The Rise and Fall of Newspapers
explanatory Essay
1152 words
The Rise and Fall of Newspapers
"Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspaper without a government. I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter."(Thomas Jefferson, 1787). Newspapers today are said to be crucial in the democratic process and preventing complete corruption throughout our society. They provide the public with information and facts that help them form their own opinions that are necessary for them to speak on issues facing the world. The newspaper industry has had a long journey all the way from the first newspaper, Acta Diurna to their current battle with radio, television, and the internet. They have had a major impact, and helped shaped our very nation.
In 59 B.C Julius Caesar wanted to inform the public of Rome about important social and political happenings throughout the cities. The first newspaper Acta Diurna was created and put in the bath house to provide the people with such information as government scandals, military campaigns, and executions. The next great leap in the newspaper industry was the invention of the moveable metal type by Johann Gutenberg in 1447. This was the first version of the printing press and allowed the production of hundred to thousands of copies. This made it a lot easier as well as a lot more cost effective to print newspapers.
The first newspaper to appear in the US was published in Boston in 1690. The newspaper Publick Occurrences was published without authority and was quickly shut down, with all copies being destroyed and the publisher being arrested. Fourteen years later John Campbell produced the first successful newspaper called the Boston New-Letter. It was heavily controlled by the colonial government and had a limited circulation that caused the paper to almost be a complete failure. The idea was very slowly catching and a few other newspapers starting popping up such as the Pennsylvania Journal and Maryland Gazette. As the papers were starting to spring up and gather movement in 1765, the British Parliament was trying to pass the Stamp Act, which would place a tax on the American newspapers. The papers upset by this tax calling it the "Fatal Black-Act" printed essays and newsletters protesting it. As November 1st approached as the day that the act was to take effect, many of the papers stated that they were shutting down in hopes of one day coming back.
In this essay, the author
- Describes how the first newspaper to appear in the us was published in boston in 1690. the boston new-letter was heavily controlled by the colonial government and had a limited circulation.
- Explains the fall of the newspaper industry in the twenties. the first attack on the industry was by the invention of radio.
- Explains that newspapers are crucial in the democratic process and preventing corruption throughout our society. they provide the public with information and facts that help them form their own opinions.
- Explains that the newspapers industry took a giant leap in 1791 with the ratification of the bill of rights, but was restricted seven years later when president john adams signed the sedition act.
Related
- opinion
- analytical
- explanatory
- Analysis of The Death of Newspapersopinion essayNewspapers have allowed for such a freedom in our everyday lives, and most have not even realized this fact. They have provided us with an outlet to speak our mind about politics, societal issues, public differences, and religion and cultures. Searching online to find such knowledge can be extremely challenging; moreover, newspapers always seem to be a place to find valid information. Newspapers have started to come off the printer more slowly over the past decade. More people are turning to electronic ways to find information rather than going to the direct source where that electronic media got their information. Most reliable information comes from newspapers where high up and educated citizens or leaders speak their mind on certain and important topics. The reason newspapers should stay a part of today’s society is because they offer a way for people to speak freely about what they please and get their voice heard, they are always credible, and they help us hear the problems of the world openly from different perspectives.
In this essay, the author
- Argues that newspapers have always had a positive outlook from the public, whereas the internet has many negative components to it.
- Argues that newspapers are credible because they are in front of us, a credible source because we read it in the first cover or on the front. online newspapers (2013) states that you can read nearly every newspaper online now.
- Opines that it is impossible to find two people who agree on a political or social matter these days because there are so many issues to be addressed.
- Explains that newspapers, books, records, and other paper copies have helped many of us get through school and retain most of the information in our head. social media is a good thing, but it needs to be used positively.
- Opines that newspapers have been around for years offering key information and allowing a reliable source to gain knowledge from.
- Opines that newspapers have provided us with an outlet to speak our mind about politics, societal issues, public differences, and religion and cultures.
