History of Newspapers in the 2020s

Newspapers in the 2020s: Economics, Pandemics, and Politics

• The 2020s began poorly for newspapers, facing worsening economic issues
• Internet advertising revenue loss to platforms like Google and Facebook, and Craigslist's competition for classified ads, severely impacted newspapers.
• Circulation also declined as people accessed news freely online.
• At least 1,800 newspapers have ceased operations since 2004, creating "news deserts."
• The COVID-19 pandemic further crippled newspapers by reducing advertising revenue as businesses closed or cut costs.
• Local news outlets were particularly hard hit, struggling to afford daily coverage of state governments.

A History of Newspapers

• Early newspapers traced back to Roman Acta Diurna, though no surviving copies exist.
• Venetian avisi, or gazettes, appeared in 1566, focused on politics and military conflicts.
• Gutenberg's printing press (1440), by enabling high-volume printing, significantly reduced costs and increased access, fueling mass literacy and transforming publishing.
• The first weekly newspapers utilizing Gutenberg's press emerged in Central Europe in 1609.
• England's first newspaper, Corante, was printed in 1621.
• Early newspapers were often government-regulated, focusing on non-local news and novelty.
• The English Civil War (1641) prompted local news coverage and a discussion about freedom of the press.
• John Milton's Areopagitica (1644) critiqued government restrictions on texts, impacting press freedom.
• Free press in England led to increased publication frequency and use of newspapers for commercial purposes.
• First American newspaper, Public Occurrences (1690), published by Benjamin Harris, was brief and initially suppressed.
• Benjamin Franklin played a significant role in American newspapers and printing.
• John Peter Zenger's trial (1734) established the principle of freedom to print honest government criticism.
• Newspapers became conduits for political debate and partisan viewpoints during colonial times.

The Penny Press

• Benjamin Day's "The Sun" (1833) is considered the first penny press newspaper.
• The penny press revolutionized newspaper publishing, making news affordable to a wider audience. Day's paper substantially increased circulation from prior papers, attracting a mainstream audience and human-interest stories.
• Other penny papers followed, with James Gordon Bennett's "New York Morning Herald" notably contributing with nonpartisan reporting and news-gathering innovation, evolving to more objective standards later on.

Growth of Wire Services

• Samuel Morse's telegraph revolutionized news transmission, leading to intercity cooperation for news collection.
• The Associated Press (AP) formed in 1846, facilitating faster and more widespread news reporting.

Sensationalism and Yellow Journalism

• "Sensationalism," using crime, violence, emotion, and sex in headlines to boost sales, emerged.
• Joseph Pulitzer's "New York World" and William Randolph Hearst's "New York Journal" engaged in highly competitive sensationalist reporting, leading to "yellow journalism." Hearst notably introduced comics to attract diverse audiences, including immigrants.
• Yellow journalism used shocking headlines and often inaccurate or exaggerated reports while competing for readership, sometimes causing misinterpretations by readers and exaggerating events.

Objectivity and Other Models of Journalism

• Objectivity, or impartiality, gained popularity as a style of reporting in The New York Times.
• The New York Times's dramatic transformation from sensationalist to objective style led by Adolph S. Ochs was a significant turn for newspapers around the world.
• Inverted pyramid style, most important details first, evolved from telegraph necessity, quickly providing crucial information despite transmission failures.
• Interpretive journalism emerged, offering more in-depth analysis and context, responding to growing global complexity.
• Op-ed pages provided a platform for diverse opinions and contributed to interpretive journalism.
• Literary journalism combined factual reporting with storytelling, enabling a broader understanding of events.
• Advocacy journalism, using biased reporting to advance a cause, emerged.
• Niche newspapers like underground and ethnic press cater to specialized audiences and provide diverse viewpoints.
• Precision journalism (and later data journalism) utilizes factual data and research to support reports.

The Role of Newspapers in American Culture

• Newspapers serve as agenda-setters, influencing public discourse by selecting and framing stories considered noteworthy.
• Accusations of agenda manipulation and undue influence persist.
• Watchdog journalism scrutinizes public institutions to maintain accountability and disseminate important information.

Trends in Newspaper Publishing: News Deserts

• Local newspapers face increased economic difficulties, leading to the rise of "news deserts" lacking local news outlets.
• The decline of local newspapers is due to the erosion of revenue from circulation and advertising, worsened by new media, including investment groups with short-term profit motives.

The Future of Newspapers in the 2020s

• The viability of top American newspapers remains uncertain amid various challenges and opportunities.