• 1690: The first newspaper is published in America, Publick Occurrences.
• 1702: The first English language daily newspaper is published called the Daily Courant. The Courant was first published (periodical)in 1621.
• 1704: Considered the world’s first journalist, Daniel Defoe publishs the Review.
• 1803: First newspapers published in Australia, the Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser.
• 1830: Number of newspapers published in the U.S. is 715.
• 1831: The famous abolitionist newspaper The Liberator is first published by William Lloyd Garrison.
• 1833: The New York Sun newspaper costs one cent - the beginning of the penny press.
• 1844: First newspaper published in Thailand.
• 1848: The Brooklyn Freeman newspaper is first published by Walt Whitman.
• 1850: P.T. Barnum starts running newspaper ads for Jenny Lind, the "Swedish Nightingale" performances in America.
• 1851: The Post Office starts offering a special cheap newspaper rate.
• 1855: First newspaper published in Sierra Leone.
• 1856: The first full-page newspaper ad is published in the New York Ledger. Large type newspaper ads are made popular by photographer Mathew Brady. Machines now mechanically fold newspapers.
• 1860: A "morgue" in newspaper terms means an archive. The New York Herald starts the first morgue.
• 1864: William James Carlton of J. Walter Thompson Company begins selling advertising space in newspapers. The J. Walter Thompson Company is the longist running American advertising agency.
• 1867: The first double column advertising appears for the department store Lord & Taylor.
• 1869: Newspaper circulation numbers published by George P. Rowell in the first Rowell's American Newspaper Directory.
• 1870: Number of newspapers published in the U.S. is 5,091.
• 1871: First newspaper published in Japan - the daily Yokohama Mainichi Shimbun. Famous newspaper interview with explorer Stanley Livingston published.
• 1873: First illustrated daily newspaper published in New York.
• 1877: First weather report with map published in Australia. The Washington Post newspaper first publishes with a circulation of 10,000 and a cost of 3 cents per paper.
• 1879: The benday process improves newspapers. The first whole page newspaper ad placed by an American department store (John Wanamaker) is run.
• 1880: First halftone photograph (Shantytown) published in a newspaper.
• 1885: Newspapers are delivered daily by train.
• 1887: The San Francisco Examiner published.
• 1893: The Royal Baking Powder Company becomes the biggest newspaper advertiser in the world.
• 1903: The first tabloid style newspaper, the Daily Mirror is pblished.
• 1931: Newspaper funnies now include Plainclothes Tracy starring Dick Tracy.
• 1933: A war breaks out between the newspaper and radio industries. American newspapers try to force the Associated Press to terminate news service to radio stations.
• 1954: There are more radios than there are daily newspapers.
• 1955: Teletypesetting is used for newspapers.
• 1967: Newspapers use digital production processes and began using computers for operations.
• 1971: Use of Offset presses becomes common.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Key personalities in journalism
Key Personalities in Journalism
Joseph Pulitzer (1847-1911). Pulitzer is perhaps best known for competing with Hearst during the 1920s. In his early years as a publisher, he was associated with "yellow journalism" - an era that celebrated reporting the most sensational and shocking stories possible.
However, Pulitzer soon pulled back from this type of coverage and is a key thinker and practitioner in the field of journalism because he redefined news in the early 1900s as "what people will talk about tomorrow."
This definition stays with the profession today. He was also instrumental in bringing news to the masses, specifically through penny press publications that were made for poor immigrants. He is remembered today through the Pulitzer Prize, one of the highest honors a journalist can receive.
Dorothy Day (1897-1980). Day is a keythinker in the field of journalism not only beacuse she was one of the first successful female publishers, but because she pioneered religious journalism. Her newspaper was called The Catholic Worker, and was meant to serve poor immigrants.
She was also a leader in the reform or activist journalism movement, as her paper constantly called for pacifism and social reform.
Otis Chandler (1927-2006). Chandler is not well-known outside of the discipline, but he is a undoubtedly a key thinker for newspaper journalism specifically. Chandler became the editor of The L.A. Times in 1960, right around the time when television was threatening newspapers' existence.
Chandler came up with an idea to combat this that has probably helped newspapers survive to this day. Since television can break news faster, he argued, newspapers should be responsible for reporting the "second story," the analysis that comes after the major event has occurred.
He had his editors reorganize the newsroom and had writers do more background reporting.
William Randolph Hearst (1863-1951). The son of a U.S. senator, William Randolph Hearst was a rich kid in his early 20s when he inherited control of the San Francisco Examiner newspaper from his father, mining tycoon George Hearst, in 1887.
