American Journalism has massively grown since it first
began. The people of America are a people with a need to be informed and a
desire to be heard. The founding fathers understood those needs and desires
when they decided to protect the people’s freedom of speech and freedom of
press through the First Amendment in the Bill of Rights. From the first
newspaper, to photography, radio, television, and computers, American’s have
exercised those rights.
Before America was Independent from Britain and before the
first Amendment was even created, we had the first American newspaper, “Public
Occurrences”, which was published and written by Benjamin Harris in 1690.
Unfortunately, this paper did not last long due to some puritan critics who
found a way to silence Harris by arresting him for his refusal to apply for a
publishing license; therefore, ending the paper in the same year. Though the
puritans silenced Harris they did not silence America. In the mid-1700’s
Benjamin Franklin had many successful papers published. Two of Franklin’s most
popular papers were the “Pennsylvania Gazette” and “Poor Richards Almanack”. In
the 1800’s more newspapers were being published as well as magazines. These
papers and magazines had new features added to them, like the sports and
photography (mid-1800’s). Photography was also used during the Civil War
(1861-1865) making it the first war to be documented by photography. The next
step for journalism was the Radio. On Election Day 1920, KDKA made the first
radio news broadcast in which people heard the results of the Harding-Cox
Presidential race before it came out in the paper. KDKA then became a huge hit
and inspired other stations to take up broadcasting. In the mid-1940’s television
news started and at the movies short news clips were shown either before or
after the show. In the 1980’s news moved from the typewriter to the computer.
Since to the World Wide Web, journalism has exploded. With the Internet you get
news from all around the world and whenever you want it; you have all this
information right at your fingertips.
Without early journalism and the freedom of speech and
press, America would not be where it is today. The Americans who were willing
to put in the work and test the boundaries of journalism before freedom of
press and before all this technology, helped to pave the foundation for
America’s future. Without the First Amendment, the government would control the
news and much of the truth would be hidden from the American people. Thanks to
the First Amendment journalism is a right of the American people and it will
continue to inform and evolve in the years to come.
References
1. Saunders,
R. (2009,May 5). America's First Newspaper - Boston – 1690.
Retrieved
August 9, 2012, from:
http://suite101.com/article/americas-first-newspaper-boston-1690-a115120
2. PBS.(nd).
Retrieved August 9, 2012, from: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/databank/entries/dt20ra.html
