AIM: How has journalism developed in this country?
HISTORIC TIMELINE
FIRST NEWSPAPERS IN THE AMERICAS:
1690 – PUBLICK OCCURRENCES –
BENJAMIN HARRIS
IT WAS SQUASHED BY BRITISH GOVERNMENT
AFTER ONE ISSUE BECAUSE THEY DIDN’T LIKE
WHAT HE AND THE PAPER SAID.
AIM: How has journalism developed in this country?
1704 – Boston News-Letter
– John Campbell
1st continuously printing newspaper.
Why wasn’t this one squashed?
It was published “by authority” – it was
monitored and approved by British
government.
REVIEW:
WHAT WAS THE FIRST NEWS PAPER?
WHAT WAS THE FIRST
CONTINUOUSLY PRINTED PAPER?
WHAT CONCLUSION CAN WE DRAW
ABOUT THE TYPE OF NEWS PRINTED
AT THIS TIME?
HOW MIGHT THE COLONIAL
POPULATION REACT TO THESE
TYPES OF NEWSPAPERS?
AIM: How has journalism developed in this
country?
WHO IS J.P. ZENGER???
John Paul Zenger fought back in 1735.
1734 – New York Weekly Journal –
Zenger printed articles critical of then
Governor William Crosby – it was the
beginning of the representation of the
Whig party.
-What is the Whig party?
Zenger was jailed November 17, 1734, but
awaited trial until August 4, 1735
(Pre Bill of Rights)
AIM: How has journalism developed in this country?
1735 – Andrew Hamilton represented
Zenger and admitted to the printing of the
so called “seditious libel.”
However, he pointed out that libel meant
damaging falsehoods, and not
oppositional truths.
[Vocabulary: libel, slander]
Libel – printed false defamation
Slander – spoken false defamation
AIM: How has journalism developed in this country?
What was the verdict? Why?
The jury was made up of colonials: NOT
GUILTY.
How might this contribute to the sentiments
that led up to 1776?
Why did this case set the tone?
Review
 What were the first newspapers we discussed
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yesterday?
What do we need to know about them?
Who is JP Zenger?
What resulted from his arrest?
How have each of these newspapers contributed
toward the creation of the USA?
Late 19th Century
Yellow Journalism – unethical,
irresponsible brand of journalism given to
hoaxes, altered photographs, screaming
headlines, “scoops,” frauds and endless
promotions of the newspapers themselves.
“EMERGENCY EVACUATION AT FPM
3 DAYS PRIOR TO NINE-ELEVEN!!!”
Two Notable Yellow Journalists (and
competitors):
William Randolph Hearst – NY Journal
Joseph Pulitzer – NY World
These two papers helped bring about the Spanish-American
War by supporting Cuban Nationalists with outrageous
headlines about the sinking of the Maine in a Cuban port.
“…the investigation went on and nobody was
found responsible for sinking the Battleship
[The Maine]. The press had already made their
minds up on who did it, it was the ‘cowardly
Spanish.’
For months the papers provided detailed
horror stories of Cuban life under the
oppressive Spanish rule. The presses released
stories with headlines such as
‘Spanish Cannibalism,’
‘Inhuman Torture,’
‘Amazon Warriors Fight for Rebels.’”
Nellie Bly (Elizabeth Cockrane) – She was considered a
yellow journalist by creating her own news:
-Jules Verne’s Around the World in Eighty Days
was the inspiration for her circumnavigational stunt: she
went around the world in 72 days, reporting all the way.
-Another notable news creation of Bly’s was when
she faked mental illness and had her self committed.
She then reported on the horrible conditions at the
asylum which then led to reform.
What era of journalism are we about to segue into?
Why?
Yellow Journalism eventually led to a movement of
reform in the late 19th century.
Muckrakers – Social Consciousness
-fought child labor, big business, meat packing
industry
-promoted hospitals, civil rights, help for the poor
How or why did yellow journalism become
muckraking?
