The History of Newspapers Today, people can use newspapers to find out many things. One can use the newspaper to check sports scores, get the day's news, read "feel good" stories, or even find out their horoscope. It was not always that way. From the "Acta Diurna," reported in the ancient Roman empire, to the New York
Times, newspapers have come a long way. In this report, the distance that newspapers have traveled since their inception is going to be outlined. Before literacy was commonplace in societies, town criers would announce the news of the land to the land's people. These criers used oratory skills to spread the news on crossroads and the marketplace. Messengers would be commissioned to report to the
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In 1704, John Campbell started the "Boston Newsletter." This became
America's first regularly printed newspaper. This paper paved the way for newspapers to develop all throughout the colonies. As the colonies attempted to steer away from England, newspapers became an outlet for anti-England propaganda. Along with these papers came articles that was critical of the government and subsequently cases of libel were developed. One very important case was the Zenger trial. John Peter Zenger began the "New York Weekly Journal" in 1733 and his newspaper printed some articles against the colony and its Governor, William
Cosby. After a speech by Alexander Hamilton, Zenger was found not guilty by the jury and this was a crucial step toward freedom of the press. After the revolution, newspapers needed something else to criticize, so journalists criticized people affiliated with the "wrong" political party. Freedom of the press was guaranteed in 1787 in the Bill of Rights but there was a threat of war with France. Federalists needed to squelch the
Republican writings done in newspapers, so they passed the Sedition Act in
1798.
The Sedition Act was the most significant threat to freedom of the press. It stated that "any false, scandalous and malicious writing against the
United States, with intent to...bring them...into contempt or disrepute."
There were at least fifteen convictions.
This time in history was a very pivotal point in journalism expression, many journalists used this trial to express themselves and ideas that would normally not expressed.
The San Francisco Examiner is a long-lasting day by day daily paper conveyed in and around San Francisco, California. The Examiner is one of the pioneers in the business and has been distributed constantly since the late nineteenth century.
The Dartmouth, originally called The Dartmouth Gazette, was founded on August 27th, 1799 by Moses Davis in Hanover, New Hampshire. Davis, after founding the paper, attempted to gather subscribers from the sparsely populated Upper Valley, a challenging task. Davis succeeded in acquiring subscribers, and charged them annual fees. These fees were the only source of revenue for the early Dartmouth Gazette. Originally, a subscription to the Gazette cost a dollar and fifty cents per year. Davis initially lacked the funds necessary to print the issue and cover the other costs associated with the newspaper, so he imposed an additional fee of twenty-five cents on his unsuspecting subscribers—subscribers who had already paid their annual fee—to get the
Everyday people read newspapers and books, but where did printing begin? The movable type printing press by Johannes Gutenberg made this all possible. Johannes first conceived of this idea of the printing press in the 15th century in order to speed up the slow process of producing books (Bantwal). The movable type printing press, the first real technology of its kind, helped to solve problems, but in turn also caused problems. This technology did influence many areas of life in its lifespan. This includes challenging the church and poisoning people with the increased toxins from mass products of materials. Depending on one’s point of view, this invention could be the best or worst thing to happen during the 15th century. Regardless of
The Constitution states that a person has the right to publish or print any news or opinions that they deem worthy. Yet today some laws prohibit this freedom, by creating laws in order to protect the individual’s privacy, we are limiting ones ability to report facts. Furthermore many records previously available for the public to view are now sealed. On the opposite end of the spectrum new freedoms are being allowed. In a court case, “Justice Joseph Teresi has struck an important blow for constitutional rights and an open judicial process by allowing cameras to televise the murder trial.”[3] By allowing a camera into the courtroom people are better able to get a grasp on our judicial system in the United States. This decision also allows citizens to view first hand news in action, without any biases created by reporters. As some of our freedoms are revoked other are being ratified. These changes
The case New York Times Co. Vs United States in summary was a first amendment battle between the United States government and the prominent newspaper cooperation New York Times in 1971. The premises of this legal battle was based on the New York Times reporter Daniel Ellsberg publishing in excerpts illegally leaked, classified documents containing the United States involvement in the Vietnam War specifically on the anticipated death counts (Institution, 2015, p. n .p). However, The United States government finding out about leakage placed a prior restraint also known as “government action that prohibits speech or other expression before it can take place” on New York Times cooperation based on National Security grounds (Prior Restraint, 2015). The case, despite the over powering strength of the nation and the accusations against the New York Times Cooperation the case was ruled in favor of the New York Times by the Supreme Court (Curry, Riley, & Battistoni, 2015, p. 458).