Hearst went on to build a publishing empire that included newspapers, magazines, news services, radio stations and film studios. He was an unabashed practitioner of "yellow journalism," and his enthusiasm for sensationalism and his autocratic rule were legendary; he is often accused of nudging the U.S. into the Spanish-American war of 1898, just to sell more newspapers.
Beginning in the 1920s, Hearst had a mansion built in central California, called San Simeon but also known as Hearst Castle.
He was famously involved in an affair with actress Marion Davies, as well as a public feud with Orson Welles over the film Citizen Kane (1941), which was a thinly-veiled criticism of Hearst.
Adolph Ochs (1858-1935). The son of Jewish immigrants from Germany, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on 12th March, 1858. He worked as a compositor on the Louisville Courier-Journal before buying a controlling interest in the Chattanooga Times in July, 1878. This became one of the most successful newspapers in the South and by 1892 was making a profit of $25,000 a year from the venture.
Ochs purchased the New York Times in 1896. It was no longer the force it was and now had the smallest circulation of the city's eight morning daily newspapers. Ochs announced to his readers that: "It will be my earnest aim that the New York Times give the news, all the news, in concise and attractive form".
Ochs also cut the price of the New York Times from three cents to one cent, and attracted readers from the tabloid press. However, he made it clear he had no intention of competing with the unscrupulous newspapers by declaring on his front-page: "All the News That's Fit to Print". The strategy was successful and circulation jumped from 25,000 in 1898 to 100,000 in 1901.
The newspaper continued to prosper under Ochs control and by 1921 circulation had reached 330,000 during the week and 500,000 on Sunday. Adolph Ochs died on 8th April, 1935.
Horace Greeley (1811-1872). His success in political journalism cemented Greeley's friendship with Whig leaders in New York state, and with their encouragement he issued the first number of the New York Tribune on Apr. 10, 1841. He edited this paper for over 30 years; during much of that time it was the greatest single journalistic influence in the country.
From the first, Greeley's object was to provide for the poor a paper that was as cheap as those of his rivals but less sensational and more probing than the “penny press.” Therefore, sensational police news and objectionable medical advertising were eliminated from the Tribune.
Greeley's chief editorial assistant for 15 years after 1846 was Charles A. Dana. Beginning in 1849, George Ripley conducted for 30 years the first regular literary and book review department in a U.S. newspaper.
Other talented men joined Greeley's staff (he was the first editor to allow by-lines), but his own clear, timely, vigorous editorials were the feature that made the Tribune known throughout the nation.
Bennett, James Gordon
Bennett, James Gordon, (1841–1918). American newspaper proprietor, b. New York City; son of James Gordon Bennett. Educated mostly in France, he took over (1867) from his father the management of the New York Herald. In 1869–71 he financed Henry Stanley's expedition into Africa to find David Livingston, and from 1879 to 1881 he supported the ill-fated expedition of G. W. De Long to the arctic region.
In reporting international news the Herald scored repeated triumphs. After 1877, Bennett lived mostly in Paris, directing his newspapers by cable, and with John W. Mackay he organized (1883) the Commercial Cable Company to handle European dispatches.
He established London and Paris daily editions of the Herald; the Paris paper was an unprofitable, sincere attempt to promote international goodwill. Bennett was fond of sports, especially of yachting, and established the James Gordon Bennett cup as a trophy in international yacht races and similar cups for balloon and airplane races.
Joseph Pulitzer (1847-1911). Pulitzer is perhaps best known for competing with Hearst during the 1920s. In his early years as a publisher, he was associated with "yellow journalism" - an era that celebrated reporting the most sensational and shocking stories possible.
However, Pulitzer soon pulled back from this type of coverage and is a key thinker and practitioner in the field of journalism because he redefined news in the early 1900s as "what people will talk about tomorrow."
This definition stays with the profession today. He was also instrumental in bringing news to the masses, specifically through penny press publications that were made for poor immigrants. He is remembered today through the Pulitzer Prize, one of the highest honors a journalist can receive.
Dorothy Day (1897-1980). Day is a keythinker in the field of journalism not only beacuse she was one of the first successful female publishers, but because she pioneered religious journalism. Her newspaper was called The Catholic Worker, and was meant to serve poor immigrants.
She was also a leader in the reform or activist journalism movement, as her paper constantly called for pacifism and social reform.
Otis Chandler (1927-2006). Chandler is not well-known outside of the discipline, but he is a undoubtedly a key thinker for newspaper journalism specifically. Chandler became the editor of The L.A. Times in 1960, right around the time when television was threatening newspapers' existence.
Chandler came up with an idea to combat this that has probably helped newspapers survive to this day. Since television can break news faster, he argued, newspapers should be responsible for reporting the "second story," the analysis that comes after the major event has occurred.
He had his editors reorganize the newsroom and had writers do more background reporting.