1098 wordsRead More - The Inverted Pyramid and The Evolution of Newswritinganalytical essayThe Inverted Pyramid and The Evolution of Newswriting Newswriting, as it exists today, began with the adoption of the telegraph, which roughly coincided with the start of the American Civil War. The necessity of getting at story through before the telegraph’s occasional malfunction forced a radical change in the style of writing used in reporting. Before the telegraph, much of writing news was just that: writing. News was reported much like books were written. The reporter would set the scene with a detailed account of the setting or the mood and tell the tale just like any other narrative that one might read simply for pleasure.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that newswriting began with the adoption of the telegraph, and the inverted pyramid system, born of necessity.
- Analyzes how the protracted narrative style predominated news writing at the beginning of the civil war — stories were verbose and read more like an intellectual discourse on the topic than a report of news.
- Analyzes how news bites resemble a teaser in television news — one expects to read "details at eleven" after each item. the more modern form of news reporting exists, but does not dominate the news hole.
- Analyzes how the story's lead does not follow the who-what-when-where-why format that is a necessary part of the inverted pyramid model.
- Analyzes how the telegraph, along with other forms of electric communication, had become almost universal by 1917 and the beginning of the great war. the elevated language of this piece illustrates the old style is not yet dead.
- Analyzes how a modern newspaper portrays the president's proud and elated cabinet as surrounded by the president and discussed plans for waging the successful war against germany.
- Analyzes how the combination of the two opposite styles of news reporting in the first piece from 1917, and the very modern lead, illustrates that newswriting is changing from the original narrative style that was still very prominent
- Explains that by 1941 and the start of the second world war, the who-what-when-where-why lead was firmly in place, and would remain an industry standard through today.
- Opines that president roosevelt will address a joint session of congress tomorrow, and will find membership ready to vote any steps he asks in connection with the developments in the pacific.
- Describes japan's war against the united states and britain with air and sea attacks against hawaii, followed by formal declarations of hostilities.
- Explains that the japanese landed in northern malaya, 300 miles north of singapore, and bombed this great british naval stronghold, causing small loss of life among civilians and property damage.
- Explains that war broke with lightening suddenness in the pacific today when waves of japanese bombers attacked hawaii and the united states fleet struck back with a thunder of big naval rifles.
- Explains that japan was accused by secretary of state cordell hull of making a ‘treacherous and utterly unprovoked attack’ upon the united states and of having been ‘infamously false and fraudulent’.
- Opines that sudden and unexpected attacks on pearl harbor, honolulu, and other united states possessions in the pacific plunged the us and japan into active war.
- Explains that each of the stories with the leads listed above continues by listing the remaining facts in order of importance or told the entire story in chronological order.
- Explains that the times, along with most other papers, began putting just the beginning of the most prominent stories on the front page, and continuing the stories elsewhere in the paper.
- Explains that by world war ii, reporters' names are being included at the head of their stories, which was not seen during the great war. this is evidence that reporting had become a much more respected profession.
- Explains that newswriting and reporting did an about face between the civil war and world war ii.
- Compares the work of a civil war reporter to that of detective joe friday of dragnet fame.
1786 wordsRead More - Essay On Pullman Strikeanalytical essayNewspapers are great for people who are interested in what is happening in a community. They provide, “information about the who, what, when, where, and how events in the past” (59). In addition to the providing of information, newspapers also can be the cause of mood changes in a community. Even though they can not imform the public on a readers thoughts, “ they can tell us what information and opinion readers were being exposed to, and circulation figures can indicate the populatity of
In this essay, the author
- Explains that the chicago pullman strike began on may 11, 1894, when combustible conditions ignited the strike, causing it to explode into a national labor boycott of more than twenty railroads and violent confrontations between prolabor participants and authorities.
- Explains that newspapers are great for people who are interested in what is happening in a community. they provide information about who, what, when, where, and how events in the past.
- Explains the advantages of using newspapers as a historical source, such as providing local details, reflecting the immediate climate, and appealing to readers, but editorial bias would be an acute problem dring the 1890s.
