The Alternative Press in the United

States: 1910-2000
Prepared By: Molina, Angelene Mae T. BSED- ENGLISH
OBJECTIVES
:
• To know the history of 20th-century American journalism;

• Recognize important people of 20th century American

Journalism; and

• Understand the nature of journalistic objectivity, the style of

underground and alternative periodicals, and the impact of
new technologies on independent media.
A critical history of 20th-
century American
Journalism
 New York was the center William

•
of news Randolph
Hearst –
Midwestern papers developed with much
Established
more local focus, but New York remained the
the New York
hub of news activity and international Journal
coverage for decades. newspaper

• Western papers did contribute two major

forces in American Journalism. After building
fortunes with western newspapers, in the first Joseph
Pulitzer-
25years of the 1800’s William Randolph
Established
Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer established two the New York
more NY papers. World
newspaper
YELLOW
JOURNALISM
Hearst and Pulitzer competed by printing more and more sensationalist
stories known as “yellow journalism” named after a Pulitzer cartoon
called “The Yellow Kid.”

Yellow Journalism
• Sensational coverage of events
• Dramatic language
• Use of Banner Headlines
The Yellow Kid
• considered the first commercially successful
newspaper comic strip.
• The Yellow Kid would symbolize the circulation wars
between Pulitzer and Hearst; the comic appeared in both
newspapers simultaneously.

Created by: Richard

Felton Outcault
20th Century – Investigative Reporting

 Muckraking turns to investigative reporting

 Upton Sinclair - a muckraker – published his

book The Jungle in 1905 uncovering the
unsanitary conditions of the meat packing
industry and leading to passage of the 1906 Pure
Food and Drug Act and The Meat Inspection Act.
 Ida Tarbell

Muckraking
• Investigative reporting – “raking the
muck”
• More reliance on facts and authoritative
sources

Example: Ida Tarbell reported “The Rise of

the Standard Oil Company ,” criticizing John
D. Rockefeller
Nellie Bly
Radio Kills the print star?

1895 – Marconi sends first

transatlantic radio signal.

By the 1930’s radio competes

with print for coverage of the
news.
Newsreels and Radio
 Edward R. Murrow

• Murrow had a profound impact on both radio and

television.

• His ability to paint a picture with words brought him

overnight success during his radio news reports from
London during World War II. In fact, Murrow is
often credited for inventing the radio correspondent.

• He was originally hired by CBS as “Director of

talks”.
 Walter Cronkite

• He once turned down the opportunity to be a

Murrow boy, Cronkite was named a CBS anchor
for the 1952 Democratic and Republican
conventions.

• This new job popularized the term “anchor,” or,

in those days, “anchor man.” Cronkite’s
popularity grew after the 1950s and CBS
started the first half-hour show with Cronkite as
the anchor.
Hunter S. Thompson
Journalistic Objectivity

 Objectivity was far from perfect, though. As

practiced in the 1940s and ’50s, it turned
journalists into stenographers: they simply
reported what powerful people said and did,
without providing context or analysis.

As the famous radio commentator Elmer Davis noted in 1953, that kind of objectivity
“lets the public be imposed on by the charlatan with the most brazen front.”

The charlatan Davis had in mind was Sen. Joseph McCarthy, who had a knack for
dominating the news cycle with sensational, unsubstantiated attacks. Journalists
considered McCarthy a dangerous demagogue and said so in opinion articles, even as
copious, respectful news coverage fueled his rise.
In response to McCarthy — and to
TV news, which threatened to put
newspapers out of business — the
press changed its definition of
objectivity.
From the 1960s on, journalists
routinely included analysis and
interpretation in their reports — not
“just the facts.”
 Underground and Alternative
periodicals
• The social movements of 1960s and 1970s would not have been possible without the
underground press, an explosive new media system that spread through hundreds of
communities. While the label "underground newspaper" had long been used to describe the
publications of resistance groups in totalitarian societies, it was repurposed in the mid 1960s
by activists in the US and other countries who published radical and countercultural tabloid-
format weeklies and monthlies.

• Breaking open the information monopoly dominated by three TV networks, two wire
services, and a string of plain-vanilla daily newspapers, the undergrounds challenged the
conventions of journalism and politics with wildly new designs and uncompromising
articles. In so doing they established the parameters of radical politics and the meanings of
"counterculture" for this pivotal decade.
Robert Woodward and Carl Bernstein
In 1972 and 1973, Woodward worked with fellow
Washington Post reporter Carl Bernstein on stories that
led to the resignation of President Nixon in 1974.
Supported by The Washington Post editor Ben Bradley,
the pair investigated a foiled burglary of the Democratic
Party’s headquarters in the Watergate Hotel. Eventually,
their investigations of the break-in revealed a scandal
involving the Committee to Re-Elect the President and
Nixon himself.
Many of the high-ranking committee members and
members of Nixon’s administration were indicted on
federal charges of burglary and disrupting Democratic
Party activities. In 1973, Woodward and Bernstein won
the Pulitzer Prize for their stories.
 Gloria Steinem

• American journalist and feminist, Steinem gained

prominence as a spokeswoman for women’s rights
both in lectures and television appearances.

• She helped found the National Women’s Political

Caucus (1971), the Women’s Action Alliance (1971)
and the Coalition of Labor Union Women (1974).

• She was also the founding editor (1972-87) of Ms.,

a feminist magazine. Her books include Outrageous
Acts and Everyday Rebellions (1983) and Revolution
from Within (1992).
During the 1980s, media companies merged and increasingly focused on the prices of
their stocks on the stock exchange. As these new media mega-companies went public,
corporate leaders mandated that news should make money.

The decade experienced rapid deregulation under the Reagan administration, which
made new business developments possible. As a result, the broadcast industry began to
focus more on the competitive nature of the industry and less on concepts of the public
interest and public service.

New technologies such as cable television, led to expansion and the creation of new
networks such as CNN and Fox. The “Big Three,” CBS, ABC, and NBC, were forced
to reckon with these newcomers and fierce competition ensued.
• By the late-1990’s, the Internet was becoming a part of many
American homes and businesses. Consumers no longer had to
get their information on the media’s schedule, as the Internet
enabled on-demand news, entertainment, and information.

• The Internet revolution, along with increased popularity of

cable channels, hastened the decline the traditional 20th
century media’s hold on America and helped cause a shift in the
way modern media would function.