ch3

1. MEDIA/IMPACT
12TH EDITION
Chapter 3 – Newspapers: Mobilizing Delivery

2. FIRST MASS MEDIUM TO DELIVER THE NEWS
 From 1690 until the introduction of radio in 1920, newspapers were the only mass
news medium available.
 Until 1920, newspapers were the only way for large numbers of people to get the
same news simultaneously.
 The invention of broadcasting in the early 20th century changed newspapers’
exclusive access to news because broadcasting offered quicker access to
information.
 In the late 20th century, the expansion of the Internet challenged newspapers’
delivery system, and advertisers fled printed newspapers for an online audience.
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3. NEWSPAPERS ADAPT TO TRY TO MAINTAIN
THEIR AUDIENCE
 1690 – America’s first newspaper, Publick Occurrences, is published.
 1808 – El Misisipi, America’s first Spanish-language newspaper, begins publishing in
Georgia.
 1827 – Freedom’s Journal, the nation’s first independent newspaper aimed at an
African-American audience, is launched.
 1828 – The Cherokee Phoenix, the nation’s first Native American newspaper, begins
publication.
 1950 – Newspaper readership begins to decline following the introduction of
television.
 1990s – Newspapers launch internet editions to attract readers who have
abandoned the printed product.
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4. PUBLISHERS FIGHT FOR AN INDEPENDENT PRESS (1 of 2)
The issue of government control of newspapers surfaced early in the
history of the colonies.
 James Franklin’s New England Courant Establishes an Independent Press Tradition –
First American newspaper to appear without the crown’s “Published by Authority”
sanction.
 Benjamin Franklin Introduces Competition – In 1729 Benjamin Franklin bought the
Pennsylvania Gazette to compete with the other Philadelphia newspaper, the
American Weekly Mercury. The Gazette was the most financially successful Colonial
newspaper.
 Truth Versus Libel: The Zenger Trial – After The New York Weekly Journal attacked
Governor William Cosby for incompetence, Publisher John Peter Zenger was arrested
and jailed, charged with printing false and seditious writing. His attorney argued that
truth was a defense against libel. Landmark precedent for freedom of the press.
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5. PUBLISHERS FIGHT FOR AN INDEPENDENT PRESS (2 of 2)
 Women’s Early Role as Publishers – Early colonial women printers, such as Anna
Zenger, usually belonged to printing families that trained wives and daughters to
work in the print shops. There were at least 14 women printers before the American
Revolution.
 Birth of the Partisan Press – As dissatisfaction with British rule grew, newspapers
became political tools that fostered the debate that led to the colonies’
independence.
 The Stamp Act - Taxed publishers a halfpenny for each issue that was a half-sheet or
smaller and one penny for a full sheet. Each advertisement was taxed two shillings.
All the colonial newspapers, even those loyal to the crown, fought the act.
 The Alien and Sedition Laws - Federal government’s first attempt to control its
critics. Congress said anyone who “shall write, print, or publish…false, scandalous
and malicious writing or writings against the government of the United States, or
either house of the Congress of the United States, or the President of the United
States” could be fined up to $2,000 and jailed for two years.
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6. TECHNOLOGY HELPS NEWSPAPERS
REACH NEW AUDIENCES
 Frontier Journalism – Gold, silver and adventure lured people to the West. Aided by
the telegraph, the Indiana Gazette, the Texas Gazette, the Oregon Spectator, the
Weekly Arizonian and Colorado’s Rocky Mountain News moved news easily from
coast to coast.
 Ethnic and Native American Newspapers – People outside the mainstream of
society, such as Spanish and German immigrants, used newspapers to create a
sense of community and ethnic identity.
 Dissident Voices Create the Early Alternative Press - Two strong social movements—
emancipation and women’s suffrage—brought new voices to the American press.
 Alternative (Dissident) Press - Media that present alternative viewpoints that
challenge the mainstream press.
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7. Elias Boudinot Elias Boudinot [Cherokee name: Galagina (The Buck) Oowati]
published the first Native American newspaper, the Cherokee
Phoenix, from 1828 to 1832. The newspaper used the Cherokee
language.
Frederick Douglas Established the weekly newspaper the North Star, often called the
most important African-American pre-Civil War newspaper.
William Lloyd Garrison Boston abolitionist who founded the New England Anti-Slavery
Society and published The Liberator, another important
abolitionist newspaper.
Ida B. Wells Part owner of the Memphis Free Speech and Headlight, she wrote
under the pseudonym Iola. Her struggle for social justice
represents an early example of the role of the dissident press in
American history.
NATIVE AMERICAN AND AFRICAN-AMERICAN VOICES
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8. NEWSPAPERS DOMINATE THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY
 Competition Breeds Sensationalism - Two New York publishers, Joseph Pulitzer and
William Randolph Hearst, revived and refined the penny press sensationalism that
had begun in 1833 with Benjamin Day’s New York Sun.
