History Of Professional Journalism

Question 3:

Professional journalism is a relatively new industry in American history. Before Civil War, there were a lot of tensions in the U.S. The conflicts between South and North offered journalism a great chance to develop, and by the end of Civil War, the modern print journalism was already on the right track. In 1920s, broadcasting started to develop and it created a new way to share the news from one point to multiple communities. To some degree, the Second World War benefited a lot from broadcast and inaugurated the modern broadcast journalism’s development.

Let’s start from the antebellum period. As we have learned in class, from 1820 (Missouri Compromise) until April 1865 (peace), US goes from crisis to crisis, and in 1850s, political system disintegrates. At the same time, newspapers started developing and they were the mass media –widely read, instantaneous reporting – capable of amplifying political debates of unprecedented complexity: they carried restlessness, anxieties and hopefulness of the public; it reported the economics and morality of slavery, various proposals for conciliation and compromises, and the meaning of the constitution. Just like Walt Lippmann once said “In an exact sense the present crisis of western democracy is a crisis in journalism.”

Therefore, the journalists started to share the information to general public and it had a huge influence. For example, the party press was very big during 1789-1833. It founded to bring party views to the public at times of debates. Its function was to serve parties, even for just one election, with no concept of balance/objectivity. At this time, editors/journalists sought and held political office, with no sense of conflict of interest. In 1820s-30s, press wa...

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...asons caused the black press to decline. Even though by the end of twentieth century, black newspapers were still struggling and they never regained their power back after WWII, however as Washburn’s said “No matter what the black papers became in the last half of the twentieth century, their distant roar can still be heard. And it is magnificent.”(205)

• Right after US entered WWI, FBI ordered its Chicago bureau to investigate the Chicago Defender, the most influential black newspaper

– Southern public and politicians accused it of leading to unrest, crippling the South’s war effort

– Government concerned paper’s highlighting of racial injustices would prevent African Americans from enlisting

• Only two black newspapers were prosecuted under sedition acts

• Agreement btw black editors and government—would promote loyalty, would condemn lynching and discrimination