2. Helping a democratic nation make historic decisions

3. America’s first newspapers  Small, one-sheet wonders  Letters, essays, and material borrowed from whatever source the editor could find.  Sometimes had space for public comment.  Passed from reader to reader. Publick Occurences, at right, was published in 1690 in Boston by Benjamin Harris. After only one issue, the British colonial authorities suppressed it because they didn’t like what Harris printed. Fourteen years later, the first continuously published newspaper, The Boston News- Letter, was edited by John Campbell.

4. Benjamin Franklin, 1754

5.  Newspapers that criticized the government were guilty of “sedition,” the stirring of rebellion; truth was no defense.  1735 – In the New York Weekly Journal, John Peter Zenger printed articles critical of Gov. William Crosby. Zenger was jailed for attacks on the British Crown, regardless of the truth of his statements.  Atty. Andrew Hamilton defended Zenger; admitted his guilt in the matter, but defended his right to speak the truth in the pursuit of freedom.  Jury agreed!

6. Birth of a Nation  By 1775, when the revolution began, 37 newspapers were being published.  Those newspapers generally aligned with the patriots, partly because of their anger over the Stamp Act.  Newspapers backed Revolutionaries and printed the cries to battle that rallied the rebels.  For the next century, papers lined up deliberately with political parties – Whig or Tory.

7.  After the Revolution, the newspaper industry grew rapidly.  Freedom of the press guaranteed in many state constitutions, as well as in the Bill of Rights.  The first daily, the Pennsylvania Post, was founded in 1783.  The first student newspaper, the Students Gazette, was founded in 1777, Friends Latin School, Pennsylvania.

8.  Early papers carried very little actual news. They were filled with lots of opinions – essays letters and editorials.  1833 – Benjamin Day founded the New York Sun, filled it with news and sold it for a penny.  Covered the police beat, wrote about tragedies and natural disasters, toned down opinions.  Delivered by street sales, inexpensive  Working class audience  Advertising took on a major role

9.  Founded in 1841, the New York Tribune was one of most influential penny presses; 200,000 subscribers, most during that time.  Horace Greeley – social reformer  New York Times, founded in 1851 by Henry Raymond; focused on fairness and accuracy  “All the news that’s fit to print.”

10. Early 20 th Century  By the 1930s, most newspapers had the ability to run cartoons, photos and wide headlines.  News became departmentalized  Headlines larger, stacked headlines eliminated.  Era of big-city tabloids, packed with photos and sensational sledgehammer headlines.

11. Not-too-distant past  More and bigger photos  More refined headline type  Move to 6-column page  Gutter between columns of type instead of rules.  Full color available in the 1980s.

12. Current Trends Front page formatting; big stories demand big play; front page menus..