ABSTRACT

Beginning with the American Revolution and spanning over two hundred years of American journalism, A Narrative History of the American Press provides an overview of the events, institutions, and people who have shaped the press, from the creation of the First Amendment to today. Gregory A. Borchard’s introductory text helps readers develop an understanding of the role of the press in both the U.S. and world history, and how American culture has shaped—and been shaped by—the role of journalism in everyday life. The text, along with a rich array of supplemental materials available online, provides students with the tools used by both reporters and historians to understand the present through the past, allowing readers to use the history of journalism as a lens for implementing their own storytelling, reporting, and critical analysis skills.

chapter |11 pages

Introduction

chapter 1|15 pages

Pre-Revolution Print

The Colonial Origins of the American Press

chapter 3|24 pages

The Penny Press

Sensationalism, Populism, and Progress

chapter 5|18 pages

The Press in the Civil War Era

Pioneers in Print and Photography

chapter 6|13 pages

The Press in Transition

From Reconstruction to the Gilded Age

chapter 7|16 pages

Muckraking

Reporters and Reform

chapter 8|20 pages

Yellow Journalism

Pulitzer and Hearst Battle for Readers

chapter 9|15 pages

Public Relations

How the Press Launched an Agency of Its Own

chapter 10|14 pages

Early Infotainment in Broadcast and Film

chapter 11|14 pages

The Press at War

Propaganda in Print and Film

chapter 12|14 pages

The Press in the Cold War

Murrow, McCarthy, and Shakespeare

chapter 13|16 pages

New Journalism and the Counterculture

Watchdogs and Watergate

chapter 14|17 pages

The Press and the Making of Modern Media

chapter 15|14 pages

Conclusion