Summary
 What were the first newspapers?
 WHO IS J.P. ZENGER? What resulted from his
trial?
 What is Yellow Journalism?
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Who are William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer?
Who is Nellie Bly?
 What is a Muckraker?
 How did yellow journalism lead to muckraking?
The Penny Press
 Early newspapers were often filled with essays,
letters and editorials (things that take time to write).
 1833 - Benjamin Day founded the New York Sun,
which was packed with news (events, tragedies,
police beat)
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Toned down the opinions
Sold on the street rather than by subscription
Reached a massive audience, particularly the working class
Advertising now played a major role in newspapers
 What is the impact of each of these?
 Many subsequent newspapers followed this format
The NY Times
 Started in 1851 by Henry Raymond
 Set the standard of accurate reporting, even from the
beginning
 Today it considered one of the most reputable papers
in the country
The telegraph
 Invented in 1844
 Electric current flowed through wires across great
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distances
Widespread use began 17 years later during the Civil
War. Why?
News from the “fronts” was transmitted
instantaneously.
The telegraph was unreliable and so the main details
came first and the language was direct.
This is the beginning of the inverted pyramid.
The inverted pyramid
 The most important aspects of
the story are first (who, what,
where, when).
 The comes the how and why
and the meat of the story.
 Lastly, the peripheral details
of the story are added.
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They may be cut off without hurting
the story
They may be trimmed to fit space
on a page.
Radio
 Radio – 1906 – the key
breakthrough was
based on Dr. Lee
DeForest’s
improvements on the
vacuum tube which
allowed
broadcasting.
 What is
broadcasting?
AM = amplitude modulation
FM = frequency modulation
Radio continued
 First news broadcast occurred in 1916 over a limited
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area.
First major (and regular) news broadcasting occurred
1920 – Harding-Cox election results
National Broadcasting Company (NBC) – 1926
Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) – 1927
Mutual Broadcasting System went on air in 1934. It
became American Broadcasting Company in 1945
(ABC)
The FCC was borne out of the Radio Act of 1927 which
is a stronger version of the law passed in 1912 that
called for the licensing of radio wavelengths.
Radio over the decades
 Before TV, radio was not only news, but also variety
shows with sound effects, voices, music, dramas, etc.
 TV nearly caused the end of radio, but rock and roll
of the 1950s helped to resurrect radio, causing it to
focus primarily on music. There was still news.
 Talk radio began to make a comeback in the 1990s
followed by the growing popularity of “shock jocks”
such as Don Imus, Howard Stern and Opie and
Anthony.

They are not journalists! However, other talk radio shows
began to emerge where news was discussed.
 Satellite radio has made its mark as a subscription
based medium. No censorship.
Television
 The first news broadcast was in 1940.
 TV took away the entertainment shows from radio
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and took away the breaking news from newspapers.
The public could hear and see breaking news on TV
and this caused the other news media to change their
format to adjust.
News requirement.
TV helped begin a “global village” by allowing the
entire world to view worldly events such as the
Olympics at the same time.
New networks offered other options for news (PBS,
CNN, FOX, MSNBC and others)
Yellow Journalism and Television
 Jerry Springer, et al.
 Graphic footage of world events (Columbine
shootings, 9/11)
 Like Nellie Bly’s foray into the mental health asylum
led to reform, so did graphic footage of recent
(horrific) events.
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School responses and state laws to cope with bullying in
schools
Airline security
 There are now over 1400 TV stations (and growing)
to offer specialized programming.
The Internet
 While the internet began in the 1960s, it became
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public and popular in the 1990s.
News is as immediate as any other media.
Archiving easier allows access to older news stories.
Blogging allows a wider response to news stories
bring more participation into current events.
Smartphones allow anyone to access news (audio
and photo/video), or disseminate news from
virtually anywhere.
Review
 Early newspapers
 Yellow journalism/muckrakers
 Telegraph
 Radio
 TV
 Internet