Comm455/History of Journalism

There’s nothing new about a coffee shop. Since their inception they have been a place to gather, exchange ideas, and indulge. A multipurpose space, used for business meetings, interviews, dates, and in the old times (think 1700s )­– news. A quick Google search highlights coffee’s roots and its journey from the Ethiopian forest to the […]

Journalism has been used as a form of activism in America pretty much since it was introduced to the colonies in the 18th century. Its use in social issues has proved its purpose in upholding the freedoms of American citizens, and keeping an eye out for those attempting to compromise our lawful rights. Ida Tarbell was […]

A broadside was one of the first forms of widespread printed news. Broadsides are basically one-page sheets of news that often also contained some sort of picture or illustration to depict the message of the article. Most broadsides were set up so that the top part was a “woodcut or copper engraving” of an important, often historical, […]

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. […]

“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 […]

Coffeehouses in London in the 18th century were the prominent form of spoken news. Each coffeehouse even had its own individual focus — from politics, to art, and even shipping news. One particular shop, Lloyd’s, remains standing even today. Albeit with a very different purpose. In the late 17th century, Lloyd’s attracted ship officers, traders, merchants, […]

Mitchell Stephens wrote in his book ‘A History of News,’ that “Murders and their victims surrender all rights to privacy,” he goes on to quote John McEnroe a former tennis star that claimed that, “Being a celebrity is like I am being raped.” If murders and victims surrender all their rights to privacy and being […]

How about this for irony? Writing a blog about the art of blogging. The word ‘blog‘ comes from the phrase “web log.” It is one of the newer forms of journalism, and it will forever change the way journalists work, and how their field will be conducted. According to Mitchell Stephens, who authored “A History of News,” … […]