A Midterm Recap: A Brief History of American Press

"The press should never act as an arm of the government.”

This simple sentence was the introduction of a long series of riveting lectures which set the tone for the content of this course. Over the past few weeks, I have learned the importance of the First Amendment and how it relates to the establishment of the press in American history.

Beginning with the colonial era, and then transitioning through the period of the Penny Press all the way to the founding of press empires, the First Amendment’s purpose is not to go unnoticed. Rather, the creation of the First Amendment has developed the American relationship with the press for the past 200 years. 

The Colonial Press Era began in 1690 with the shutdown of Publick Occurrences, which is a prime example of the lack of the First Amendment in a pre-revolutionary war society. However, almost 40 years later, the infamous Ben Franklin started the Pennsylvania Gazette that contained hints of veiled revolutionary language. 

This led to the Partisan Press Era beginning in 1776 with Thomas Payne’s Common Sense, which is an excellent example of using the American press to criticize the government. The Partisan Press Era was when news publications openly identified with a single political party, often resulting in that party financing the paper. During this period, the press had a more editorial focus, highlighting politics, religion and morality. 

In 1789, James Madison drafted the First Amendment, which led to the installation of the Bill of Rights. In 1798, John Adams’ passed the Sedition Act, stating that it was a crime to criticize the government. However, this was “killed” two years later when Jefferson came to office because the Sedition Act was a direct contrast to the rights and beliefs of the American people. 

With the advancements of the printing press accelerating, newspaper production also grew. In 1833, Benjamin Day of the New York Sun, established the one cent paper. This is where the Penny Press Era got its name. All of a sudden, newspapers became affordable and appealed to a large percentage of American society. However, this also led to massive competition between news corporations as they were all fighting to stay afloat. James Gordon Bennett of the New York Herald was able to absorb his competitor into his news empire, which kickstarted the era of press empires. 

All of this leads us to the rise of the press empire. Beginning with Horace Greenley of the New York Tribune, American journalism shifted into having a broader focus on community issues, crime and human interest pieces. This era also saw the rise of the “objectivity standard,” which meant that there was a separation of news and opinion. This was the opposite of the partisan press as journalists focused on neutral reportage of both sides of an issue. The idea of the “objectivity standard” was first put into practice by Charles Dana of The New York Times. 

However, much to American dismay, objectivity in the news has been a heavily discussed issue in recent years. If the influential individuals of the slowly maturing news world could see the American Press and the usage of the First Amendment now, I believe they would be highly disappointed with how the government treats the press. Now more than ever, it is crucial to keep in mind that the American press is not, and should not, be an arm of the government. Rather, newspapers and media outlets should attempt to reach the glory they once held in American society.