John Peter Zenger’s case was not only significant to to the journalists, but it was also very significant to the rest of the colonists in the American colonists. John Peter Zenger’s case sparked a rebellion into the colonists, which eventually led to them wanting their freedom and fighting for it against Britain in the American Revolution (Linder 2). John Peter Zenger claimed that his writing was, in fact, accurate. Although, the jury could still convict Zenger even if it was true or not, the judge convinced the jury not to convict on the grounds of publication alone (Kennedy 1). When the court decided to accept the truth as the truth, it laid the work for the future which eventually was put into the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights in the United States Constitution (John 1). “His trial establishes the principle that truth is a defense to libel and that a jury may determine whether a publication is defamatory or seditious,” (First
Our history backtracks similarly as the administration of Andrew Jackson. The daily paper started distribution in 1829 and was known as The Planter°s Gazette. It turned into the Montgomery Advertiser in 1833 and rose as the main daily paper of the new Confederate states by 1861.After the Civil War, Major William Wallace Screws, a Confederate veteran, turned into the proofreader and started to lead the distribution toward article unmistakable quality in
Peter Zenger owned the New York Weekly Journal and once wrote something against the royal governor and was writing for a political party. He was put on trial for libel, but Hamilton was the one who got the jury to say “not guilty” because he stated that New York’s libel laws are not the same as England’s libel laws. This was the foundation of the freedom of speech.
Newspapers and other forms of news are very vital communication methods in the world today. The goal of news is to sell us their ideas by being biased and talking about how their idea is best. News can give us biased information although, the viewer could do further research on the
One of those was the case Benjamin Gitlow V. People of the State of New York, which happened on June 8, 1925. Benjamin Gitlow, a socialist, was a arrested for publishing and distributing copies of his article “left-wing manifesto”, which called for the establishment of socialism through strikes and the forceful overthrow of government, and was charged with criminal anarchy under New York’s Criminal Anarchy Law of 1902. During his trial Gitlow argued that he was protected under the First amendment was he had the Freedom of Speech and the Freedom of the Press. On appeal the Supreme Court conveyed that the first amendment applied to New York through the Due Process Clause, ensures the rights and equality of all citizens, under the 14th amendment. Meaning New York had to follow Federal Government laws and not their own laws when dealing with Freedom Of Speech and Freedom of the Press which were ratified into the constitution in the year 1971. Although the Court decided Benjamin was still arrested because his speech was not protected under the First Amendment under the “clear and present danger test.” This case was very important because this was the year the first amendment was nationalized and showed how states had to follow federal government
In the past, there has always been conflict between the free press and the government. This conflict was very evident in the Pentagon Papers case, also known as New York Times Co. v. United States. Historically, the Supreme Court has disagreed on the limitations that can be placed on the First Amendment. The Supreme Court faced these issues in the case of The New York Times. The newspaper obtained a copy of a Defense Department report that explained government deception in the Vietnam War. The Pentagon Papers emerged when the American people disagreed on the United States involvement in the war. Under the First Amendment, The New York Times argued
On its debut in 1982, USA Today was reckoned as America’s first National general-interest daily newspaper. Being the global information juggernaut that he is, Gannett managed to identify a gap in the market that he identified as an opportunity for the leading to-be newspaper of the united States. The opportunity was the void gap in the market. Attention to the business traveler was the least attended to
A Comparison of Two Different Newspapers In the following essay, I intend to compare the differences and similarities in which two different newspapers - a tabloid (The Mirror) and a broadsheet (The Times) report the same story. I will be looking at the presentation and the use of language as well as the basics of how the story is put forward and told. Both papers are reporting the same story in which Prince Philip made a statement along the lines that 'guns are no more dangerous than cricket bats' following a shooting at a school in Dunblane in Scotland. In general there are many differences between tabloids and broadsheets.
Throughout history there have been many patterns; a time of war is always followed by a time a peace, a change in government always causes some sort of political unrest and society always evolves. There are also many patterns in the historical development of journalism, public relations and advertising including their exposure to propaganda and their internal battles with the First Amendment. In addition, there is an abundant number of differences including but not limited to conflict of interests and spinning tales.