Comm455/History of Journalism

In the 19^th century, journalism experienced beneficial changes because of the development of photography.

Louis Jacque Mande Daguerre, a French painter, made the first non-fading photograph in 1829. He called this photo a “daguerreotype.” Daguerre accomplished this by using light-sensitive salts that captured images on metal plates.

First Photograph by Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre

 After this discovery, photography became increasingly popular. But, the mass production of photographs had not been developed yet.

So, publications that wanted to use pictures had to use woodcuts. One of the first publications to use these woodcuts for pictures was the Illustrated London News in 1842.

With the development of a half-toning process for photography in the 1880’s, photographs were finally able to be mass-produced and the first photographs were appearing in newspapers.

Photography in conjunction with news stories is known as photojournalism.

The development of photojournalism in the late 19^th century completely changed the face of journalism. It let readers see images of people and places that most had never been seen before, as well as making the stories more believable. This allowed people to feel more connected with the events going on in the world, just like it continues to do in today’s society.

It’s hard to open any type of modern news publication and not see a photograph. Photojournalism has become so common, that a news article doesn’t seem complete without a picture.

Without the development of photojournalism, journalism would not have the same impact on society as it does today.