Today, news can be accessed at the touch of a button, and it’s sometimes difficult to imagine an age when the newspaper was king. But that’s exactly how it was in the late 19th century. Several newspaper editions were usually published daily, and most communities, no matter the size, had multiple papers competing against each other. Editions were sold at newsstands and on corners by newsboys.
Society pages were filled with the latest news of the wealthy and famous, including colorful descriptions of their clothing and events.
By the turn of the 20th century, newspapers had begun to print photos and comic strips began appearing in color. By World War I, the public had another form of media – the newsreel – that it could rely on for current events. The heyday of the newspaper was over. Soon newspapers also would compete against radio.
Yellow Journalism
As newspapers competed against each other, they sensationalized the news, exaggerating events and focusing on scandals, a tactic is called yellow journalism.
Modern yellow journalism is attributed to Joseph Pulitzer who used sensational headlines to sell copies of his New York City crime newspaper The World. By doing so, Pulitzer turned news into entertainment, and it paid off. The Sunday edition of The World passed the 250,000-copies-sold mark in 1889.
William Randolph Hearst purchased the New York Journal in 1895 and decided to take on Pulitzer. He hired many of Pulitzer’s employees, and Pulitzer hired a new editor. The two newspapers began their battle, writing ever more sensationalized headlines and embellished stories.
Eventually, the newspapers were no longer trusted as creditable sources and went back to reporting in a more objective matter.
Some historians say yellow journalism may have been responsible for the United States going to war with Spain in 1898 as newspaper reports of Cuban atrocities were greatly exaggerated.
Investigative Journalism
Whereas yellow journalism tainted the industry, the birth of investigative journalism showed the power the media has to change lives. Referred to as muckraking in the early 1900s, a term coined by Teddy Roosevelt, investigative journalists spent a significant period of time researching one story. These journalists brought to the public’s attention such issues as political corruption and the effects of poverty with the aim of creating social change.
McClure’s Magazine published an article in October 1902 that is considered the first article labeled as investigative journalism. However, articles that we would today consider investigative journalism appeared as early as the 1870s.
Some examples of investigative journalism includes photojournalist Jacob Riis’s How the Other Half Lives, Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle and Nellie Bly’s exposé on New York insane asylums.
Politically Biased Newspapers
Decades before MSNBC and FOX News, there were politically leaning newspapers, and almost all newspapers leaned one way or another. These publications would side with one political party, reporting on news with a political slant, often stooping to name calling to prove their point.
Trench Newspapers
Soldiers during World War I were not constantly at the front. Between battles, they experienced periods of painful boredom. To keep themselves entertained, they put on plays and published trench newspapers, among other things. These activities kept soldiers occupied and no doubt kept them from sinking into depression from dwelling too much on their situation. Over time, the trenches produced their own culture.
As the name implies, trench newspapers were published by soldiers in the trenches. They were published by both sides and in several languages, and contained humorous or satirical articles and advice, jokes and political cartoons.
They were generally published by one unit for its use and often had funny titles. They became extremely popular with more than 30 published by Canadian troops alone. The British published 100 while the French published more than 400.
Although some were handwritten and duplicated with the aid of carbon paper, many were printed on printing presses. Some editions had circulations in the hundreds.
Traditional, civilian newspapers were censored during the war. This means they often contained propaganda, misinformation and political rhetoric. In comparison, trench newspapers only censored information that shouldn’t fall into enemy hands. Soldiers, for the most part, were free to write their feelings and observations of the war, trench life, commanding officers and death.
Visit Hettie’s World
This blog is a companion piece to Melina Druga’s WWI Trilogy, available in eBook, paperback and hardcover.
Book 1: Angel of Mercy
The first installment in a spellbinding trilogy centered around Canada’s involvement in World War I follows a privileged young newlywed to the fraught medical encampments of the Western Front. Buy now.
Book 2: Those Left Behind
Told through a series of epistolary vignettes, the second novel in Melina Druga’s World War I trilogy traces the lives of the Steward and Bartlette families as they contend with their children’s and siblings’ wartime absences. Buy now.
Book 3: Adjustment Year
The stunning conclusion to Melina Druga’s World War I trilogy traces Hettie’s attempts to reacclimate to civilian life in the aftermath of the conflict. Buy now.
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