- Explains that the chicago tribune and chicago times covered the pullman strike from different viewpoints, which allowed bias to become detectable in the articles.
- Analyzes the benefits, drawbacks, and blindspots of the pullman strike durining the 1890s.
541 wordsRead More - Amendmentsexplanatory essayWhat would this country be without the newspapers of our local towns? People had to find the news and the press is the number one way to find the news.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that the first amendment is the most important and sets the tone for a great country to be formed.
- Explains that the founding fathers of our nation felt that religion was important and broke free from the tyrannical form of a country they used to call home.
- Explains that freedom of speech is the most stressed part of the first amendment. it has helped the country break free of racial barriers like the book "uncle tom's cabin".
- Opines that without the freedom of press, people would not be able to help the readers of the newspaper make critical opinions on other peoples opinions.
- Opines that ending this paper is difficult because there are many reasons why the first amendment is so good, but the most important reasons are stated in the paper.
366 wordsRead More - Mass Media, Political Strife and the Nineteenth Centuryanalytical essayThe quote above sums up the past and present influence of the media on human societies. Humans have a tendency to look for the justifications for their ridiculous actions whether for the benefit of a group, the spread of their ideology, or sheer greed. In creating these justifications, some form of media must be used in order for it to take hold of a given society. The invention of the printing press in the mid-fifteenth century, acting as a preamble, led from one event to another such as the Protestant Reformation and the Thirty Years' War. The latter conflict was the epitome of deplorable misery and death all fuelled by what was spread in printed manuscripts and books. My argument is that various media, particularly the newspaper, have led and will continue to lead political strife and misery. In addition, I will be arguing with evidence from the nineteenth century, such as a brief description of the rise of the media in 1860s United States, the Congo experience of Henry Morgan Stanley, and culminating with the beginning of the Spanish-American War at the end of that century.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that the public have an insatiable curiosity to know everything. journalism, conscious of this, and having tradesman-like habits, supplies their demands.
- Analyzes how the mass media's influence in enforcing western ideals was the experience of henry morgan stanley in the congo in 1871.
- Analyzes how the spanish-american war of 1899-1900 is the perfect example of the marketability of war to the masses by the media.
- Analyzes the influence of the media on human societies, including the protestant reformation, the thirty years' war, and the spanish-american war.
- Analyzes the insidious acts of the american media in the nineteenth century especially in escalation of strife.
- Cites berenson, edward, key, wilson bryan, secunda, eugene, and terence p. moran. the press gang.
1494 wordsRead More - Trends in the History of American Suffrageexplanatory essay...o the constitution in 1791, made the same point regarding importance of newspaper with its guarantee of freedom of the press. The first regularly published newspaper in America, The Boston News letter, appeared in 1704. By 1775, 37 newspapers were being published in the colonies. Today nearly 10,000 newspapers are published in the U.S, including some 1,300 dailies, more than 7,000 weeklies, and 500 semi weeklies.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that the framers of the constitution purposely left the power to set suffrage qualifications to each state. suffrage means the right to vote.
- Explains that the growth of american electorate has come in five stages: religious, property, and tax qualifications disappear in every state; the 15th amendment prohibits voting restrictions based on race or color.
- Explains that the constitution sets five limits on the power that states have to set voter qualifications. the 26th amendment requires that no state set a minimum voting age above 18.
- Explains that the 15th amendment states the right to vote cannot be denied to any citizen of the united states because of race, color, or previous condition.
- Explains that voting indicates the beliefs only those that vote, which is generally only about 50% of our country. these are private organizations whose members share certain, view and work to shape public policy.
- Explains that television, the internet, newspaper, radio, and magazines play a lesser but still relevant vote in the political process.
