The form of news : a history / Kevin G. Barnhurst, John Nerone.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Barnhurst, Kevin G., 1951-

Contributor:

Nerone, John C.

Series:

Guilford communication series

The Guilford communication series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Newspapers--Social aspects.

Newspapers.

American newspapers--History.

American newspapers.

History.

Newspaper layout and typography--United States.

Newspaper layout and typography.

Electronic newspapers.

United States.

Physical Description:

x, 326 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

New York : Guilford Press, [2001]

Summary:

The newspaper has always been a privileged form of communication in the United States. Law accords it a seriousness often denied other media, and popular culture endorses its power to expose and enlighten. Why are newspapers seen as instruments of democracy? How do they succeed or fail in their mission? And how does the experience of reading them shape our identity as citizens? This book offers a fresh perspective on the history of newspapers in the United States. Although most scholars think the newspaper works through its content, this history looks deeper into form: ways of writing; systems of organization; and genres of presentation, including typography, space, and pictures. It explores both how we see newspapers and how newspapers imagine us -- as citizens, voters, consumers, and spectators.

Richly illustrated with archival material, the book traces the changing "look" of the news from the Revolutionary era to the present day. It examines how newspapers have refracted such major historical forces as the rise of mass politics, the industrial revolution, the growth of the market economy, the course of modernism, and the emergence of the Internet. Beyond presenting factual information, the book shows, newspapers offer a mediated environment, a backdrop to the physical and cultural drama of daily life. They invite readers to see the world through the prism of a particular metaphor, whether serving as town meeting, court of opinion, marketplace, social map, or index of diversions. In the process, they summon readers into a public space. From the colonial era to the Victorian age, to the modernist period and beyond, the book demonstrates how each successive form of news has made that public space more private.

Drawing a strong link between the form of news and public life, this book suggests provocative ways to think about contemporary technologies that de-form old media. It addresses compelling questions about the newspaper's future in an era of declining civic culture.

Contents:

Chapter 1 The Form of News: Style, Production, and Social Meaning, 1750-2000 1

Part I Before Modernism: Symbols of Citizens 29

Chapter 2 The Founding Forms: Politics and the Work of Newspapers, 1750-1850 31

Chapter 3 Commercialization: The Newspaper and the Market Revolution, 1780s-1880s 68

Part II The Role of Pictures: Playful Commerce 109

Chapter 4 Civic Picturing: The Regime of Illustrated News, 1856-1901 111

Chapter 5 The President Is Dead: Pictures and Journalistic Values, 1881-1963 140

Part III The Rise of Modernism: Conveyor of Facts 181

Chapter 6 The Front Page: Measuring Modernism and Its Phases, 1885-1985 185

Chapter 7 Visual Mapping: Modern Design and Cultural Authority, 1920-1940 219

Part IV After Modernism: Icon of Isolation 257

Chapter 8 Beyond Modernism: Americanization and Its Consequences, 1910-2000 261

Chapter 9 Spectators and Their Spectacles: Forms of Knowledge, Forms of Power 298.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 311-317) and index.

ISBN:

1572306378

OCLC:

45804945