The History of Journalism, and the Nature of Newspaper

Since language was invented, people would scream very loudly about what concerned them. This is the mostly American history of people deciding to write it down in, so more people could know, for a longer time.

59 B.C.E

Acta Diurna

Roman notices, carved onto slabs of metal, and carted all throughout the empire.

At the bottom, one phrase was always included:

"Publicare et Propagare"

publish and propagate

1689

Publick Occurrences

The first American newspaper, which only published one issue before being shut down.

John Peter Zenger

Criticized the governor of Rhode Island, for among many things, hiring his nephew.

In this time, criticizing an elected official of a king was seen as criticizing the king, so he was charged.

In court, the governor admitted to the allegations of Zenger to be true, and so the judge famously said:

"Truth is the ultimate defense against charge of libel"

Zenger's case allowed much more freedom to the press, even before the revolutionary war.

Up to Civil War

Era of Party Papers

Elitist, American papers convincing people to vote for their party.

Up to World War II

Yellow Journalism

Named after the popular cartoon The Yellow Kid.

Populist Journalism that focused on selling newspapers.

Started using advertising to decrease price.

Created Muckraking:

exposing the corruption of officials.

Modern Era

A mixture of Elitist Journalism and Muckraking Journalism.

Focuses on providing information to citizens.

Now, relating to this, we must ask:

Why Do Newspapers Continue to Exist?

You could be wondering this, as many young people do, because of the ease of the internet, but here a few reasons while they march on:

• Portable
• Cheap
• Great for older people lacking internet literacy
• Tradition
• A physical presence that provides an intimacy and ownership.
• They're a non-linear media

These reasons, and many more, keep print from dying, and make us remember the history of above. Even, if we massacre trees.