William Randolph Hearst (1863-1951). The son of a U.S. senator, William Randolph Hearst was a rich kid in his early 20s when he inherited control of the San Francisco Examiner newspaper from his father, mining tycoon George Hearst, in 1887.
Hearst went on to build a publishing empire that included newspapers, magazines, news services, radio stations and film studios. He was an unabashed practitioner of "yellow journalism," and his enthusiasm for sensationalism and his autocratic rule were legendary; he is often accused of nudging the U.S. into the Spanish-American war of 1898, just to sell more newspapers.
Beginning in the 1920s, Hearst had a mansion built in central California, called San Simeon but also known as Hearst Castle.
He was famously involved in an affair with actress Marion Davies, as well as a public feud with Orson Welles over the film Citizen Kane (1941), which was a thinly-veiled criticism of Hearst.
Adolph Ochs (1858-1935). The son of Jewish immigrants from Germany, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on 12th March, 1858. He worked as a compositor on the Louisville Courier-Journal before buying a controlling interest in the Chattanooga Times in July, 1878. This became one of the most successful newspapers in the South and by 1892 was making a profit of $25,000 a year from the venture.
Ochs purchased the New York Times in 1896. It was no longer the force it was and now had the smallest circulation of the city's eight morning daily newspapers. Ochs announced to his readers that: "It will be my earnest aim that the New York Times give the news, all the news, in concise and attractive form".
Ochs also cut the price of the New York Times from three cents to one cent, and attracted readers from the tabloid press. However, he made it clear he had no intention of competing with the unscrupulous newspapers by declaring on his front-page: "All the News That's Fit to Print". The strategy was successful and circulation jumped from 25,000 in 1898 to 100,000 in 1901.
The newspaper continued to prosper under Ochs control and by 1921 circulation had reached 330,000 during the week and 500,000 on Sunday. Adolph Ochs died on 8th April, 1935.
Horace Greeley (1811-1872). His success in political journalism cemented Greeley's friendship with Whig leaders in New York state, and with their encouragement he issued the first number of the New York Tribune on Apr. 10, 1841. He edited this paper for over 30 years; during much of that time it was the greatest single journalistic influence in the country.
From the first, Greeley's object was to provide for the poor a paper that was as cheap as those of his rivals but less sensational and more probing than the “penny press.” Therefore, sensational police news and objectionable medical advertising were eliminated from the Tribune.
Greeley's chief editorial assistant for 15 years after 1846 was Charles A. Dana. Beginning in 1849, George Ripley conducted for 30 years the first regular literary and book review department in a U.S. newspaper.
Other talented men joined Greeley's staff (he was the first editor to allow by-lines), but his own clear, timely, vigorous editorials were the feature that made the Tribune known throughout the nation.
Bennett, James Gordon
Bennett, James Gordon, (1841–1918). American newspaper proprietor, b. New York City; son of James Gordon Bennett. Educated mostly in France, he took over (1867) from his father the management of the New York Herald. In 1869–71 he financed Henry Stanley's expedition into Africa to find David Livingston, and from 1879 to 1881 he supported the ill-fated expedition of G. W. De Long to the arctic region.
In reporting international news the Herald scored repeated triumphs. After 1877, Bennett lived mostly in Paris, directing his newspapers by cable, and with John W. Mackay he organized (1883) the Commercial Cable Company to handle European dispatches.
He established London and Paris daily editions of the Herald; the Paris paper was an unprofitable, sincere attempt to promote international goodwill. Bennett was fond of sports, especially of yachting, and established the James Gordon Bennett cup as a trophy in international yacht races and similar cups for balloon and airplane races.
America's first newspaper. The Boston News-Letter, thought to be America's first continuing newspaper, is pictured on page 364 of the book.
It was first published by John Campbell in 1704. William David Sloan, a professor of journalism at the University of Alabama and one of America's distinguished journalism historians, has put together an extensive history of this newspaper for the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.
Franklin in vogue. If anyone was the father of American journalism, it was Ben Franklin. But he was also the father of the American post office, the volunteer fire department and many other societal innovations that have lasted far longer than his life. A number of good biographies examining all aspects of Franklin's life have been published.
A couple of good web sites where you can find out much more about the life of Franklin are the companion web site for a Public Broadcasting System special on Franklin and the U.S. History.org web site, which contains a whole section on Franklin.
Key terms and concepts
• Individuals and groups have always needed to communicate new information, the latest news, to each other; consequently, journalism is a part of any society, ancient or modern.
• Journalism in any age depends on the technology available to gather and disseminate information.
• Writing makes information easier to convey than simply speaking; writing also creates a permanent record, something that establishes a history and a basis for a society.
• Acta Diurna – a daily publication of political and society news begun during the reign of Julius Caesar in 59 B.C.
