History of Journalism

Journalism in America

Further information: History of American newspapers

The first real colonial newspaper was the New England Courant, published as a sideline by printer James Franklin, brother of Benjamin Franklin. Like many other Colonial newspapers, it was aligned with party interests and did not publish balanced content. Ben Franklin was first published in his brother's newspaper, under the pseudonym Silence Dogood, in 1722, and even his brother did not know. Ben Franklin's pseudonymous publishing represented a common practice of newspapers of that time of protecting writers from retribution from those they criticized, often to the point of what would be considered libel today.

Ben Franklin moved to Philadelphia in 1728 and took over the Pennsylvania Gazette the following year. Ben Franklin expanded his business by essentially franchising other printers in other cities, who published their own newspapers. By 1750, 14 weekly newspapers were published in the six largest colonies. The largest and most successful of these could be published up to three times per week.

American Independence

By the 1770s, 89 newspapers were published in 35 cities. Most papers at the time of the American Revolution were anti-royalist, chiefly because of opposition to the Stamp Act taxing newsprint. Colonial governments could suppress newspapers by denying the stamp or refusing to sell approved paper to the offending publisher.

Newspapers flourished in the new republic — by 1800, there were about 234 being published — and tended to be very partisan about the form of the new federal government, which was shaped by successive Federalist or Republican presidencies. Newspapers directed much abuse toward various politicians, and the eventual duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr was fueled by controversy in newspaper pages.

As the 19th century progressed in America, newspapers began functioning more as private businesses with real editors rather than partisan organs, though standards for truth and responsibility were still low. Other than local news, much of the content was copied from other newspapers. In addition to news stories, there might be poetry or fiction, or (especially late in the century) humorous columns."

Rise of prominent newspapers in the U.S.

As American cities like New York, Philadelphia, Boston and Washington grew with the rise of the Industrial Revolution, so did newspapers. Larger printing presses, the telegraph, and other technological innovations allowed newspapers to print thousands of copies, boost circulation, and increase revenue.

The first newspaper to fit the modern definition of a newspaper was the New York Herald, founded in 1835 and published by James Gordon Bennett, Sr.. It was the first newspaper to have city staff covering regular beats and spot news, along with regular business and Wall Street coverage. In 1838 Bennett also organized the first foreign correspondent staff of six men in Europe and assigned domestic correspondents to key cities, including the first reporter to regularly cover Congress.

Not to be outdone was the New York Tribune, which began publishing in 1841 and was edited by Horace Greeley. It was the first newspaper to gain national prominence; by 1861, it shipped thousands of copies daily to other large cities, including 6,000 to Chicago, while other Eastern newspapers published weekly editions for shipment to other cities. Greeley also organized a professional news staff and embarked on frequent publishing crusades for causes he believed in. The Tribune was the first newspaper, in 1886, to use the linotype machine, invented by Ottmar Mergenthaler, which "rapidly increased the speed and accuracy with which type could be set."

The New York Times, now one of the most well-known newspapers in the world, was founded in 1851 by George Jones and Henry Raymond. It established the principle of balanced reporting in high-quality writing. At the time, it did not achieve the circulation and success it now enjoys.

Growth of newspapers outside eastern U.S. cities

The influence of these large newspapers in New York and other Eastern cities slowly spread to smaller cities and towns, Weekly newspapers gave way to dailies, and competition between newspapers even in small towns became fierce.

In the Midwest and beyond, there was a boom for local newspapers, which remained more focused on local news and services than the larger urban newspapers. Many newspapers flourished during the conquest of the West, as homesteaders were required to publish notices of their land claims in local newspapers. Many of these papers died out after the land rushes ended.

The rise of the wire services

The American Civil War had a profound effect on American journalism. Large newspapers hired war correspondents to cover the battlefields, with more freedom than correspondents today enjoy. These reporters used the new telegraph and expanding railways to move news reports faster to their newspapers. The cost of sending telegraphs helped create a new concise or "tight" style of writing which became the standard for journalism through the next century.

