HISTORY OF JOURNALISM

AMERICA’S FIRST NEWSPAPERS  The first American newspapers didn’t look like the huge papers you see today. Often they were only one sheet long and contained little of what you think of as news.  Letters, essays, and material borrowed from whatever source an editor could find made up the journalistic fare.

FIRST AMERICAN NEWSPAPER  The first American newspaper was the Publick Occurrences  It was published in Boston in 1690 by Benjamin Harris  After only one use, it was suppressed because they didn’t like what Harris printed  14 years later the colonies had their first continuously published newspaper: Boston News-Letter, which was started by John Campbell in 1704

FREEDOM OF THE PRESS  The First Amendment (Amendment I) to the United States Constitution prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering with the right to peaceably assemble or prohibiting...

FREEDOM OF PRESS CONT..  “The greater the truth, the greater the libel”  Libel: a published false statement that is damaging to a person's reputation; a written defamation.  Be fair, get it right!  The First Amendment to the Constitution guarantees the freedom of the press in the United States

THE PENNY PRESS

 Early newspapers carried little actual news.  They mainly consisted of opinions in the form of essays, letters, and editorials, plus advertisements

PENNY PRESS CONT…  In 1833, Benjamin Day founded the New York Sun filled it with news, and sold it for only a penny! Staff covered the police beat, wrote more about tragedies and natural disasters, and toned down the opinions. Thus was born the “penny press” probably more truly the forerunner of today’s newspapers Very popular with mass productions  The New York Times, which today is considered by many professional journalists the best newspaper in the country, was founded in 1851 by Henry Raymond.  From the beginning it set a standard for fairness and accuracy in reporting, a standard that has been widely imitated but rarely equaled.

THE TELEGRAPH  In 1861, newswriting and news coverage began to change when reporters at Civil War battle sites began to use the telegraph to transmit their stories  Shortly after the telegraph began to speed the reporting of news, the first news-gathering service was formed: the Harbor News Association.  This was a forerunner for the Associated Press  In 1910, there were 2,600 daily newspapers in the US

YELLOW JOURNALISM  Yellow Journalism- an unethical, irresponsible brand of journalism involving hoaxes, altered photographs, screaming headlines, “scoops,” frauds, and endless self-promotions by newspapers  Yellow comes from Yellow Kid, a cartoon character that appeared in the Sunday World in the 1890s  Yellow Journalism sprang up in the late 19 th century

YELLOW JOURNALISM  Most notable example of yellow journalists were William Randolph Hearst, publisher of the New York Journal, and Joseph Pulitzer, publisher of the New York World  Yellow journalism reached its peak in 1800s

FAMOUS FEMALE JOURNALIST  Nellie Bly was the name used by Elizabeth Cochrane, the most famous for the women journalist beginning to make names for themselves  She was know for her “stunts” to get a good story and she set out to circle the globe in fewer than 80 days

MUCKRAKING  Definition- the action of searching out and publicizing scandalous information about famous people in an underhanded way.  Muckrakers were the critics of the crusading journalists (those wanting to write about good and promote equality)

MINORITY MEDIA  In the early 1900s, minority newspapers begin to come about, the Chicago Defender being one of the largest.  The newspaper was found by Robert S. Abbot whose parents had been slaves  The Defender encouraged Southern Blacks to move to the North in search for better jobs  Ebony, an African American magazine, has been in circulation since 1945

MINORITY MEDIA  Hispanic media have taken their place on the American media scene as well. El Diario-LaPresna in New York, and Diario Los Americas in Miami.  The first Native-American newspaper was the Cherokee Phoenix, which appeared in 1828

FIVE LARGEST NEWSPAPERS IN US TODAY  The Wall Street Journal  USA Today  The New York Times  The Los Angeles Times  The Washington Post  All have daily circulations of more than one million with the exception of the Washington Post

TAKING PICTURE PROTOCOL  Teacher giving a lecture  Students working in small groups  You want to take a student or students into the hallway for a pic  Students taking a test  Teacher asks for you to come back or not to come back later  Teacher does not want you in the classroom EVER!!