Comm455/History of Journalism

News in the vernacular

Posted by: bbukovic | November 4, 2014 | No Comment |

For centuries, Latin was the dominant language in what was then known as “Christendom.” It remained dominant for so long for three main reasons:

1) It was an international language for the elites. The elite and literate across Christendom could understand Latin in both its verbal and written forms. This gave the language a feeling of richness, and allowed the elite to maintain a feeling of control over the commoners.

2) Lent the Church authority. Ultimately, the elite of Christendom at the time were the members of the Clergy. All religious works up until the better part of the 15th century were printed strictly in Latin, enforcing the dominant feel of the language over the common people.

3) Thus, it kept the commoners dependent on the Church. As commoners were illiterate, they had to put their full trust in the words and teachings of the Church. They could listen but not necessarily understand, and they certainly could not read it.

This problem, of not being able to understand exactly what they were being taught, was largely tackled by Martin Luther, for Luther saw these reasons behind the continued use of Latin, and recognized that in teaching people something in a Language they did not understand, left the door wide open for corruption.

At the time, Luther was not the only one with this opinion. In fact, the rise of the use of the vernacular was an idea that was slowly encroaching Christendom. The center of this use of vernacular, particularly vernacular printing, was in Augsburg. It makes sense then, that Luther would be the one to largely catapult the movement, as he was a native Augsburgian.

http://education-portal.com/academy/lesson/the-rise-of-the-vernacular-and-the-decline-of-latin.html#lesson

***Click link for video on decline of Latin***

This catapult motion from Luther was his translation of the Greek bible into German, resulting in the Luther Bible. The translation spread rapidly throughout Christendom, creating a stronger demand among forming nations and regions for texts in their own dialects. This first major vernacular text quickly revolutionized printing, damaging the hold of Latin over Christendom and knocking down fully another pillar of the crumbling palace that was “God’s Kingdom.”

Luther Bible:

Image from: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/Lutherbibel.jpg

under: Comm 455
Tags: Augsburg, bbukovic, Christendom, German, latin, Luther, Martin Luther, vernacular

The Flugschriften and the emergence of a shorter publication

Posted by: evansp12 | November 4, 2014 | No Comment |

Flugschriften first appeared in the 16th century. These were published news in the form of short pamphlets.

Flugschriften, which means “pamphlets” in German, came about at the time of the reformation. Many of them focused their writing around the propoganda of the Reformation movement, the Thirty Years War, the French Revolution and the Peasant’s War.

These pamphlets were typically either single-page leaflets or multipage pamphlets that formed a small book. They often included lots of illustrations.

The re-invention of the printing press in Europe in the 15th century made the mass publication of these pamphlets possible. Research shows approximately 10,000 of these pamphlets were published in the first half of the 16th century.

http://www.wunderzeichen.de/allgemeines/flugblatt/flugblatt.html

Flugschriften were a means of political propaganda, aimed at influencing the reader to think or act a certain way regarding one of the major political movements and issues of the time.

They also served theological purposes, highlighting the struggle between church, state and the people.

Flugschriften are a great historical resource to show the attitudes and thoughts of a wide variety of people in this time period.

Each Flugschriften included its own style of writing to suit its subject matter. Writing was anything from argumentative, to narrative, to persuasive, to fictional, and so on.

Because of the new accessibility to printing, people were able to print more often in shorter publications. The publications previously were long, drawn out documents that were also expensive.

Flugschriften introduced the idea of a shorter, cheaper publication, and also influenced the expansion of people’s thirst for news.

under: Comm 455
Tags: 16th century, A History of News, Evan Petschke, Flugschriften, History of Journalism, printing press

Brutal, bloody and heroic

Posted by: sruffin | November 4, 2014 | No Comment |

Redefining the publishing market in the 16th century

Posted by: kponcian | November 4, 2014 | No Comment |

“What emerges from the 16th century is a reading public ready to invest in printed material from broadsheets to pamphlets to books that went beyond their trade or devotional lives.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printing_press

Over the 16th century, the publishing market was refined: news pamphlets recorded local news in addition to foreign sensationalized news, sensations were the stock and trade of publishers, and collections of serial events over time.

This shift opened up the market for business.

News of crime and sensationalized stories were the primary crop in the 16th century with presses spreading news further. Their output rose from an estimated 150 to 200 million copies.

The importance of printing was further enhanced by other inventions of the time, namely firearms and the nautical compass. In 1620, Francis Bacon wrote that these inventions “changed the whole face and state of the world”.

In Renaissance Europe, the arrival of mechanical movable type printing introduced mass communication, which altered the very fabric of society. The almost unrestricted circulation of information and revolutionary ideas captured the masses and threatened the power of authorities.

