Comm455/History of Journalism

It’s finally here. Election Day is Tuesday. The 2012 Election will commence this Tuesday in what may be our nation’s biggest decision. The campaign between Romney and Obama has been blazing for months now. It has seen some of the most important and largest issues in history, as well. Abortion, Obamacare, and the economy have […]

Hurricane Sandy was expected to wreak havoc on millions of people, but the delays and shortages that are still plaguing citizens along the east coast are causing unforeseen issues. New York City and New Jersey seemed to receive the brunt of the storm, with at least 40 fatalities in each state. Much of NYC is […]

Hurricane Sandy seems to have done nothing to the Northern Virginia area. NOVA woke up on Tuesday to a low number of power outages, barely any flooding, and minimal structure damage. Compared to New York City we really got nothing. It was merely a day-long storm. For NOVA, ‘Frankenstorm’ was all hype. For New York, […]

For the last week all of the east coast has been bracing themselves for Hurricane Sandy, which has adopted the nickname ‘Frankenstorm’. The category one storm is expected to cause severe damage and possible evacuations. Schools, jobs and many businesses have been shut down Monday and Tuesday, unsure if they will reopen Wednesday. As the […]

With all the media coverage telling us that Hurricane Sandy is going to reak havock on the East Coast there is one question to wonder about. Really? Will Sandy really cause so much damage as the media says it will? There’s no way to tell but one thing is for sure. This hurricane is being […]

Muckraking is considered an early form of investigative journalism. In the early 1900’s before World War I, muckrakers reported on topics concerning crime, politics and corruption in society and were often considered watchdogs. They revealed scandal among the government and important issues that led to reform. Upton Sinclair is a notable muckraker from the early […]

When the big story just isn’t enough, journalists must dig deeper. Stories that have been unearthed, so to speak, may constitute muckraking or investigative journalism. These types of stories do, however, sometimes reveal themselves as big stories. Therefore, muckraking and big story reporting often times go hand-in-hand. The Watergate Scandal was broken by Bob Woodward […]

With graduation not far down the road for most of us, it is time to start spitting out resumes left and right and pray someone takes us in and sees our worth. As aspiring journalists, we are lucky to live in a world where the ability to deliver news is right at our fingertips. However, […]

What’s the latest scoop?! Big story reporting is what the media has always aimed for. Aside from sensationalized stories about anything and everything people would be interested in, the biggest stories always get the front page and the most attention. Presidential elections — like the one we are presently witnessing — are a huge deal […]

With midterms descending upon Mason students, the stress of the semester is beginning to set in for many. Sure we have the weekend to have a little break and get our heads on straight, but sometimes that isn’t enough to keep us sane. Spring break is a ways away, but luckily there are other ways […]

How many of you still read the newspaper…any newspaper? How many of you get your news from it? How many of you get your news from social media? Well, you’re on a blogging site right now for starters. Either for the best or the worst, online news revenue has surpassed that of the print news. […]

Having a Black president has reawakened the ethnic press. While in past presidencies, politics weren’t very prominent in Black publications, the reign of President Obama has had African-American media outlets clamoring to report first on his every move. The president noticed back in 2010, right in the middle of his term that he needed to […]