 Yellow Journalism is Born: Hearst’s Role in the Spanish-American War - For three
years, the two newspapers unrelentingly overplayed events in the Cuban struggle
for independence from Spain, each trying to beat the other with irresponsible,
exaggerated stories, many of them invented. Showed that newspapers can have a
significant impact on political attitudes.
 Tabloid Journalism: Selling Sex and Violence - A tabloid is a small-format
newspaper, usually 11 inches by 14 inches, featuring illustrations and sensational
stories. Example: New York Daily News
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9. TELEVISION BRINGS NEW COMPETITION
 Unionization
International Typographical Union, 1850s
The Newspaper Guild, 1934, was the first union for reporters
 Competition with Radio and TV
Eventually, television influenced the look and content of many newspapers
 Revival of the Alternative Press
Vietnam War and 1960s activism: Voices of protest and alternative views
 Declining Readership
Staff cuts, newspaper closures, and consolidations
Decline of the two-newspaper market
Newspaper chains
In the 1950s, newspaper readership declined as TV became America’s primary
source for news and entertainment.
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10. NEWSPAPERS AT WORK
Typical newspaper operation is divided into two separate departments:
 Editorial – Handles everything you read in the paper: news and feature stories,
editorials, cartoons, photographs, and online editions.
 Different editors (news, sports, features, business, etc.) handle different parts of the
paper. The managing editor oversees the news departments. Copy editors read and edit
stories prior to publication. Opinion writers and editorial cartoonists work for an editorial
page editor. Editorial department employees report to the editor-in-chief and the
publisher.
 Business – Handles production, advertising, distribution, and administration.
 A business manager and his/her staff run the business side of the newspaper.
-- Employees in this department also report to the publisher and/or editor-in-chief.
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11. WHO IS READING THE NEWSPAPER?
Traditional newspapers are losing younger audiences to new Internet-only
news services and social media.
Daily Newspaper Readership
 Ages 65 and up – 55 percent
 Ages 55-64 – 44 percent
 Ages 45-54 – 31 percent
 Ages 35-44 – 27 percent
 Ages 25-34 – 21 percent
 Ages 18-24 – 20 percent
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12. NEWSPAPERS FIGHT TO RETAIN READERS
 Newspapers depend primarily on
advertising for support.
 Subscriptions and newsstand sales
account for only a small percentage of
newspaper income.
 USA Today was launched in the 1980s
with bold graphics and shorter stories.
 In cities with large Latino populations,
such as Dallas-Fort Worth, English-
language newspapers added Spanish-
language editions.
 During the 20th century, big-city
newspapers lost readers as people
moved to the suburbs. Suburban
newspapers grew, as did suburban
editions of big-city papers.
 People began migrating to the Internet in
the 21st century, and younger readers
abandoned newspapers altogether, even
online.
 More than 100 U.S. newspapers closed
in the first six months of 2009.
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13. NATIONAL NEWSPAPERS SEEK A WIDER AUDIENCE
 National Newspapers - USA Today, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times
are in constant competition to become the nation’s number one newspaper. Each
paper has about 1 million daily print, with an expanded audience online.
 Global Editions – The Wall Street Journal publishes global editions in several
different languages and is especially active in the Asian market. The International
New York Times is an English-language daily newspaper covering news throughout
Europe. In 2015, The Times announced plans to begin publishing a Chinese-
language magazine in China.
 Internet Editions - Newspaper publishing companies first launched Internet editions
in late 1990s to capture new audiences. In 2010, for the first time, more readers
went online for news than to the printed edition.
 Paywall - A fee-for-access system set up to charge readers for Internet content.
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14. NEW COMPETITION: NEWS AGGREGATORS
 News Aggregators – Internet-only news sites that combine lists and shortened
versions of stories with catchy headlines. This is the latest type of competition for
newspapers.
 Technology-based
 Very little original content
 Looks like a newspaper website, but relies heavily on borrowed content from traditional
news sites
 BuzzFeed – News aggregator that draws an average of 150 million monthly viewers.
Numbered lists has driven much of the content since the site launched in 2006, but
it has added more traditional news content in recent years, including breaking news.
 550 employees
 Based in New York
 Succeeds in distributing its lists though mobile devices and social networks
 Social media accounts for 50 percent of BuzzFeed’s traffic.
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15. TODAY’S NEWSPAPER AUDIENCE IS A MOVING TARGET
 Recent studies say the future of newspapers depends on retaining younger readers.
 The average daily printed newspaper is about two-thirds advertising, and in some
printed newspapers advertising runs as high as 80 percent. National advertisers buy
much more television time than printed newspaper space, but smaller community
businesses still need local newspaper advertising.
 Newspapers are racing to figure out how to make a profit by bringing the news to an
audience that is distracted by other free media and by the personal demands of
their own lives.
 Newspapers were the country’s first mass medium for news, but today’s newspaper
companies are no longer necessarily the first place people go for information.
 Today’s newspapers are trying to rediscover how they can continue to fulfill their
responsibility to keep the public informed and still stay profitable.
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