Additionally, the vast increase of literacy severed the division between the literate elite and the emerging middle class. Across Europe, increasing cultural self-awareness was accelerated by the advancement of the European vernacular languages.

under: Comm 455, Local news
Tags: 16th century, broader market, Europe, Kponcian, Literacy., local news, News, press, printing press, Publishing, Renaissance, thirst for news

Gulf of Lepanto

Posted by: hasanspall | November 3, 2014 | No Comment |

Two great fleets met in the Gulf of Lepanto on Oct. 7, 1571 and resulted in a crushing victory for the Holy League. First news of the stunning victory arrived in Venice 12 days later: on Oct. 19.

The Battle:

By 1571 Muslims were firmly installed in Europe with their ships ruling the Mediterranean Sea and Pope Pius V tried to rally the nation of Europe to join a Holy League in order to roll back the Muslims, which was seen as threatening the entire continent. The Muslims were engaged in conquest with of Cyprus and because Venetian officials aligned with the Holy League, the Muslims besieged and conquered the land and then retreated to the Gulf of Lepanto. On September 16^th the Christian fleet put to sea and at dawn on October 7, 1571 the fleet of the Muslims and Christians finally met face to face. Christians were in the shape of a cross and Muslims were in the shape of a crescent. The battle ensued for five hours and when it was all over with the Muslims had been defeated.

http://media-3.web.britannica.com/eb-media/76/115476-004-5E13FE08.jpg

Velocity of News:

News of the victory took 12 days to reach Venice, which shows an increase in the velocity of news. As 50 years prior, it took an entire month to spread news throughout all of Europe.

From Venice to Gulf of Lepanto is about 1500km, which is about 932 miles.

By car, 22 hours.

By plane, 5 hours.

Interesting note:

It is said that before word was spread about the Holy League victory, Pope Pius V already knew the outcome. He was in a meeting, stood up, opened his window and looked up into the sky and said, “A truce to business! Our great task at present is to thank God for the victory, which He has just given the Catholic army.”

under: Comm 455
Tags: 1571, Comm 455, hasanspall, lepanto, Velocity

News of natural phenomena and the wonders of nature

Posted by: zainaz | November 3, 2014 | No Comment |

Pamphlet readers had an appetite for news of natural phenomena and the wonders of nature: floods, hailstorms, astrological events (like a solar eclipse).

Such natural phenomena, especially those that involved significant loss of life, became staples of the developing news market.

Whether it was thousands of years ago or today, news of natural phenomenons and the wonders of nature have always been the most newsworthy. It devastates people when these sort of crisis happen.

The worst natural disaster that hit America was Hurricane Katrina. It was the most newsworthy at its time and still might be.

http://rs21testblog.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/hurricane-katrina.jpg

Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast of the United States early in the morning on August 29, 2005. The storm itself did a great deal of damage, but its aftermath was catastrophic. Katrina killed at least 1,836 people and inflicted damages estimated at around $125 billion.

“Levee breaches led to massive flooding, and many people charged that the federal government was slow to meet the needs of the people affected by the storm. Hundreds of thousands of people in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama were displaced from their homes, and experts estimate that Katrina caused more than $100 billion in damage.”

People from all over America were trying to get the latest news on Hurricane Katrina. They were searching the web, reading the newspaper, hoping to hear something from neighbors and other friends, etc. People wanted to hear everything about it. It was impossible to sit still without knowing what was happening at that exact moment. Some questions that might have been in some people’s minds: Were the people in the disaster getting help? Who was helping them? What could I do?

Hurricane Katrina is in the top 10 worst U.S. natural disasters. It is impossible to forget what happened to America in 2005. It was a horrible time that was brought to America by a natural disaster. Yes, natural disasters are very newsworthy, but they are also devastating and very costly.

under: Comm 455
Tags: Hurricane Katrina, natural disasters, zainazaheer

Journalism on the front lines

Posted by: rachelshubin | November 3, 2014 | No Comment |

War established a pattern of an eager public and a political strategy of feeding demand: a shrewd awareness of the power of the press.

In today’s day and age, the press is often covering news on the front lines of war. But the ability to be on the front lines as a journalist was not possible in World War I. WWI was badly reported which can be due to censorship, propaganda and fabricated stories.

False stories featuring the Germans as barbarians were published in the newspaper. The government tried to control reporters from getting any war information and , if they were to obtain information – keep them from publishing stories.

Reporters lurking for stories on the front line were considered “journalistic outlaws“, and were subsequently arrested. Two such journalists arrested were the Daily Chronicle’s Philip Gibbs and the Daily Mail’s Basil Clarke.

Floyd Gibbons. Image from http://spartacus-educational.com/Jgibbons.htm.

