Comprehensive Guide to Newspapers & Magazines: History, Types, and Modern Challenges

Freedom of the Press

The right to publish news and opinions without government interference.

News Desert

A community, either rural or urban, with limited access to credible and comprehensive news and information that feeds democracy at the grassroots level.

Ghost Newspaper

A newspaper that has lost its local reporting and resources to cover its community.

Editorial

An article that expresses the opinion of the editor or publisher.

Column

A recurring piece or article in a newspaper or magazine that expresses the opinion of the writer.

Opt Ed

A page in a newspaper that features opinion pieces from various writers.

New Story

A report on recent events or developments.

Feature Story

A detailed article that explores a particular topic or issue in depth.

News Hole

The amount of space available for news stories in a newspaper.

Zenger vs. The Crown

A landmark case in which John Peter Zenger was acquitted for publishing criticism of the government, establishing a precedent for freedom of the press.

Penny Press

Low-cost newspapers that were popular in the 19th century, making news accessible to a broader audience.

Associated Press

A nonprofit news cooperative that provides news reports to its members.

Inverted Pyramid

A style of writing where the most important information is presented at the beginning of the article.

Yellow Journalism

A style of journalism that emphasizes sensationalism over facts.

Nellie Bly

A pioneering female journalist known for her investigative reporting and for faking insanity to report on mental health institutions.

Non-profit journalism

Journalism that is funded by donations and grants rather than advertising.

Watchdog journalism

Investigative journalism that aims to hold those in power accountable.

Saturday Evening Post

An American magazine known for its fiction and commentary on American life.

Trump vs. New York Times & Wall Street Journal

Legal cases involving former President Trump suing these newspapers for defamation and libel.

Decline of daily newspaper readership

A trend that began during the Great Depression with the rise of radio and continued with competition from TV and digital media.

Employment decline in newspapers

A significant reduction in the number of journalists employed at newspapers, with a 74 percent drop in workforce through 2024.

Local newspaper deaths

The closure of local newspapers, leading to decreased civic engagement and accountability among elected officials.

News Chain

The interconnected system of local reporting that, when weakened, affects the entire news ecosystem.

News Deserts

Areas that have lost a major daily newspaper, leading to increased corruption charges.

Corruption Charges Increase

In news deserts, there was a 6.9% rise in corruption charges, a 6.8% rise in indicted defendants, and a 7.4% increase in filed cases.

Political Polarization

The phenomenon where the disappearance of local news leads citizens to national news sources, reinforcing partisan identities.

Newspaper Chain

A company that owns several papers throughout the country, reflecting the trend toward oligopolies.

Gannett

The largest newspaper publisher in the US, known for owning the most daily newspapers.

Tribune/News Media Group

The second largest owner of daily newspapers in the US, owned by hedge fund Alden Global Capital.

Lee Enterprises

A publicly owned media conglomerate involved in newspaper publishing.

Adams Publishing Group

A smaller independent family-owned newspaper group.

Paxton Media Group

One of the largest newspaper owners in the US.

Cherry Road Media

A regional newspaper chain founded in 2020.

Wire Services

Agencies like the AP that provide supplemental coverage and important stories to newspapers.

Feature Syndicates

Businesses that provide work from notable political writers, cartoonists, and columnists to newspapers.

Inverted-Pyramid Style

A story form that presents the most important information at the top, with less significant details at the bottom.

Op-Ed

Focused opinion of the public on an issue relevant to a targeted audience.

News Story

An account of events that have occurred.

Non-Profit Newsrooms

Independent newsrooms funded to promote journalism, such as the Arizona Mirror and Georgia Recorder.

ProPublica

A nonprofit online investigative journalism organization established in 2007.

Institute for Nonprofit News (INN)

A consortium promoting investigative and public service journalism.

Associated Press (AP)

A non-profit news agency owned by major US daily papers, radio, and television stations.

American Journalism Project

Provides grants to nonprofit news organizations and partners with communities to launch new organizations.

Prior Restraint

A legal restriction that is rare, allowing news media to publish any information or opinion they desire.

Libel

A newspaper that publishes false information about a person can be sued for libel.

Pentagon Papers

Secret documents released by Daniel Ellsberg that exposed the government's lies about the Vietnam War.

New York Times Co. v. United States (1971)

A legal case centered on the conflict between the First Amendment's guarantee of freedom of the press and the government's claim of a need to protect national security.

Zenger vs. the Crown (1733)

A landmark case where Peter Zenger was arrested for seditious libel, but the jury ruled in his favor since the stories were true.

New York Sun (1833)

A notable penny press paper known for human-interest stories and sensational news accounts.

New York Herald (1835)

An independent paper founded by James Gordon Bennett for the middle- and working-class, known for its accurate news free from political influence.

New York Journal

A newspaper owned by William Randolph Hearst, known for sensational stories and championing the underdog.

New York World

A newspaper owned by Joseph Pulitzer that encouraged plain writing and included maps and illustrations.

Story-driven Model

One of the two distinct types of journalism that emerged in the late nineteenth century, focusing on narrative.

Objective Model

The second type of journalism that emerged in the late nineteenth century, focusing on 'just the facts'.

Adolph Ochs

The publisher of the New York Times who distanced the paper from yellow journalism and focused on documenting major events.

USA Today

A newspaper that emphasized visual style over substantive news or analysis, using brief news items to appeal to readers' busy schedules.

Magazine

A periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of content.

Advertising

A method of financing magazines, alongside purchase price and prepaid subscriptions.

Average U.S. adult magazine readership

6.1 magazines monthly, according to Zopdo.com.

Magazines

Publications that serve as an important source of information, entertainment, and inspiration.

Political perspectives

Views championed by magazines that create space for discussing broad issues of the day.

Annual magazine publications in the U.S.

Over twenty thousand magazines published annually.

Consumer culture

A culture fostered by magazines that reflects and constructs portraits of American life.

Leading conservative magazines

National Review & The American Spectator.

Leading liberal magazines

The Atlantic and The New Yorker.

Bookazines

Special edition single-topic magazines published under the brand of a consumer magazine.

Examples of recent bookazines

People's bookazine on Taylor Swift, Life's 'Bob Marley: A Legendary Life,' and Allrecipe's '100 Best Recipes.'

Magazine production increase period

Between 1870 and 1905, due to the Postal Act of 1879 and advances in production technology.

Postal Act of 1879

Legislation that lowered postage rates, reducing distribution costs for magazines.

Imagined communities

Socially constructed groups that national magazines help readers identify with.

First magazines targeting female audience

Ladies' Magazine and Godey's Lady's Book.

Muckrakers

Reform-minded journalists in the progressive era who exposed corruption and wrongdoing.

Ladies Homes Journal

A magazine that led the fight against unregulated patent medicines in the 1900s.

General-interest magazines

Prominent after World War I and through the 1950s, including Saturday Evening Post, Reader's Digest, Time, and Life.

Time magazine

The first general-interest magazine to focus on national and world news, developed a brand of interpretive journalism.

Norman Rockwell

Illustrator for the Saturday Evening Post.

Decline of general-interest magazines

Began in the 1950s due to changing consumer tastes, rising postal costs, falling ad revenues, and television.

Life magazine's readership

Reached more than seventeen million, rivaling ratings of popular national radio programs.

TV Guide

A magazine that found success by addressing the niche interest of television, first published in 1953.

Supermarket sales strategy

A marketing approach used by TV Guide to increase sales.

TV Guide's decline

Eventually sold to a private venture capital firm in 2008.