1
Journalistic Periods in U.S.
nI. The Party Press (1790-1840)
nMedia consisted almost exclusively of
newspapers
nSold mostly to elites early on
nPartisan Press
•Mutual relationship between a political
party and a newspaper.
•A political party would give money to a
newspaper so it could stay in business in
exchange for favorable press.
Journalistic Periods in U.S.,
continued
nII. The Popular Press (1840 –1880)
nTechnological advances
•Lowered printing costs and made
newspapers affordable to everyone
•Sometimes called the Penny Press
•Newspapers no longer dependent on
political parties
Journalistic Periods in U.S.,
continued
nII. The Popular Press (1840 –1880)
nSensationalism
•Sensationalism used to sell papers
•Sensationalism started by William Randolph
Hearst & Joseph Pulitzer
•Muckraker –Sensationalism focused on
corporate and political corruption.
•Yellow Journalism –Sensationalized the
news in general, by over simplifying it and
focusing only on the negative elements.
•Example: Hearst & the Spanish/U.S. war.
