Key Concepts and History of American Journalism

Core Journalism Concepts

Writing Style and News Criteria

• Inverted Pyramid: A common writing style in journalism, prioritizing the most important information first. It was notably developed during the Civil War.
• Prominence: A newspaper story criterion focusing on well-known or popular subjects.
• Proximity: A newspaper story criterion relating to the geographical closeness of an event to the readers.

News Content and Influence

• Weather: Often considered the most important news broadcast section for many viewers.
• Sports: Particularly significant in regions like Texas.
• Media Control: The idea that an authoritarian elite group can control press content.
• 9/11 Reference: The term "Bastards" was noted in relation to the 9/11 attacks.
• Social Media: Holds huge influence in modern news dissemination and consumption.
• Citizen Journalism: An example includes a citizen recording events with an iPhone from a train window after a bombing.
• User-Generated Content (UGC): Content created by the public, often used by news outlets (e.g., news tips, photos, videos).

Newspaper Formats and Challenges

• Edible Edition: This is not a recognized type of newspaper.
• Contemporary Newspapers: Many are struggling to survive economically in the current media landscape.

Journalism in Early America

Initial Conditions

• Early publishing was handled by a few papers, printers, and postmasters.
• News was not timely compared to today's standards.
• A truly free press did not appear until after the American Revolution.

Pioneering Publications and Figures

• Benjamin Harris: Published the first American newspaper, Publick Occurrences Both Forreign and Domestick.
• John Campbell: Founded the Boston News-Letter, which had only 300 subscribers and never turned a profit.
• James Franklin: Established the New England Courant.
• Ben Franklin: Created some of America’s first magazines and the first editorial cartoon.

The Revolutionary Era and Political Press

• Newspapers grew during the Revolutionary War, often taking partisan stances with the colonies or the Crown.
• This period (1790-1833) is known as the Political Press era.
• The First Amendment established crucial protections: "Congress shall make no law...abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press."
• The first daily newspapers began publication in 1783.
• Freedom’s Journal: The first Black newspaper, founded in the late 1820s by Samuel Cornish and John Russwurm.

Development of Modern Journalism

The Penny Press

Benjamin Day launched the New York Sun in 1833, selling it for just a penny. This model revolutionized:

• Economic support for newspapers.
• Patterns of distribution.
• Techniques of news collection.

New Styles and Industry Growth

• Joseph Pulitzer: Stressed accuracy and reintroduced stories focusing on crime, violence, and tragedy.
• E.W. Scripps: Started newspapers in Cleveland and Cincinnati, pioneered edited news, and developed the idea of the newspaper chain. By 1911, Scripps owned 18 papers.
• Yellow Journalism: A type of reporting characterized by sensationalism, including topics like death, dishonor, disaster, sex, and murder, alongside self-promotion. It also brought energy and enthusiasm to journalism.
• Jazz Journalism: Marked a new era of sensationalism after World War I, focusing heavily on sex and crime. The New York Daily News is an example of this trend.

20th Century Changes and the Digital Age

Historical Impact

The Great Depression had a huge social and economic impact on the newspaper industry and society.

Online Newspapers

Online newspapers offer several advantages:

• Not limited by the physical "newshole" (space available for news).
• Can publish the full text of lengthy documents or speeches.
• Can be updated continuously.
• Are interactive, allowing reader engagement.
• Can feature user-generated content (UGC).

The Role of UGC and Social Media

• User-Generated Content: News outlets increasingly rely on news tips, photos, and videos submitted by the public.
• Social Media: Provides an economic advantage for spreading news quickly and widely.

Features of Modern Newspapers

Newspapers, in both print and online forms, typically:

• Contain national, international, and local news.
• Include features like movie reviews, horoscopes, comics, and sports coverage.
• Are conveniently packaged.
• Maintain a strong local focus.
• Serve as a historical record of events.
• Monitor the activities of private industry and government (watchdog role).
• Strive to be timely in their reporting.