american journalism: freedoms and technologies
DESCRIPTION
History of American Journalism and communications technologies, First Amendment in Journalism, High School Journalism 1,TRANSCRIPT
American Journalism: Freedoms and Technologies
www.HuckabeeClassroom.com
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the
free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble,
and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
First Amendment
Religion: you can believe what you want, belong to any religion, or no religion
Speech: you can voice your opinions using words, symbols or actions
Press: the government cannot censor information in newspapers, online news sources, TV news broadcasts, etc.
Assembly: you can gather in a group Petition: you can criticize the government, and
you can complain about policies that affect you negatively and ask for change
So which rights do you have according to the First Amendment?
1690- Publick Occurences, published in Boston by Benjamin Harris. The British Colonials oppressed the paper after just one issue on a technicality because they didn’t like what it printed. (Reported on scandal involving King of France).
1704- The Boston News Letter started by John Campbell became the first continuously published newspaper.
America’s First Newspapers
Early newspapers had to step carefully. Any government criticism was considered “sedition” which means the stirring of rebellion and could result in jail time.
Government Criticism
In 1735 New York Weekly Journal’s publisher John Peter Zenger was charged with “seditious libel” and thrown in jail after criticizing the governor of New York.
The courts ruled in favor of Zenger, establishing the truth as a solid defense against libel.
For more information click here
Government Criticism
The leaders of the revolt used the press to incite the public to join their cause.
Almost all newspapers favored the Revolution because they supported the rights and freedoms of the press.
Early Newspapers helped Promote the Revolutionary War
After the Revolutionary War was won, the leaders of the new country put into place the Bill of Rights, granting the press more freedoms than ever before.
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition to the Government for a redress of grievances.”
-First Amendment to the United States Constitution
1791- The Bill of Rights
The period following the Revolutionary War early U.S. leaders fought bitterly over how the new government should be run.
Partisan newspapers attacked their opponents fiercely.
They mixed news and opinion indiscriminately.
This period was known as the Partisan Press
The Partisan Press
http://www.newseum.org/digital-classroom/video/45-words/default.aspx
http://www.history.org/foundation/journal/spring03/journalism.cfm Early American Newspapers – a more in-depth article
The Partisan Press
In 1835, The New York Herald became the first “modern newspaper” It was:◦ Free of government/ party
control◦ Had simple wording,
making it easy to read for the public
◦ Organized in a modern pattern covering regular beats (or topics) and news.
◦ It came about shortly after the development of the Penny Press
Birth of the Modern Newspaper
New technology brought about the cylinder press, capable of printing 4,000 copies of a newspaper in an hour.
This reduced costs to 1 cent a paper creating the first truly mass media papers.
Thus the “Penny Press” was born paving the way for modern newspapers.
The Penny Press
The steamboat, the Pony Express and the railroads in the mid 1800’s made news cheaper and allowed information to travel faster.
1861- reporters began using the telegraph utilizing Morse Code as a means of covering the news during the Civil War.
This led to the invention of the inverted pyramid (modern “hard” news style. It allowed information to be transmitted information to be submitted quickly, but at a cost. The fewer words used the better.
Advances in Technology
Inverted pyramid style
Objectivity Photojournalism Press credentials War
correspondents
Civil War brought many firsts
By the end of the 19th century, newspapers were the nation’s main source of information.
As huge newspaper empires grew, so did competition and circulation wars
“Yellow journalism” used sensationalism as a way to increase readership. This resulted in loud headlines on questionable behavior.
Yellow Journalism
Joseph Pulitzer- owned the St. Louis Post
Dispatch and took over New York World
Crusader for hard news but liked to sensationalize
The prestigious Pulitzer prizes are now awarded to journalists every year.
Founder of Columbia University School of Journalism
Famous “yellow” Journalists
William Randolph Hearst-
Owner of the San Francisco Examiner, bought New York Journal
Loved politics and planned to run for president
Competed against Pulitzer Paper emphasized crime,
scandals and violence
Famous “yellow” Journalists
Nellie Bly a.k.a.Elizabeth Cochrane-
Used publicity stunts to create news or expose injustice
Once had herself committed to an insane asylum in order to investigate conditions from the perspective of a patient
Pulitzer once sent her to travel around the world like the Jules Verne novel “Around the World in 80 Days”.
Famous “yellow” Journalists
The end of Yellow journalism ushered in the “golden age” of journalism.
Muckraking: Investigative, socially conscious reporting
Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle leads to new, much more stringent food and drug laws
Muckraking
Industrialization led to slums and terrible conditions for the poor. Journalists exposed these problems and helped start sweeping reforms:
Better working conditions
Sanitation Laws to protect people Honest government Regulation of big
business
Muckraking
1901: first wireless signal sent across ocean by Marconi
1920: first radio station- KDKA in Pittsburg
1926-27: national radio networks- NBC and CBS
1930’s-40’s: FDR’s fireside chats
Birth of the Radio/ Broadcast
1939 first TV broadcasts made, but WWII delays progress
By 1950’s powerful networks emerge.
Edward R. Murrow is the first network news “star”
Challenged Senator McCarthy’s communist hunts.
He set the standard for later news anchors
Birth of Television
It was hard to compete with TV’s speed and visual appeal
Newspapers strike back with:
Tighter, more concise writing
Better formatting Improved design In-Depth reporting Shorter stories Lots of color and
graphics
Newspapers Decline
The Pentagon Papers proved U.S. government had lied to the public about Vietnam War
1972, Washington Post reporters broke the Watergate story that led to President Nixon’s resignation.
Investigative Journalism
Watch these national news anchors discuss what the “@” symbol means and what “Internet” means.
This was 1994 by the way. Don’t laugh at them. It was a brand new time for technology. Seriously – we had no clue what this was all about in 1994.
The Internet is the number one news source in the world while other news media continues to decline.
The only solution to the decline of newspapers Is convergence.
The Internet
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4901034n
The End of the Newspaper
The way we deliver and receive news is changing but Journalism isn’t dead.
The public will ALWAYS require news. Journalism is going to survive, but in
different forms. Convergence is key
So what is Journalism today?
Slideshare by Jackie Scott https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUs7iG1
mNjI Student Press Law Center
Sources