Newspapers: The Rise and Decline of Modern Journalism Chapter 3
Newspapers: The Rise and Decline of Modern
Journalism
Chapter 3
“U.S. newspapers have lost readers as well as their near monopoly on classified advertising, much of which has shifted to popular Web sites like craigslist.com. By early 2010, newspapers’ advertising revenues seemed to be in freefall, along with their stock price. Industry observers began asking, ‘Can this mass medium survive much longer?’ ”
Newspapers Today
Newspapers have historically acted as chroniclers of daily life. Inform and entertain
In the digital age, the industry is losing papers and readers.
Losses raise big concerns for future of newspapers.
The Early History of American Newspapers
Colonial papers Benjamin Harris: Publick Occurrences (1690) Benjamin Franklin: Pennsylvania Gazette
(1729) John Peter Zenger and the Popular Party: the
New-York Weekly Journal (1733)
Partisan Press
Critiqued government Disseminated views of different political parties
that sponsored newspapers Offered updates on markets Reported ship cargoes from Europe Directed at wealthy, educated readers Evolved into modern:
Editorial pages Business sections
Penny Press
1833—Benjamin Day’s New York Sun Local events, scandals, police reports, serialized
stories Blazed the trail for celebrity news Fabricated stories
Human-interest stories Ordinary individuals facing extraordinary
challenges Success spawned wave of penny papers.
Changing Business Models
1835—James Gordon Bennett’s New York Morning Herald Bennett first U.S. press baron, completely
controlled paper’s content World’s largest daily paper at the time Targeted middle- and working-class readers
Penny papers increased reliance on ad revenue.
News Wire Services
Commercial and cooperative organizations Relayed news stories around world by telegraph Began with Associated Press (AP) in 1848 Later used radio waves, digital transmissions
Increased speed of news distribution Set the stage for modern U.S. journalism
Provided more people greater access to information
Yellow Journalism
Pulitzer and Hearst Overly dramatic
Crimes, Celebrities, Scandals, Disaster, Intrigue Exposed Corruption
In business and government Developed elements of modern journalism
Investigative reporting Advice columns Feature stories Journalism awards
Competing Models of Print Journalism in 1800s
Story-driven model Dramatized important events Characterized penny papers, yellow press
“The facts” model Favored impartial approach Characterized six-cent papers
Objectivity in Modern Journalism
Ochs and The New York Times, 1896 Distanced itself from yellow journalism Focused on documentation of major
events Attracted more affluent readership
through marketing Lowered price to a penny, attracting
middle-class readers
Objectivity in Modern Journalism (cont.)
Inverted-pyramid style Developed by Civil War correspondents Answered who, what, where, when, why, how
first (top) Placed less significant details later (bottom)
Limits of objectivity Prevents readers from obtaining a fuller
picture of events
Interpretive Journalism
Explains key issues or events Places news in broader historical or social
context Developed partly in response to poor
reporting of causes of World War I Provides more analysis than objective
model
Lippmann and interpretive journalism
Press should remain objective but also 1) Supply facts for the current record 2) Give analysis 3) Suggest plans on the basis of both
Timeline Began in 1920s Debate over role of newspapers and
radio,1930s Op-ed pages become popular in 1950s
Literary (New) Journalism Fictional storytelling techniques applied to
nonfictional material Timeline
Originated in 1930s–40s Gained popularity in 1960s (Rolling Stone)
Journalists working in this tradition include: Tom Wolfe, Norman Mailer, Hunter
Thompson, Jon Krakauer, Adrian Nicole LeBlanc
Technology Age Changes
USA Today (1982) First newspaper to use color Mimics broadcast by using brief news
items Writers use present tense for
immediacy
Online Technology Changes
Online journalism reshapes news process Readers find news through sites like
Google Real time updates Stories stay in public eye longer Trivial stories get more emphasis
Categorizing News And U.S. Newspapers
Smaller local papers Focus on consensus Promote social, economic harmony in community Publish weekly Use consensus-oriented journalism
Regional and national papers Use conflict-oriented journalism Front-page news defined as events, issues, or
experiences deviating from social norms
Ethnic and Minority Newspapers
African American Freedom’s Journal (1827–1829), Amsterdam News,
Chicago Defender Spanish language
New York’s El Diario–La Prensa merged with Los Angeles’ La Opinión to create ImpreMedia.
Asian American Sing Tao Daily serves Chinese immigrants nationwide.
Ethnic and Minority Newspapers (cont.)
Native American Cherokee Phoenix (1828), Native American
Times Arab American
Arab American News, Aramica
The Underground Press
Inspired by socialists, intellectuals from 1930s, 1940s New wave of critics and artists in the 1960s
Mid to late 1960s saw explosion in alternative newspapers Critiqued government and social institutions Challenged mainstream depictions of news Village Voice: most enduring alternative paper
Economics: Money In
Majority of revenues derived from advertising Large dailies devote one-half to two-thirds of
pages to ads. Ads range from expensive full-page spreads
to classifieds. Newshole refers to space left for front-page
news, regional stories, features.
Economics: Money Out
Salaries and wages for staff Economic downturn and industry consolidation
have caused layoffs Staff expected to do more jobs
Independent bureaus are closing
Wire services Feature syndicates
Challenges Facing Newspapers
Declining readership Decreasing number of cities with
competing daily newspapers Joint operating agreements (JOA)
Newspaper chains Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp.
multinational Congress exploring nonprofit models to
keep papers alive
Challenges Facing Newspapers (cont.)
Going digital By 2010, more newspapers moving bulk of
operation online, while dramatically decreasing news staff
Some print papers folding Rising blogs
Now considered major source of news that rivals print papers
Competing citizen journalists
Newspapers in a Democratic Society
The survival of a free press is not certain As more newspapers fold or consolidate, what
will fill this void? Where will citizens outside of the mainstream
obtain information vital to them? How will diverse opinions and ideas be heard?
“…Reporting is absolutely an essential thing for democratic self-government. Who’s going to do it? Who’s going to pay for the news? If newspapers fall by the wayside, what will we know?”*
*John Carroll, “News War, Part 3,” Frontline, PBS, February 27, 2007, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/ newswar/etc/script3.html.