2014 wordsRead More - When discussing the media, we must search back to its primal state the News Paper. For it was the News paper and its writers that forged ahead and allowed freedoms for today’s journalism on all fronts, from the Twitter accounts to the daily gazettes all must mark a single event in the evolution of media in respects to politics and all things shaping. Moving on in media history, we began to see a rapid expansion around 1990. With more than 50% of all American homes having cable TV access, newspapers in every city and town with major newspaper centers reaching far more than ever before. Then the introduction of the Internet; nothing would ever be the same.
In this essay, the author
- Opines that the news paper and its writers forged ahead and allowed freedoms for today's journalism on all fronts, from twitter accounts to the daily gazettes.
- Explains that john peter zenger, publisher of the new york weekly journal, was incarcerated for publishing articles that ridiculed governor cosby of new york. hamilton rationalized that his client be acquitted.
- Explains that the sedition act of 1798 made it a crime to print false, scandalous, and malicious writing against the government of the united states.
- Explains that theodore roosevelt made famous the term "muckrakers" as a critical attack on negativism concerning the media of his era.
- Opines that the 1990s brought a new form of media, unlike the radio of the 1920s or the television in the 30s, and tested the communications act of 1934.
- Analyzes how journalists became even more powerful than the very people covered in the news stories and the public was forgiving all of the missteps.
- Asks who is watching the watchdogs, the journalists who are now trying to carve our moral standards and social, political opinions?
858 wordsRead More - The Decline of the Great American Newspaperopinion essayMy father relishes his Sundays. There are no games to coach, no trains to catch, and no kids to get off to school. He gets up before the rest of us, even before my mother gets her first cup of coffee (which is a feat in itself) and heads outside, starts up the truck, and begins his morning. His first stop is always the dump where he beats the traffic and chaos that the later hours of the day will bring. His second stop is the Village Market, our local grocery store where he usually picks up a bag of bagels, eggs if we need them, and if he is feeling spontaneous a bottle of Hornstra’s chocolate milk. The items on his list are never quite the same, but there is one thing he always brings back: The Boston Sunday Globe. Upon his return he usually makes his prized breakfast sandwiches for all of us. Once we are all fed and happy, he finally sits down, laying out the globe in front of him while he enjoys what he considers a masterful breakfast sandwich. He looks through every single section, flips every single page, and reads a good majority of the articles. My father looks so at peace and content every time I see him read that paper like nothing but the tiny black text that covers those pages exists. He has his Sunday morning ritual down to a science, and at the heart of it is that newspaper.
In this essay, the author
- Narrates how their father relishes his sundays. he beats the traffic and chaos that the later hours of the day will bring, picks up bagels, eggs, and a bottle of hornstra’s chocolate milk.
- Explains that they have grown up in a world where newspapers appear close to extinction and twitter feeds are considered reliable news sources.
- Opines that the internet has changed our society in so many ways, allowing us to shop, communicate with friends, read blogs, create blogs and watch television shows.
- Analyzes how charles madigan's book, the collapse of the great american newspaper, argues that newspapers have been declining because our culture has changed.
- Opines that if we move away from the print newspaper and rely on selective article readings, we will lose a greater sense of what is happening in our nation.
- Opines that future generations may not see the importance of the press if newspapers disappear from our doorsteps and journalism continues to lose its power.
- Analyzes how the lack of interest in government, politics, and social issues in young adults makes it scary to imagine what the future of our nation will look like.
- Concludes madigan's line that government supported by an uninformed citizenry is not a democracy. there is no single all-encompassing solution that will solve this crisis in journalism but things can be done to spur interest and motivate younger generations to read the news.
- Cites harvard college's "50 years in media: changes in journalism" and ahrens' "the accelerating decline of newspapers."
- Explains qayyum, asim, williamson, kirsty, ying-hsang liu, and hider, philip. "investigating the news seeking behavior of young adults." australian academic & research libraries.
