There are two potential concerns about the decline of investigative journalism in the digital age. The scarcity of journalists and the lack of time to dig for details in a 24-hour, profit-oriented news model make investigative stories rare. However, at the same time there are fewer journalists being hired than there used to be. Some muckraking journalism still appears today, and the quicker movement of information through the system would seem to suggest an environment for yet more investigative work and the punch of exposés than in the past. Local and state government officials who participated in bribery and corruption became the centerpieces of exposés. The Pure Food and Drug Act and other laws were passed to protect consumers and employees from unsafe food processing practices. Investigative work like Upton Sinclair’s serialized novel The Jungle led to changes in the way industrial workers were treated and local political machines were run. The New York Times brought back the informational model, which exhibits impartiality and accuracy and promotes transparency in government and politics.Īt the beginning of the twentieth century, the media began muckraking: the writing and publishing of news coverage that exposed corrupt business and government practices. In 1896, Adolph Ochs purchased the New York Times with the goal of creating a dignified newspaper that would provide readers with important news about the economy, politics, and the world rather than gossip and comics. Competition between newspapers led to increasingly sensationalized covers and crude issues. As the New York World’s circulation increased, other papers copied Pulitzer’s style in an effort to sell papers. This style of coverage became known as yellow journalism. The tabloid-style paper included editorial pages, cartoons, and pictures, while the front-page news was sensational and scandalous. Joseph Pulitzer and the New York World gave them what they wanted. Yet readers still wanted to be entertained. Roads and waterways were expanded, decreasing the costs of distributing printed materials to subscribers. Benjamin Day’s paper, the New York Sun, used technology like the linotype machine to mass-produce papers. Indeed, freedom of the press is enshrined in the Bill of Rights in the first amendment.īetween 18, machines and manufacturing made the production of newspapers faster and less expensive. Despite the antagonism of the press, Washington and several other founders felt that freedom of the press was important for creating an informed electorate. Papers began printing party propaganda and messages, even publicly attacking political leaders like George Washington. Subscriptions and advertising did not fully cover printing costs and political parties stepped in to support newspapers that aided their parties and their policies. The divisions that occurred during the United States’ early history created a change and moved the nation into the party press era, in which partisanship and political party loyalty dominated the choice of editorial content. Newspapers united for a common cause during the Revolutionary War. Readership across the colonies increased and daily papers sprang up in large cities. During the American Revolution, newspapers took part in the effort to inform citizens of perceived British misdeeds and to incite attempts to revolt. While several colonies had printers and occasional newspapers, high literacy rates combined with the desire for self-government made Boston a perfect location for the creation of a newspaper, and the first continuous press was started there in 1704.
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In earlier times, news was presented to local populations through the printed press. They can be broad or limited in their focus. They can be local, national, or international. Mass media can be print, radio, television, or Internet news. Yet the growth of communications technology allows people today to find more information more easily than any previous generation. Accusations of mind control, bias, and poor quality have been thrown at the media on a regular basis. The evolution of the media has been fraught with concerns and problems. Providing such opinions and analysis is another important function performed by the media. Sometimes the public seeks opinion and analysis of complicated issues. Explain how citizens learn political information from the media.Compare important changes in media types over time.Discuss the history of major media formats.