The ever-growing demand for urban newspapers to provide more news led to the organization of the first of the wire services, a cooperative between six large New York City-based newspapers led by David Hale, the publisher of the Journal of Commerce, and James Gordon Bennett, to provide coverage of Europe for all of the papers together. What became the Associated Press received the first cable transmission ever of European news through the trans-Atlantic cable in 1858.

New forms of journalism

The New York dailies continued to redefine journalism. James Bennett's Herald, for example, didn't just write about the disappearance of David Livingstone in Africa; they sent Henry Stanley to find him, which he did, in Uganda. The success of Stanley's stories prompted Bennett to hire more of what would turn out to be investigative journalists. He also was the first American publisher to bring an American newspaper to Europe by founding the Paris Herald, which was the precursor of the International Herald Tribune.

Charles Anderson Dana of the New York Sun developed the idea of the human interest story and a better definition of news value, including uniqueness of a story.

Era of Hearst and Pulitzer

Further information: Yellow journalism

William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer both owned newspaper chains in the American West, and both established papers in New York City: Hearst's New York Journal in 1883 and Pulitzer's New York World in 1896. Their stated missions to defend the public interest, their circulation wars and their embrace of sensational reporting, which spread to many other newspapers, led to the coinage of the phrase "yellow journalism." While the public may have benefitted from the beginnings of "muckraking" journalism, their often excessive coverage of juicy stories with sensational reporting turned many readers against them.

Muckraking journalism continued into the 20th century, led by well-known investigative journalists Lincoln Steffens, Ida Tarbell and Upton Sinclair. Their work exposed the dismal conditions of the Chicago slums and meatpacking industry, the monopolistic practices of the Standard Oil Co. and more.

Muckraking publications

Further information: Muckraker

Smaller newspapers and magazines engaged in more investigative reporting than the larger dailies, and took greater risks. This gave rise, over time, to an alternative press movement, which today is typified by alternative weekly newspapers like The Village Voice in New York City and The Phoenix in Boston, as well as political magazines like Mother Jones and The Nation.

Rise of the African-American press

Main article: African American newspapers

The rampant and flagrant segregation of and discrimination against African-Americans did not prevent them from founding their own daily and weekly newspapers, especially in urban areas. These newspapers and other publications flourished because of the loyalty their readers had to them. The first black newspaper was called Freedom's Journal, and it was first published on March 16, 1827 by John B. Russworn and Samuel Cornish.

Foreign-language newspapers

As immigration rose dramatically during the last half of the 19th century, many immigrants published newspapers in their native languages to cater to their fellow expatriates. One good example is the large number of newspapers published in Yiddish for the thousands of Jews who left Eastern Europe.

Birth of broadcasting in the 20th century

Guglielmo Marconi and colleagues in 1901 used a wireless radio transmitter to send a signal from the United States to Europe. By 1907, his invention was in wide use for transatlantic communications.

Impact of the internet

The rapidly growing impact of the Internet, especially after 2000, brought "free" news and classified advertising to audiences that no longer cared for paid subscriptions. The Internet undercut the business model of many daily newspapers. Bankruptcy loomed across the U.S. and did hit such major papers as the Rocky Mountain news (Denver), the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times, among many others. Chapman and Nuttall find that proposed solutions, such as multiplatforms, paywalls, PR-dominated news gathering, and shrinking staffs have not resolved the challenge. The result, they argue, is that journalism today is characterized by four themes: personalization, globalization, localization, and pauperization

History of Indonesian Journalism

Ideally, western journalists would be impartial or having non-partisan position. They are reporting and presenting factual news without taking any sides.
While in Indonesia, journalists had gone through some stages. In the 50s-80s, they were politically involved, aligned with certain political parties. They were called activist journalist. In 80s-90s, they were more into business and economic system, and news media was seen as business organization. In 2000s, activist journalists are back, and they are adopting western standard.

