History of Journalism

A round of applause, please, for Johannes Gutenberg.  

The German-born printer and publisher is credited with the invention of movable type printing press in the 15^th century.  His invention essentially created the beginnings of journalism, set in motion the first production of newspapers, and established a new form of communication.  The new form of communication allowed for Americans to unite in their revolution against the British Empire, and for the creation of the Declaration of Independence.

With newspapers in the fold, journalists established a daily news feed that is taking for granted today. 

In the early days of print journalism, however, there was subjectivity involved with nearly every written article.  In author Tony Roger’s summarization of the history of journalism, he stated that “they [newspapers] were fiercely partisan publications that editorialized against the tyranny of the British government, which in turn did its best to crack down on the press.”

The power of print journalism was never more evident than when several colonial newspapers reprinted Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense” pamphlet. The printing of the pamphlet encouraged colonists to participate and stay strong in their revolution against the British. 

Another significant moment in American history allowed for a development in journalism which is still used frequently today.  A large part of the coverage of the Civil War had to with the popularity of the telegraph.  Reporters were able to use the telegraph to quickly communicate their stories about the battles back to their editors quickly.

The issue became that the telegraph lines often would fail, and the reports were often cut off halfway through.  Due to this, stories would not be able declare a winner of that day’s battle because the outcome would be saved for the very end of the story.  

Knowing that a story is not going to mean much without a declared winner, it was suggested that reporters would begin the telegraph message with who won.  After that the reporter would fill out the rest of the story with less significant details.  The inverted pyramid was born.

At present time the inverted pyramid remains a key component of any journalist’s repertoire.  While the inverted pyramid does have its critics, it hits the reader with the most important details to encourage further investigation into the story.

Specific news beats began to develop for journalists in the 1800’s.  In 1835, the New York Herald began to offer sections including sports, reviews, economics and general society news.

The late 1800’s and beginning of the 20^th century brought a larger American population and more demand for news.  Newspapers began to grow with bigger staffs and new technology to be able to quickly meet the demands of the public.  The invention of the telephone and typewriter had a significant impact on the speed of delivering a story and the convenience.

To further grab a bigger audience, journalists began to experiment with sensationalism or “yellow journalism.”  This meant that journalists would often cover and write articles on the most notable events that involved the most surprise or notable people. 

The mid to late 20^th century gave way to an increase in investigative reporting.  Journalists were expected to discover the big stories that were not on the surface yet, and give their publication the first attempt to get the story out to the public.

Arguably the most famous investigative reporting in American was the Watergate Scandal involving former president Richard Nixon.  In 1972, two Washington Post reporters, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, uncovered significant corruption details about the Nixon re-election committee.  The reports and subsequent investigation led to the resignation of Nixon.

The 1970’s and 1980’s represented a beginning to where journalism is at now.  Computers began to become involved with the production of newspapers.  

For more information, please check out the links contained in my references below.

 

References

Emery, E., Emery, M., & Roberts, N.L., The Press and America: An Interpretive History of the Mass Media, 8th ed. (Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1996). Retrieved from http://www.writesite.org/html/tracing.html

Rogers, T. (n.d.). Print journalism-A history of print journalism in america. Retrieved from http://journalism.about.com/od/ethicsprofessionalism/a/printhistory.htm