Comm455/History of Journalism

Have you ever sat back and listened to the words in the song you’re singing along to? Taken the time to hear the greater meaning then the time signature changes, the catchy rhythms and unique solos? Music tells a story, it may not be as simple as what the words say or how they match […]

Ephraim Kirby was an American soldier and first Superior Court judge in the Mississippi Territory, but most of all Kirby published the first court records. According to the Connecticut Judicial Branch, “the need for a written record of court decisions developed in order to distinguish American common law from English common law.” In fact, Kirby […]

Benjamin Franklin, printed the first ethnic newspaper, Die Philadelphische Zeitung, in 1732. The Zeitung was the first German newspaper printed in North America. Unfortunately it failed before 1732 ended. Printing the Zeitung provided the German immigrants with a publication where they could access news easily through their own language. Nowadays there are still German newspapers […]

We know why it is important to be literate. People who know how to read can learn about the world. They understand that the marks on the paper have meaning. What is media literacy? We don’t need to know how to read to be able to watch television. Going online requires reading. Is that all […]

You click on the TV at 5am, 5pm and 10pm to catch your local news broadcast; your laptop is out, books are in your lap, coffee on the table, dinner being cooked, you’re constantly distracted by something and of the hour of news coming out of your TV you catch five minutes. As our attention […]

Technology is an ever-growing and ever-expanding field in human existence, but it seems to repeat itself. I’m not saying that technology is cyclical, but that it moves across a line reaching into the future and sometimes there are certain patterns on that line that tend to repeat. Specifically, I’m referring to how people never know […]

Journalists today have the freedom to report the truth, without fear of reprimand from the government, or other people.  It is common to see newspapers questioning a senate vote, or a blog offering dissent for the president.  Although the First Amendment technically declared the freedom of the press, it was not always as free as […]

When the television is flipped on today, or the morning paper unfolded, or the website for CNN is opened on a browser, the stories that are most likely to come up first are political. Aside from the fact that it’s election time right now, stories featuring political issues and figures are a common sight in […]

“Propaganda‘s  task is not to make an objective study of the truth; its task is to serve our own right, always and unflinchingly.” – Adolf Hitler, 1924 In electoral campaigns, Nazi propaganda probed voters’ needs, hopes, and fears.  Then they carefully tailored their themes, messages, and language to blue- and white- collar workers, housewives, youth, etc. […]