New Order

The Indonesian Press has been very closely linked with the political situation and power at the time, ever since the nation’s declaration of independence through the radio by Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta in 1945, who became the nation’s first President and Vice-President respectively. The following year the nation’s journalistic agency, PWI, was born. The PWI’s main goal is to address the problem of political bias and provide norms and guidance for professional journalistic practices. However, in the 1950’s most newspaper could be directly or indirectly classified as mouthpiece to various political and ideological parties. To counter this, President Sukarno then abandoned the liberal western democracy and adopted the guided democracy system and demanded PWI and the press to act under government direction and to promote Indonesian ‘values’ and the Pancasila ideology. Various government regulations were issued to eliminate opposition and to instruct journalists to support Sukarno’s political manifesto.

In 1966 General Soeharto launched a take over, signaling the start of a new political order which lasted for 32 years. Under the New Order, government control over the press became even stricter by using the Department of Information to exert control of the press and PWI; newspapers and all publications were closely monitored and controlled, crushing what little remains of the press freedom. During this time, PWI membership became mandatory to all journalists and only approved members can become editors or publishers. There were widespread corruption and unethical practices within the press community, such as the ‘telephone culture’, where editors of publications received a warning telephone call from the Department of Information if they published unflattering articles about the government or Soeharto’s family; and then there is also the ‘envelope culture’, which is basically monetary bribe given by government officials to journalists to publish or cover a story supporting the government. These two cultures have been a thorn within the press community because they impede the quality and integrity of journalists, however more often than not; the press community has to participate in order to survive, especially with the ‘envelope culture’ where the salary of a journalist can barely cover daily needs. Many journalistic organizations were disbanded by the government, until only PWI remains; and with its structure dominated by governmental people, PWI became the mouth piece for the government.

In June 1994, three major news publications, Detik, Tempo, and Editor, were permanently closed and their licences revoked by the Department of Information for publishing controversial articles which were critical towards the government. These closures provoke protests and demonstrations from various non-governmental organizations and from the society. Seeing the PWI as failing to stand up for the press community, a few weeks after the banning, a group of 85 journalists and intellectuals created a rival organization, AJI. This new organization, AJI, is fundamentally different from its government-controlled counterpart. Officially PWI serves as association of journalists, but many of its members are also members of political parties, mainly Soeharto’s political party Golkar, and acted as political agents against differing ideology such as communism. AJI is mainly a journalistic organization with no affiliation with any political ideology other than that of the freedom of the press. Since the government only recognize one official organization, AJI, operated illegally. The government and PWI continually put more pressure on AJI, arresting many of its members and threatening anyone or any publication that sympathizes with them, such as the case where PWI withdrew its support for the editor of D&R magazine for employing AJI members. Under heavy pressure, many AJI members were forced to resign from their jobs or transferred to distant position and location, and some were arrested for spreading anti-government views and distributing unlicensed publication. However some AJI journalists managed to continue to work and write using different name, and many of its members also found a loophole in the form of internet publishing.

Post New Order

After the collapse of the New Order regime, the political situation is much more hectic, with many differing political parties vying for power and influence. The Indonesian Press community, especially PWI, is also busy to adapt with the newly received freedom and to re-establish its image as an agent of change for the society instead of as an agent of stability for the government. In October 1998, PWI elected new executive and senior editors to try to separate itself from the New Order image. Different ideologies started to emerge and voicing their values through any media publications willing. Rules and regulations on media journalistic industry were reviewed, and AJI was officiated. Private tv channels are now more transparent, not controlled by Soeharto’s family anymore and media licensing to set up and publish newspaper, radio station and tv station is more public.
Because of these changes, though government is more lenient, it is now the community groups (religious group, ethnicity group etc) that have the voice. Self-censorship comes from these particular groups.

Source :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_journalism

 http://censorship.wikidot.com/indonesian-journalism-censorship