Another journalist working the front lines was Floyd Gibbons with the Chicago Tribune. In June 1918, he was in a wheat field with some Marines near Lucy-le-Bocage, France, when he came under heavy machine gun fire. He dropped and the marine next to him saw Gibbon’s eyeball roll down his face.

“The ‘bullet took out his left eye, fractured his skull and exited, ripping a three-inch hole in the right side of his helmet.'” Gibbons laid in the wheat field all day until medics came. He insisted that he not be treated before the wounded who came in before him.

Gibbons recovered, wore an eye patch and was back reporting on the front lines by July. He continued on to cover war communism in Russia. He died at age 52, of a heart attack.

Journalists who are able to cover war news on the front line, owe a lot to Floyd Gibbons.

under: Comm 455
Tags: Chicago Tribune, floyd gibbons, front lines, war news, War Reporting, wwi

Who is a journalist? An ethical dilemma

Posted by: evansp12 | October 28, 2014 | No Comment |

“Asking who is a journalist is the wrong question, because journalism can be produced by anyone” –The American Press Institute

This quote epitomizes the changing role of a journalist over the course of history. Today, a journalist is anyone who commits an act of journalism.

This is quite different than the definition of a journalist in the early years of journalism.

The first journalists, in the days of the British Monarchy, needed special privileges to publish their work.

As journalism progressed, it became a specific profession. Journalists organized themselves into different publications, and each publication had a newsroom from which journalists would write stories, collaborate, and peel their eyes for the latest news.

http://ineteconomics.org/history-economics-playground/thick-it-research-subjects

Moving into the 20th century, this became the norm. A journalist worked for a newspaper, magazine, or news station. Their role and identity as a journalist was clear.

However, the 21st century has presented many challenges to this standard concept of a journalist.

Many of these challenges are the result of technological advances. Computers in particular have given everyday people access to two things important to journalists: unlimited information, and a platform to share ideas.

Since today, everyone is connected through the internet, we all (in many parts of the world) have infinite access to any information we desire.

Thus almost anyone is able to commit an act of journalism — or spread the news in some way.

Whether it be through a blog, a tweet, a Facebook post, a contribution to a site like Reddit or even a comment on an online article — the opportunities for non-traditional journalists to contribute to the world of journalism are endless.

A man sitting in his home publishing a blog discussing current international economic affairs now has the ability to call himself a “journalist” just as does an economics columnist for a major newspaper.

http://www.brandology.com/blog/?tag=men

This dilemma presents an ethical debate over how and to what extent non-traditional journalists are protected under the same rights originally implemented to protect traditional journalists.

This debate has been brought as far as the supreme court, who has very loosely defined a journalist. Their definition considers journalism more of an activity rather than a job.

“Such a broad definition, however, would embrace everyone from a traditional reporter to Edward Snowden to a teenager live-tweeting from a rock concert.” -Thomas Kent, The Huffington Post

This definition includes almost anyone under the journalistic shield laws. It is clear the protection of journalists must go farther than just the traditional journalist — but the question here is, to what extent?

under: Comm 455
Tags: A History of News, ethics, Evan Petschke, History of Journalism, journalism ethics, journalist

Syn city

Posted by: sruffin | October 28, 2014 | No Comment |

Print syndication’s well runs dry.

Once upon a time, in the magical kingdom of newspapers and magazines, news was actually fresh. It was current, it was relevant and it was…newsworthy.

Then, it all went to hell.

Maybe “hell” is a stretch. But it’s mostly accurate. In the same vein, maybe newspapers aren’t as guilty as magazines in regard to straying from traditional news stories. Magazines are essentially a celebrity riddled version of a high school locker room; the same three stories cycle on an endless loop of hearsay and “firsthand” accounts. The biggest “gossip” at Magazine High is none other than Cosmopolitan.

Cosmopolitan launched in 1886 as a literary magazine and revamped itself in 1965 as a women’s magazine. Originally, the standards were high. The articles were tactful, thoughtful and serious, and the covers were modest. While the latter is not a major issue, the former has fallen flat. How can articles move from television’s effect on neighborhood crime to Ben Wa balls and Beyonce’s bangs?

The answer lies in the times. Simply put, the times have changed and writing is increasingly provocative. As wonderful as that is, wracking one’s brain about giving great head or keeping up with Kim Kardashian’s outfits do not qualify as hard hitting news. Granted, Cosmopolitan gifts readers with the occasional important article, but for the most part it centers on trivial pursuits.

In print, this is called a “turning-page” point.

