Brief History of American Journalism

By LiamBaker

  • First Multi-Page Newspaper Published in the Americas

    Publick Occurences, Both Forreign and Domestick, is the first multi-page publication released in the Americas. Previously, one-page newspapers called "broadsides" were printed in Cambridge and distributed in the colonies. It was publsihed by Richard Pierce of Boston. The first issue was supposed to contain four pages, but they were only able to fill three. It was intended to be a monthly paper but the paper was disbanded after the first issue due to criticism from the colonial government.
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    Brief History of Journalism

  • First Printing Press In America

    Isaac Doolittle, a mechanic and entrepreneur from New Haven, Connecticut is the first person to design and construct a printing press on American soil. This was a significant milestone for American journalism as well as the American colonies because previous printing presses were brought over from Europe by the British, which gave them control over the flow of information and current events.

  • Colonial Newspapers Spread News of Independence

    Less than a month after the members of the Second Continental Congress signed the Declaration of Independence at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, more than 20 colonial newspapers printed the full text of the document, spreading word of the fight for freedom across the continent. This was a monumental moment because it galvanized many colonists against the British, as well as demonstrating the democratizing potential of journalism.

  • Article One of United States Constitution Approved

    Congress ratifies the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, which prevents Congress from making any law "abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press". This is a huge milestone in the history of American journalism because it guarantees a fluid and open exchange of information by preventing government censorship, thus benefiting public discourse and the American people. It was a response to the British colonial government that regularly tried to stifle information and free speec

  • America's First Telegraph Line Opens

    In 1843, Congress gave Samuel Morse, inventor of Morse Code, $30,000 to lay a telegraph line from Washington D.C. to Baltimore. The line opened in 1844 and commenced with the transmission of its first message, "What hath God wrought!", a quote from the Bible. This was a watershed moment for journalism because it allowed local newspapers to cover far-away events in a timely manner.

  • FCC Grants Contracts to 18 Television Stations

    The Federal Communication Commision grants 18 television stations permission to begin commercial broadcasting, despite the fact that few people owned television sets at the time. Five months later WCBW showed the news potential of television broadcasting when they began posting bulletins of the Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbor. Since then, television has been a fundamental element of the American news system and is the preferred method of consuming news for millions of Americans.

  • The Internet is Opened to Commercial Users

    Originally a project of the United States military, in 1988, the internet was opened to the public. The internet is a decentralized network of computers that allows the rapid exchange of data and information. This was crucial for journalism because it allowed information to be recorded and spread instantly from anywhere in the world. It gives reporters the ability to compress and file thousands of stories into a microscopic space, something that would have previously required an entire room.
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    Brief History of Journalism