• Moveable type – individual pieces of type that can be reused for different printing jobs. The concept of moveable type was the key to the invention of the printing press around 1450. JOHANNES GUTENBERG.
• Printing was only one of the factors that brought Western civilization out of the Dark Ages. Other factors included an increase in literacy and easier means of dissemination (such as the development of safer travel routes).
• Censorship – prevention by governmental or religious authorities of dissemination of information they believed threatening to their position.
• Benjamin Franklin was the great journalistic innovator of the 18th century; he pioneered the development of newspapers throughout the American colonies by investing in start-up papers, creating news services among newspapers, and promoting a light and entertaining style of writing.
• Modern journalism, with its emphasis on fair and accurate presentation of information, did not exist during the 1790s, the first decade of the American Constitutional republic. Instead, it was the age of partisanship when newspapers presented political points of view rather than information.
It was first published by John Campbell in 1704. William David Sloan, a professor of journalism at the University of Alabama and one of America's distinguished journalism historians, has put together an extensive history of this newspaper for the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.
Franklin in vogue. If anyone was the father of American journalism, it was Ben Franklin. But he was also the father of the American post office, the volunteer fire department and many other societal innovations that have lasted far longer than his life. A number of good biographies examining all aspects of Franklin's life have been published.
A couple of good web sites where you can find out much more about the life of Franklin are the companion web site for a Public Broadcasting System special on Franklin and the U.S. History.org web site, which contains a whole section on Franklin.
Key terms and concepts
• Individuals and groups have always needed to communicate new information, the latest news, to each other; consequently, journalism is a part of any society, ancient or modern.
• Journalism in any age depends on the technology available to gather and disseminate information.
• Writing makes information easier to convey than simply speaking; writing also creates a permanent record, something that establishes a history and a basis for a society.
• Acta Diurna – a daily publication of political and society news begun during the reign of Julius Caesar in 59 B.C.
• Moveable type – individual pieces of type that can be reused for different printing jobs. The concept of moveable type was the key to the invention of the printing press around 1450. JOHANNES GUTENBERG.
• Printing was only one of the factors that brought Western civilization out of the Dark Ages. Other factors included an increase in literacy and easier means of dissemination (such as the development of safer travel routes).
• Censorship – prevention by governmental or religious authorities of dissemination of information they believed threatening to their position.
• Benjamin Franklin was the great journalistic innovator of the 18th century; he pioneered the development of newspapers throughout the American colonies by investing in start-up papers, creating news services among newspapers, and promoting a light and entertaining style of writing.
• Modern journalism, with its emphasis on fair and accurate presentation of information, did not exist during the 1790s, the first decade of the American Constitutional republic. Instead, it was the age of partisanship when newspapers presented political points of view rather than information.
Beginnings of journalism
The history of journalism is tied to the history of the development of human society. Both individuals and societies have needed information to form communities.
That information must be timely and relevant, and journalism - in some form or another - has the job of providing that information.
The modern profession of journalism is a story of the development of journalistic information and the means of gathering that information, the technological means of producing and distributing that information in some medium, and the development of audience expectations for that information.
Journalism is particularly tied to technology, and changes in the technology of information usually mean changes in the profession of journalism.
The most profound technological change in the last 1,000 years was the printing press.
Its development allowed the efficient duplication of information in a form that could be easily distributed. The development of the printing press occurred in a larger environment of profound change in the 1400s and 1500s.
A part of that change was the increasing value given to individual thought and analysis and the increasing rate of literacy among the populations of western Europe. The development of journalism followed these changes.
In America in the 1700s, news and information became a tool used by those who wanted to break away from the English empire. Their interpretation of the events of the day, such as the Stamp Act, allowed them to make the argument for change, and the printing technology allowed them to disseminate those arguments to great effect.
That information must be timely and relevant, and journalism - in some form or another - has the job of providing that information.
The modern profession of journalism is a story of the development of journalistic information and the means of gathering that information, the technological means of producing and distributing that information in some medium, and the development of audience expectations for that information.
Journalism is particularly tied to technology, and changes in the technology of information usually mean changes in the profession of journalism.
The most profound technological change in the last 1,000 years was the printing press.
Its development allowed the efficient duplication of information in a form that could be easily distributed. The development of the printing press occurred in a larger environment of profound change in the 1400s and 1500s.
A part of that change was the increasing value given to individual thought and analysis and the increasing rate of literacy among the populations of western Europe. The development of journalism followed these changes.
In America in the 1700s, news and information became a tool used by those who wanted to break away from the English empire. Their interpretation of the events of the day, such as the Stamp Act, allowed them to make the argument for change, and the printing technology allowed them to disseminate those arguments to great effect.
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