Chapter 8 Knowledge Claims

1.) “By the late 1820s, the average newspaper cost six cents a copy and was sold not through street sales but through yearly subscriptions priced at ten to twelve dollars.”

In these times the cost of a newspaper subscription was too much for the average American to afford, and nearly all subscribers were affluent. As technology allowed for cheaper production costs, more and more people were able to afford a daily paper. Paper sales also became a common practice in the street. It seems that, just like newspapers, many different forms of media and communication began as being only available to the wealthy. A more modern example of this might be the MP3 player. Originally very expensive, today many different companies offer inexpensive versions of the music players.

2.) “Labeled the era of yellow journalism, this late 1800s development emphasized profitable papers that emphasized human-interest stories, crime news, large headlines and more readable copy.”

The idea of yellow journalism is said to be similar to sensationalism. Sensationalism is what today’s tabloids stem from. These types of stories may be about celebrities, crime, disasters and scandals – things that are likely to pique the reader’s interest but may not have very much educational value or merit. Even in looking at today’s newspapers and magazines you can see that American readers are still interested in these same sorts of articles.

3.) “With the rise of radio in the 1930s, the newspaper industry became increasingly annoyed by broadcasters who took their news directly from papers and wire services.”

This conflict caused a major battle between radio and print journalism. Newspapers tried to protect their work with copyrights and lawsuits. As newspapers pressed for rules that would restrict radio broadcasters to commenting on their stories only, the path was paved for today’s talk radio shows. It’s interesting to see how, in this and other chapters of the book, we can see how the different forms of media and their offspring grew out of conflicts.