Photo Credit: fashionbombdaily.com

under: Comm 455
Tags: articles, Comm 455, magazine covers, syndication

Catalonia: A history of oppression and disrespect

Posted by: brianjblend | October 28, 2014 | 1 Comment |

On September 11, 1714, after 14 months of siege, Barcelona fell to Spanish forces fighting for the Borbon king Phillip V; thus sealing the fate of the, then independent, Principality of Catalonia as one of Spain’s conquered communities.

wikipedia.org

Following years of industrialization and rapid economic growth, in 1913 Catalonia was able to assert itself and gain “commonwealth” status with a degree of self-governance. The autonomy was short-lived however, when Prime Minister Miguel Primo de Rivera revoked the status in 1925 to suppress Catalan aspirations for self-government.

wikipedia.org

After the end of the Rivera regime, Spain became a republic and Catalonia’s autonomy was restored. The leftist republican was unstable however, and General Francisco Franco launched a coup that sent the country into a bloody civil war.

diggerhistory.info

Division between communist (mostly Spaniard) and anarchist (mostly Catalan) factions hindered the republican cause and in 1938 the nationalists, led by Franco took Catalonia along with the rest of republican Spain. Many witnesses like George Orwell blame communist propaganda from the USSR for undermining Catalan efforts to beat back the fascists.

archiveshub.ac.uk

Under the Franco regime Spain plunged into totalitarian fascism and the Catalan culture was severely suppressed. Even just speaking Catalan could land the perpetrator in jail. For over thirty years Catalonia lived under tyranny until the regime collapsed in late seventies.

sitemaker.umich.edu

In 1980, the Statute of Catalonia was drafted alongside a new constitution that granted the community nearly complete self-governance. But as history tells us, it was never meant to last, and in 2010 the conservative leaning constitutional court struck down critical parts of the statute. In response, nearly a million Catalans took to the streets in protest and called for an referendum on independence from Spain.

nbcnews.com

A referendum was scheduled for November 5th of this year but was declared illegal by a Spanish court. Now the question of Catalan independence hangs in limbo as protests continue to create unrest. The unpopular conservative government continues to suppress calls for a vote on independence and the President of Catalonia has hinted at calling early elections. It is expected that nationalist parties will make large gains in the Generalitat.

under: Comm 455
Tags: anarchism, catalan, catalonia, communism, fascism, franco, History, independence, Propaganda, spain, Spanish Civil War

The impact of daily newspapers on business in the 18th century

Posted by: kponcian | October 28, 2014 | No Comment |

http://www.lahistoriadelapublicidad.com/documentos/thedailyadverstiser1_122.jpg

In London in 1730, The Daily Advertiser began publication. This daily newspaper offered advertising space with news of politics, commerce, and society.

Stanley Morison, a journalism historian, stated in our book that The Daily Advertiser was the “first modern newspaper” that “gained a hold on the commercial classes which it never lost.”

This success caused a plethora of morning dailies to appear in the 1740’s. In fact, the word Advertiser began to replace the word Post in British newspapers.

In these dailies merchants, traders, and financiers finally found something to compete with word of mouth for news of affairs and speculations.

These reports on business were sufficiently thoughtful and organized. With such precision, they transformed haggling into business transactions.

But government officials were not thrilled.

With their business transactions on public display on a daily basis, disparities in prices were reduced. And many traders relied on them.

Still, daily newspapers lasted and flourished even with the introduction of coffeehouses.

And just like so many years ago, individuals still drink their coffee with a side of news.

under: Comm 455, Local news, newspapers
Tags: 18th century, British newspapers, business, daily newspapers, History, Kponcian, local newspapers, newspapers

A history of Time: revolutionizing the news

Posted by: bbukovic | October 27, 2014 | No Comment |

In 1923 two young journalists, Henry R. Luce and Briton Hadden, came together under the goal of a magazine that could better deliver news to the mass public in a concise, informative manor. Under this premise, Time Magazine was first published.

Within 4 years of the original publication, Time secured a subscription list of over 175,000 in the United states. The weekly news magazine had captured the audience Luce and Hadden had wanted. People were thirsty for a reliable source that contained the most important news of the moment. Time Magazine was that news source.

Image from: http://content.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19230303,00.html

The first publications of Time were approximately 32 pages long, including advertisements, containing short articles that covered a variety of relevant news stories. Today, Time is significantly longer and covers the fields of national and international affairs, business, education, science, medicine, law, religion, books, and the arts.

By looking through the archives of Time Magazine, one gains access to numerous primary accounts of major events of the 20th and 21st centuries. Almost more interesting than the content however, are the covers, for they often speak louder about the prominent news of the time than the articles inside them. Time Magazine offers a gallery of covers which contains images of every cover of every issue of Time to have ever been published, so one may see this clearly.

Time is a magazine that was created to fill a void in journalism. Thanks to the vision of Luce and Hadden, it was able to establish itself as one of the most prominent and set the precedent for news magazines to come.

under: Comm 455
Tags: bbukovic, history of print journalism, magazine, News, news magazine, Time