Journalism Midterm Studying

Weeks 1-7, What is Journalism? to The Black Press

What is journalism?

Activity of gathering, assessing, creating, and presenting news and information

List three elements of journalism as defined by the American Press Institute

1. Journalism’s first obligation is to the truth

2. It must provide a forum for public criticism and compromise

3. It must serve as an independent monitor of power

Should journalists be impartial?

No — since journalists make decisions, they cannot be objective. But the methods of collecting and testing is objective. The method is objective, not the journalist.

Don’t want personal and cultural biases to undermine the accuracy of the work

What accounted for the highest percentage of Americans in 2024: they have a 1) great deal, 2) fair amount, 3) not very much/none at all trust and confidence in the mass media to report the news fully, accurately and fairly.

None at all (36%), the three categories were almost even

What is the powerful and scary part about journalism?

Can write history at the very moment it happens — “extraordinary and terrible privilege” (Oriana Fallaci)

Who wrote this quote?

“Were it left for me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hestitate to prefer the later”

Thomas Jefferson, 1787

Who wrote this quote?

“It is the Press which has corrupted our political morals - and it is the Press we must look for the means of our political regeneration”

Alexander Hamilton

Who wrote this quote?

“No tyrannical society can long exist when it cannot control the flow of information”

Benjamin Franklin

What were the four most significant newspapers during the Colonial era and where were they located?

1. Publick Occurrences, Boston

2. New England Courant, Boston

3. Pennsylvania Gazette, Philadelphia

4. New York Weekly Journal, New York

What were the earliest American newspapers like?

• Old and incorrect information

• Copied information from European papers

• No original reporting

• Strange/odd stories

• Salacious/gruesome stories of public executions

What did Publick Occurrences do to scandalize the royal government of Massachussets?

Wrote that the king of France was having sex with his daughter-in-law

What is significant about Publick Occurrences?

• First American Newspaper

• 1690

• Shut down and banned after one issue

• Royal governor of MA didn’t like

• Wrote about French King Louis XIV sex scandal

What is significant about the Boston News-Letter?

First continuing newspaper

1704

Foreign, trade, shipping news —> dull

Who was Silence Dogood?

The alias young Ben Franklin used in letters published in the newspaper, purportedly from a middle-aged widow

What was Benjamin Franklin’s contribution to journalism?

“Dean” of American Colonial printers

Bought the Pennsylvania Gazette in 1729—> good businessman

Became the most successful, prominent publisher of his time

Good businessman and politically savvy

Becomes Philadelphia postmaster

Retires wealthy at age 42

What was Benjamin Franklin’s view on the press?

Advocated for open press

Newspaper should be the marketplace of ideas, where various opinions battle it out

Newspaper as a whole should be neutral, but has a collection of different ideas

Truth will win out over error

When did the French and Indian War occur?

1754-1763

Why was John Peter Zenger arrested?

Printing anonymous criticism of the governor (William Cosby)

Definition of seditious libel

The act of speaking or writing seditious words with seditious intent

What was the significance of the Zenger trial?

New York, 1734

It establish truth as a defense to libel

Encouraged government criticism

Intensifies opposition to British rule

Today in U.S. —> libel must be false

Explain this quote: “The Revolution was in the minds of the people, and this was effected, from 1760 to 1775, in the course of fifteen years before a drop of blood was shed at lexington. The records of 13 legislatures, the pamphlets, newspapers in all the colonies, ought to be consulted during that period to ascertain the steps by which the public opinion was enlightened and informed.” John Adams to Thomas Jefferson, 1815

Even before the Revolutionary War, the newspapers waged a propaganda battle over identity

The Patriot Press helped define American identity and inflamed anti-British sentiment

What factors led to the Revolutionary War (in terms of journalism)?

Growing press pushed for revolt

High literacy rate among men — 85%

People trusted newspapers

Tolerance of dissenting views was not allowed

What act from the British incited criticism from the newspapers and radicalized printers?

Stamp Act (1765) — tax on all American paper documents

Led to new type of journalism: advocacy

What is the idea of the free press?

Editors are free to take sides

The press as a whole provides the forum for debate

What was Samuel Adam’s contribution to the Patriot Press?

Successful politician

Sons of Liberty —> Boston Tea Party, Boston Massacre

Wrote articles in the Journal of Occurrences —> news of British occupation in Boston from 1768-1769

Much of it was false, anti-British propaganda

Why was Thomas Paine’s Common Sense so popular?

It was readable, not scholarly or lawyerly

Why was Thomas Paine significant?

Wrote viral pamphlet Common Sense in 1776

First American writer to call for clean break from Great Britain

Writes in simple English, for common man

Sells 150,000 copies in 3 months

What did Thomas Paine write during the Revolutionary War to stir support for the Patriots?

The American Crisis

Were both sides tolerant of dissenting opinions during the Revolutionary War?

No — tory printers were attacked and publicly humiliated

How many freedoms are protected by the First Amendment?

5

Freedom of speech, press, religion, assembly, petition

Who established the 1st Amendment?

U.S Congress and the States

What was the mode of government before the U.S. Constitution?

Articles of Confederation

1783-1789

No explicit press freedom statement

What were the two opinions about press freedoms during the Constitutional Convention?

Opponents — lack of press freedom

Proponents — clause not needed, would “leave the utmost latitude for evasion”

Who pushed for the First Amendment at the end of deliberations?

James Madison

What was the significant of the Federalist Papers?

Written by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison

85 essays written from 1787-1788

Printed in NY to urge New Yorkers to ratify the proposed Constitution

When was the Constitution ratified?

1791

Who were the two major players in the Party Press?

Alexander Hamilton — Federalists

Thomas Jefferson — Democratic-Republicans

What two papers were owned/supported by the Federalists (Alexander Hamilton)?

Gazette of the United States

Porcupine’s Gazette

What two papers were owned/supported by the Republicans (Thomas Jefferson)?

National Gazette

The Aurora

This hard-drinking newspaper editor published stories exposing sex scandals involving Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson.

James Callender

What prompted passage of the Alien & Sedition Acts of 1798, which banned “any false, scandalous and malicious writing” against the government?

Fear of war with France

Passed by Federalist Congress and signed by John Adams

What did the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 criminalize for journalists?

Publishing “false, scandalous, and malicious writing” against the government or its officials

How many journalists were arrested under the Alien and Sedition Acts?

25 arrested

What happened to the Alien and Sedition Acts?

Expired in 1801

What newspaper was founded by Alexander Hamilton that is still in existence today?

New York Evening Post —> New York Post

Founded in 1801 by Hamilton and crew

Why did the Party Press decline?

Parties no longer needed the press as its chief organ to communicate