Early Newspapers

1
Early Newspapers

• 1609 earliest known newspapers
• Northern Germany
• corantos
• Within 22 years, papers in Cologne, Frankfurt,
  Berlin, Hamburg, Basel, Amsterdam, Antwerp,
  London, Paris
• news not used until 1700s

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Early English Newspapers

• 1620, Corrant out of Italy, Germany, etc. 1st
  coranto in English, published in Amsterdam
• London, 1621, 1st newspapers
• 1622, Weekly News 1st continuously published
  English newspaper
• 1641, Diurnall Occurrences in Parliament 1st
  reporting of English Parliament

3
Early Newspapers

• Mercurius Aulicus Communicating the Intelligence
  and Affaires of the Court, 1645

4
Six Major Eras of American Newspapers

• Colonial (Early) 1690-1833
• Penny Press 1833-1878
• Yellow Journalism 1878-1896
• Objective (Modern) 1896-1958
• New Journalism 1958-1982
• USA Today (Graphic) 1982-present
• Are we entering a new era?

5
Colonial Newspapers

• 1690, Publick Occurences, Both Foreign and
  Domestick, Boston
• 3 pages
• Suppressed by government after one issue

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Colonial Newspapers

• 1704, Boston News-letter, 1st continuously
  published newspaper
• Censored by governor
• 1721, New England Courant (Boston)
• James Franklin
• Younger brother, Ben, founded the Pennsylvania
  Gazette, Philadelphia, 1723

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Colonial Newspapers

• 1725, the Gazette, 1st newspaper in New York City
• New York Weekly Journal
• John Peter Zenger
• Criticized government
• Arrested for seditious libel, 1735
• Guilty by existing laws but found not guilty
• Opened the way for free press in America

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Colonial Newspapers

• 1750 12 newspapers in colonies
• 1765 Stamp Act repealed 1766
• 1775 48 newspapers
• 1776 papers publish the Declaration of
  Independence on front pages
• War papers brought news of battles advertising
  increased

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United States Newspapers

• 1791, Bill of Rights adopted
• First Amendment Congress shall make no law
  abridging the freedom of speech, or of the
  press.
• 1798, Alien and Sedition Acts
• any false, scandalous and malicious writing
  against the government
• Reaction helped elect Jefferson in 1800
• Expired in 1801

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Penny Press (1833-1878)

• 1833, the New York Sun (to 1950)
• Benjamin Day
• Larger typefaces
• 3-column format
• Human interest oriented
• Newsboys (marketing)
• Emphasis on advertising

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Other Notable Newspapers

• 1835, New York Herald, James Gordon Bennett
• 1841, New York Tribune, Horace Greeley
• Editorial page developed
• 1851, New York Times, Henry Raymond

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Penny Press Era

• Technology
• Better presses (e.g., rotary presses)
• Cheaper paper
• Telegraph (1844, Samuel Morse)
• Social changes
• Higher literacy
• Urbanization
• Industrialization

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Penny Press Innovations

• Inverted pyramid
• Headlines
• Wire services and syndicates
• AP, 1848
• Newspaper chains
• Scripps brothers, Detroit and Cleveland
• Beat system

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Colonial and Penny Press (1)

• Colonial
• Political and merchantile interests
• Opinionated advocacy journalism
• Annual subscriptions expensive
• Well-to-do readership for social elites
• Small circulation (max. 15,000)
• No graphics or headlines few illustrations

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Colonial and Penny Press (2)

• Penny Press
• Human interest general events (news)
• More objective (but not totally)
• Individual copy sales cheap (1-2 cents)
• General readership all classes and incomes
• Large circulation (40,000 by 1836)
• Headlines, graphics, woodcut illustrations

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Yellow Journalism (1878-96)

• Joseph Pulitzer
• 1878, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
• to expose all fraud and sham, fight all public
  evils and abuses and battle for the people.
• 1883, New York World
• William Randolph Hearst
• 1887, takes over San Francisco Examiner
• 1895, buys New York Journal

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Yellow Journalism!!!

• A SENSATIONALISTIC approach to NEWS!
• BIG HEADLINES!!
• Lavish Illustrations!
• Stunts Promotions to build circulation!
• 1st regular comics section
• in the New York World

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Yellow Journalism

• Named after The Yellow Kid, Richard Outcault
• Pulitzers World, then Hearsts Journal
• Fueled NY newspaper war

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Decline of Yellow Journalism

• 1900 1/3 of all big-city dailies practice yellow
  journalism
• Yellow journalism circulation declines through
  decade
• Corresponds with the rise of objective journalism
• Descendents Tabloids such as National Enquirer

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Objective Journalism (1896-1958)

• 1896, Adolph Ochs buys the New York Times
• Ochs ideal extreme objectivity
• E.g., 1914, the Times began printing entire
  speeches to avoid interference by editing
• Not always perfect, particularly during national
  crises, e.g., wars, depression

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Objective Journalism

• Reactions against yellow journalism included
  boycotts of World and Journal
• 1923, Canons of Journalism
• 1933, American Newspaper Guild
• 1947, Hutchins Commission
• Objectivity as the holy grail of American
  journalism

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20th Century Newspapers

• 1910 high-water mark for newspapers
• 2,600 dailies
• 14,000 non-dailies
• 1999
• 1,500 dailies
• 5,000 non-dailies

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New Journalism (1958-82)

• Objectivity has its limits.
• The need for interpretation
• Edward R. Murrow v. Joseph McCarthy
• 1958 wire services
• New York Herald-Tribune
• Magazine-like layouts, 1960
• Tom Wolfe, 1962

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New Journalism

• The rise of investigative journalism
• 1972-74 Washington Post Watergate (Bob Woodward
  and Carl Bernstein)
• The rise of individualism
• John McPhee
• Hunter Thompson, Fear and Loathing on the
  Campaign Trail, 1972

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USA Today Era (1982-?)

• USA Today Gannett chain, Al Neuharth
• Designed for a TV generation
• Innovations
• Color, high-impact graphics (large photos,
  weather maps, etc.)
• Brights (Hey Mabels) emphasis on good news
• Short articles
• Satellite transmission for printing around U.S.

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McPaper?

• USA Today represents a serious blow to American
  journalism, since the paper represents the
  primacy of packagers and market analysts in a
  realm where the news judgment of reporters and
  editors has traditionally prevailed.
• --Ben Bagdikian

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USA Today

• Recent changes in news coverage
• More attention to in-depth reporting
• Front stories that jump
• The USA Today legacy
• Are we entering a new era?

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Newspapers Today

• Still a local medium
• Ownership
• More concentrated
• More chains
• Fewer cities with competing dailies (New York,
  Detroit, Chicago, Denver, L.A.)

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Newspapers Today

• Ad revenue
• 75-80 percent of a papers income
• Largest single target for advertisers 22 percent
  of ad dollars spent
• Typical ratio in a paper 60 ads, 40 content
  (news, features, photos, etc.)

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Newspapers Today

• Readership is generally declining
• Other media
• Cost
• Delivery problems
• Lack of time
• Mobile population (suburbs)
• Age differences younger readers dont read
  papers as much

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Newspapers Today

• Zoned editions
• Youth sections
• Higher-quality graphics
• Convergence
• Internet sites, TV programs, etc.
• Civic journalism
• NIE and other educational programs