newspapers of modern times have seen important
characteristics that distinguish them from other
media. That is, a true newspaper of general
circulation: (1) is published at least weekly, (2) is
produced on paper by a mechanical printing process
or delivered online in digital form, (3) is available
(free or for a price) to people of all walks of life, (4)
prints news of general interest rather than items on
specialized topics such as religion or business, (5) is
readable by people of ordinary literacy, (6) is timely,
and (7) is stable over time. (DeFleur and Dennis
2002: 61)
First newspaper: The Oxford Gazette (1665)
First daily newspaper: The Daily Courant (1702)

The Colonial Press in America

Economic, political and cultural context
favourable to news (trading, shipping, taxes,
war)
Publick Occurrences Both Foreign and Domestic
(1690, without authority, against the Crown)
The Boston News-Letter (1704, published by
authority)
The New England Courant (1721) James
Franklin and Benjamin Franklin first American
newspaper to fulfil the function of watchdog of
the public interest
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The Principle of Freedom of the Press

John Peter Zenger the New York Weekly
Journal (set up in opposition to the official
newspaper) a party newspaper
seditious libel
the trial: 1734-1735
Zengers lawyer: Andrew Hamilton
principle established freedom of speech:
The press should be allowed to criticize
government if what they publish is true.
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The Principle of Freedom of the Press

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.
(U.S. Constitution, Amendment 1)
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The Penny Press

The 1800s:
the Industrial Revolution
growth of population (migration waves,
movements of population)
technological progress steam-powered rotary
press, cheap paper, telegraph wires (1848 the
Associated Press)
the Civil War (1861-1865)
The golden age of the newspaper: 1910-1930
September 3, 1833 Benjamin Day, New York:
The New York Sun It Shines for All (price, human-

interest stories, advertising, mode of delivery newsboys)

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The Penny Press

Yellow Journalism
Joseph Pulitzer (1847-1911) the New York
World (sports pages, womens fashion, comics,
illustrations)
William Randolph Hearst (1863-1951): the
New York Journal

circulation war
sensationalism
the influence of the press: the Spanish-American War
(the New York Journal war catalyst)
the peoples champions fighting against corruption in
governments (muckraking Teddy Roosevelt;
investigative journalism)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Abzd41k_OhQ

Yellow Journalism

The Rise of Objectivity

The New York Times
bought by Adolph Ochs in 1896
Through strategic hiring, Ochs and his editors
rebuilt the paper around substantial news
coverage and provocative editorial pages. To
distance his New York paper from the yellow
press, the editors also downplayed sensational
stories, favoring the documentation of major
events or issues. (Campbell et al. 2012: 228)
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The Rise of Objectivity

affluent, intellectual readership upper middle
class, then extended to middle class
an informational paper that provided stock and
real estate reports to businesses, court reports
to legal professionals, treaty summaries to
political leaders, and theater and book reviews
to educated general readers and intellectuals
(Campbell et al. 2012: 228)

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Interpretive Journalism
Objectivity:
facts, scientific-like recording of events
inverted pyramid style of reporting
In the 1930s and 1940s interpretive
journalism:
analysis and opinion
facts-based reporting retains its importance as
the first stage of reporting
the new journalism (literary journalism)
peaked in the 1960s
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Other Developments
advocacy journalism
precision journalism (based on poll surveys and
questionnaires)
citizen journalism
The USA Today (1982):
colourful
mimics TV style
(visual layout, writing style)
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The Press in the Twentieth Century

Types of newspapers:
Broadsheets
Tabloids (in the U.S. supermarket
tabloids the National Enquirer)
General newspapers
Specialised newspapers
Ethnic newspapers
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The Press in the Twentieth Century

Local (the Kansas City Star)
Regional (the Boston Globe, the Seattle
Times)
National (USA Today, the Wall Street
Journal, the Christian Science Monitor) +
the New York Times, the Washington Post
International
Metropolitan dailies (the Chicago Tribune,
the Los Angeles Times) 250,000 copies
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The Press in the Twentieth Century

Press agencies (wire services)
Feature syndicates
Chain ownership of newspapers (major
transformations in the production and
circulation of news)
Big conglomerates the News Corporation
(Rupert Murdoch)
Decline strategies need to be developed to
ensure the survival of newspapers
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The Press in the Twentieth Century

Despite their current predicaments, newspapers and their

online offspring play many roles in contemporary

culture. As chroniclers of daily life, newspapers both
inform and entertain. By reporting on scientific,
technological, and medical issues, newspapers
disseminate specialized knowledge to the public. In
reviews of films, concerts, and plays, they shape
cultural trends. Opinion pages trigger public debates
and offer differing points of view. Columnists provide
everything from advice on raising children to opinions
on the U.S. role as an economic and military
superpower. Newspapers help readers make choices
about everything from what kind of food to eat to what
kind of leaders to elect. (Campbell et al. 2012: 221)
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The Press in the Twentieth Century

http://newspaperdeathwatch.com/
http://www.journalism.org/media-indicators/averagecirculation-at-the-top-5-u-s-newspapers-reportingmonday-friday-averages/
http://www.journalism.org/2015/04/29/newspapers-factsheet/

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Campbell,
R., Martin, C.R., Fabos, B. 2012. Media and
References
Culture: An introduction to mass communication (8th
ed.). Boston & New York: Bedford/St. Martins.
DeFleur, M.L. and E.E. Dennis. 2002. Understanding Mass
Communication: a liberal arts perspective (7th ed.).
Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin.
Emery, M., Emery, E. and N.L. Roberts. 2000. The Press and
America. An Interpretive History of the Mass Media (9th
ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
The Pew Research Journalism Project:
http://www.journalism.org/

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