Communicating Politics Timeline

By chapmanrackaway
  • Jan 1, 1450

    Johannes Gutenberg invents moveable type

    Wikipedia entry

  • First American newspaper

    Publick Occurrences publishes its first and only edition.

  • John Peter Zenger trial

    Wikipedia
  • Period: to

    Party Press era

    During this timespan, political parties sponsored or owned newspapers outright

  • New York Sun begins publication

    Sun was the first independent, non-partisan, advertising-supported newspaper. The New York Sun was the first example of the Penny Press

  • Heinrich Hertz transmits wireless sound waves

  • First movie camera

    WikipediaEdison lab develops first movie camera

  • Transatlantic communication

    Guglielmo Marconi sends and receives radio message across the Atlantic

  • Newsreel era begins

    Short news briefs included in movie showings. The practice will continue into 1960s

  • Radio era begins

    First radio stations begin broadcasting in U.S. and Canada

  • First broadcast network created

    AT&T links two radio stations for first “network”

  • Federal Communications Commission (FCC) established

  • Commercial television broadcasts begin

    England is first country with regular TV broadcasts

  • First television ad broadcast

    U.S. broadcasts first ad on television

  • American political advertising era begins

    Eisenhower runs 20-second campaign spot

  • First presidential debate broadcast on television

    Kennedy-Nixon debate

  • ARPANET Online

    Eventually, ARPANET would grow to become what is commonly known today as the Internet.

  • CNN debuts

    CNN broadcast for the first time
  • Period: to

    Open Internet access

    Internet access opened to general public

  • Telecommunications Act

    Telecommunications Act deregulates broadcast ownership, allows for conglomerate ownership to expand

  • Blogging

    First news blogs are introduced
  • Period: to

    Cellular era

    Rise of cell phone use and cellular technology

  • Broadband internet saturation

    Broadband is in half of American homes

  • Smartphone era begins

    iPhone revolutionizes smartphone technology