Chapter 1—History of American
Media
Sedition
 “The stirring of rebellion”
 In pre-revolutionary war years,
newspapers that attempted to criticize
the government were found guilty of
the charge.
Libel
 WRITTEN defamation of character.
 False statements of damage against another
person or institution—can also be
broadcasted (from written text)
 Zenger trial in 1735 was first to use “TRUTH”
as a defense against libel
The First Amendment
Yellow Journalism
 The unethical, irresponsible journalism
given to hoaxes, altered photos, screaming
headlines, “scoops”, frauds, and endless
promotions of the newspapers.
 Pulitzer & Hearst
 Name comes from the comic strip “the
Yellow Kid”
The Pulitzer Prize
 Highest award a writer or photographer can receive in
the field of journalism
Muckrakers
 Writers that investigated
and reported on social
injustices in the early
1900s.
 The term was given to
the writers as a criticism,
but the writers
considered it to be a
“badge of honor”
Other important points in the
chapter…
 “Publick Occurrences”—first American newspaper
 14 years later, “Boston News-Letter” was the first
continuously published newspaper “by
authority”—had government approval
 Stamp Act—caused papers to align with
political parties, which created the “partisan
press”
Penny Press
 “New York
Sun”
 Benjamin Day mass-produced papers and
sold them for a penny
 Able to reach a larger audience and increase
literacy among the lower classes
Telegraph
 Invented in 1844
 Impacted reporting on
the Civil War
 Started the Inverted
Pyramid style of writing
 The forerunner of the
Associated Press (AP)
due to the speed of
reporting
Yellow Journalism
Hearst
Pulitzer
Yellow Journalism
 Hearst
 Pulitzer
 New York Journal
 New York World
--named for a
popular comic strip
that the 2 papers
battled over, “The
Yellow Kid”
Radio
 DeForest made improvements on vacuum tube in 1906
for radio
 DeForest made first newscast in 1916
 KDKA—1st radio station; Harding-Cox presidential
election returns of 1920
 NBC (1926)
 CBS (1927)
 ABC (1945)
 Radio Act of 1927—Created the Federal Radio
Commission—forerunner of the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC)
Television
 First newscast took place in 1940
 In every home by the late 1950s
 Led to newspapers focusing less on breaking news and
more in-depth reporting
 Cable TV had a huge impact on society
 Vietnam War—first broadcasted war images
 Gulf War
 September 11, 2001
 Keeps the interest of adults ages 18-25