The Influence Of Newspapers On Journalism And Culture In The 19th Century

Journalism shapes democracy - with newspapers playing a crucial role in. In the 19th century, Britain’s newspapers were a luxury only the wealthy could afford and have access to. The United States thought differently, they believed “a free press, making information as widely available as possible, was regarded as a important pillar of the new democracy- so much so that it was enshrined in the Bill of Rights.” (172) President Jefferson believing a free press did more good than harm, “The attempts to curtail a press freedom in the 1790s and 1800s actually strengthened it, establishing the right to criticize the administration and supporting vigorous and lively political debates.” (172) This started to shape the newspaper industry. The Sun

The telegraph “increased the speed with which news could be delivered and made foreign news more widely available than ever before.” (184) Telegraphers, through the use of keys and sounders, were able to have direct communications over the wires with distant colleagues. This was the first time people were speaking “online.” However, soon “ speed was everything; newspapers came to value timeliness at the expense of depth.”(184) When speed is more important than depth it shapes human culture because the public, who depend on the newspapers for accurate information, are not getting the full story they should be. In the modern media environment of today this is a huge problem. Newspapers always want to be the first to report on any happening across the world but now that they have moved to online were events are instantly reported on the competition has gotten has gotten stronger. They chose to report fast rather than fully accurate. Social media has made it so reporters don’t have to flock to the scene instead they can message people that are already there and gather their accounts. The problem that can come from this is verifying the information that they are receiving is truthful or