1580 wordsRead More - Information Controls by Newspapersanalytical essayInformation Controls by Newspapers All newspapers have different ways of passing on the news to their readers. This often depends on the audience the newspaper is targeting. The four newspapers that I will be writing about all target various readers. I will be looking at which pieces of information newspapers would use when reporting about the invasion of the Central European state of Bernia by Cara. ' The Planet' is a tabloid newspaper that backs the government.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that newspapers have different ways of passing on news to their readers, depending on the audience they are targeting. they will be writing about the invasion of the central european state of bernia by cara.
- Explains that 'the reporter' supports the labour party and the trade union movement, but has a smaller circulation.
- Explains that 'the daily recorder' is a patriotic pro-government broadsheet that believes in family values and british identity. as the planet supports the government, it would be careful about the information it dispensed.
- Argues that 'the planet' would not want people to know that there had been 150 civilian deaths because they were caused in retaliation against the arrival of british troops.
- Explains that bernian refugees were fleeing to escape rumours of ethnic cleansing. 'the planet' would avoid printing the fact that there were 150 uk casualties.
- Opines that newspaper b is similar to 'the planet' in some ways, but probably doesn't support the government quite as much.
- Argues that 'the enquirer' would print the photograph of bernian civilians mourning over the deaths of their three children in the caran bombing.
- Analyzes how the enquirer would criticize the fact that british troops had been sent to bernia in the first place as an attack in retaliation to this had caused 150 civilian deaths.
- Opines that 'the enquirer' would not talk about the rumours of ethnic cleansing as these were just rumors and they wouldn't want to give out false information.
- Argues that 'the daily recorder' would talk about the civil war and how things were getting out of hand in bernia, making it look like it was britain's duty to help.
600 wordsRead More - History, Background and Development of Electronic Newspapersanalytical essayHistory, Background and Development of Electronic Newspapers In order to understand fully the theoretical aspects of this work and to relate this to practical field results, it is necessary to understand both the history and development of electronic newspapers and the context within which such development has taken place. The general historical context within which electronic newspapers are being developed is first examined. A brief description of the history of electronic publishing itself and some background containing details of the characteristics of electronic newspapers is followed by a review of development in the UK and a statement on their use, spread and status to date. The major characteristics of some existing UK based electronic newspapers are discussed and a comparison made with their hard copy counterparts.
In this essay, the author
- Explains the history, background, and development of electronic newspapers and the context within which such development has taken place.
- Describes the major characteristics of existing uk based electronic newspapers, followed by a brief description of the history of electronic publishing.
- Concludes by reviewing a non-commercial leading edge example where issues of user acceptability were uppermost in the minds of the developers.
- Analyzes how sreberny-mohammadi argues that control of technology led to content control and cultural control within society.
- Explains that communications history can be divided into three main epochs: the earliest when speech dominated (orality); the advent of print; and electronic media.
- Explains that communication during the orality epoch had several characteristics. it was geographically constrained and discussion of and intellectualising on events outside a small locale in real time was impossible.
- Explains that voice, or membership of a particular forum, and the message was ephemeral. the context within which the communication was delivered (and simultaneously received) was important.
- Explains that the written and printed word handwriting provided the first means of non-transient communication.
- Explains that the written word is not geographically constrained in the same way as during the orality epoch, but certain other characteristics are important.
- Explains that the sender has less control over the way in which the recipients interpret the message. paper and the printing press were the keys to the widespread use of the written word.
- Explains that the concept of 'gate-keeper' was established, that is one who could decide on what should and should not be published. new books spread new ideas; religious debates were enhanced by such
- Explains how literacy spread, new authorities were established based on intellectuals who could argue logically and persuasively orally.
- Analyzes how radio and television broadcasting have exerted enormous influence over their audiences. television re-combines visual and aural and, through vcr, allows time-shift to take place.
- Explains that in the orality epoch, the ethos of the speaker was important; with the written word, it was logical argument which was supreme, but with broadcasting and particularly television broadcasts the power of speech returns.
- Opines that the gatekeepers of broadcast media wield massive power over what is and what not broadcast.
- Summarizes the major characteristics of the three epochs described above.
935 wordsRead More