Comm455/History of Journalism

The big stories of the weekend included the disappearance and death of actress Misty Upham and the finding of human remains in the case of the missing University of Virginia student, Hannah Graham. Upham has been confirmed dead while the human remains are tested for relation to Graham. Upham was a Native American actress most […]

On January 1, 1777, Journal de Paris became the first French daily newspaper. Its founders modeled it after the London Evening Post, in hopes of creating similar success and increasing the velocity of information and news in the community. The stories covered each day ranged, but were often focused on reporting literary news, evening shows […]

Media shift leaves war-culture “countered”. The 60s. This decade saw American ebullience and pessimism intersect and manifest in rampant change.  A mere mention of this time conjures up images of sex, drug use, Civil Rights marches and the hippie laden Haight-Ashbury district. But the revolution didn’t stop there. Perhaps the most defining event of the 60s is […]

It was a typical Tuesday afternoon on July 1, 1941. The Dodgers and Phillies were getting ready to kick off their match. About 4000 people who weren’t at the game tuned into their televisions sets. And at exactly 2:29 pm, history was made. The first ever legal TV commercial aired. On May 2, 1941, the […]

With the rise of print as a medium of distribution, resources to share information such as newspapers, pamphlets and books became much easier to access. This change not only began to keep the public more informed on current events, but also prominent individuals who were involved in them. Prior to this shift, the only household names […]

Isis is a militant terrorist group that aims to create an Islamic state across Sunni areas of Iraq and Syria. Recently, they have been sending threats to the US and Britain whilst expanding their extremist group bigger and more globally than ever before. But how are they doing this? Propaganda. Isis is using sophisticated strategies […]

Modern war reporting fuels war at home. We’ve all seen the videos. Bald, sullen faced men sporting shackles, orange jumpsuits and fearful eyes. Next to them, knife wielding beasts, dressed in black and holding an executioner’s stance.  The videos end the same– a knife to the throat and the end of a life. This is […]

Prior to the Revolution in 1789, press in France was heavily controlled. Reporters/writers who ignored these regulations and published seditious or defamatory material were quickly subject to consequences, increasing from public flogging on the first offense to the death penalty for any following. Jack Richard Censer discusses these conditions in his book Press and Politics […]

To this day, storytelling via word of mouth is a prominent method of distributing information. The primary flaw in this method however, whether it’s a grandmother passing down family history or a recount of a recent event, is that it’s extremely difficult to keep facts straight when the same story is shared between multiple people. […]

Crime reporting dates as far back as 1400 B.C. when charges against the mayo of Nuzu in Mesopotamia were recorded in cuneiform script on clay. Fast-forward a few hundred years and we come upon the first recorded murder trial in US history. On January 2, 1800, the body of Gulielma “Elma” Sands was recovered from […]

Coupons win bread for newspapers and consumers. Move over, Groupon. Or should I say, advertisements. The once omnipotent printed ad is second to none other than the savior of the  American economy: the coupon. Anyone who has ever binge watched episodes of TLC’s “Extreme Couponing”, probably noticed an alarming constant (aside from obscene savings and doomsday […]

In light of the recent missing student at the University of Virginia, Hannah Graham, I found myself wondering if women are safe on college campuses. The feminist in me knows that this argument I’m trying to state might come across as sexist and may be misconstrued, but my opinion on the subject matter shall have to speak for […]