Student-Led Lesson: The History and Future of Newspapers Since before the separation of Great Britain and the American colonies, newspapers have been a regular feature in Britain ; the American colonies followed suit. Today, although newspapers are not used as a primary source of communication as they were generations before, citizens of the United States and around the world see them as a great way to stay in touch with what's happening locally and abroad . In the late 1600s citizens saw them as a great way to stay informed and trusted in terms of credibility because British libel laws were fair. Since the first recurring newspaper in America was founded, it has been a very popular media source in the United States. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get Original Essay In a court case in 1735, a man named John Peter Zenger was acquitted of seditious libel for publishing factual data in a newspaper that reflected poorly on the royal governor. The American jury solidified the difference between American and English law by stating that truth could be used as a defense against defamation. The American colonies were united in a universal desire to know the complete truth about their government and the government's actions. Without the fair libel laws that the American colonies had, the government could have easily filtered and suppressed free speech in American journalism. The first English-language newspaper was The Daily Courant. This newspaper is nothing like the newspapers people see today. Major changes in the appearance of the newspaper occurred as methods were developed to create full-page headlines. Color photographs and images also shaped the way newspapers were made. The steam printing press, the rotary press, computerized printing technologies, and other driving forces were key elements in the mass production and transportation of newspapers around the world. Newspapers published in Europe in the 1600s were a mix of political opinion and economic news. This was because traders needed to know what was happening politically and economically. In the mid-to-late 1700s, Britain imposed a series of taxes, including the Stamp Act and the Townshend Acts. Since the Stamp Act was passed by the British Parliament, it forced colonists to purchase stamps for newspapers, among many other things. This affected everyone, causing hostility across the country. It was during this time that newspapers, including the Pennsylvania Journal; and Weekly Adviser, protested the Stamp Act to show that people have a say. Newspapers were used to bring people together in hopes of creating change. Newspapers were one of the most well-known forms of communication during this time, so almost everyone had a copy or two in their hands. In the period between 1780 and 1820, newspapers began to be influenced by politicians. Similar to how newspapers like the New York Times and the Washington Post in today's era are politically influenced in their news coverage, newspapers of that era also had politicians and businessmen who influenced news coverage to their own advantage. Due to the biases present in most newspapers, there are many tricks to reading newspaper articles and studying the newspaper as a whole. In 1791, the First Amendment to the United States Constitution was adopted, protecting the press. In the early 1800s, the United States began tosee a growth of canals and railways built to facilitate the transportation of newspapers. In 1833, Benjamin Day began selling The New York Sun newspaper for a penny a paper. Due to the growth of the newspaper industry, there was a huge increase in newspaper circulation starting in the 1840s. This led to the use of the rotary press, which was one of the first rotary presses. In the 1840s-1850s there was a significant increase in the sales and distribution of newspapers, which led to the frequent use of the rotary hoe. Hoe's press was a very efficient design to print enough newspapers for the large circulation that newspaper companies had at the time. The New York Times was innovative in its technique of addressing different parts of the group of people within the same issue through the use of separate sections. The use of separate sections allowed for more specialized entertainment. More people read newspapers because they find sections that they enjoy much more than reading the newspaper design that was in place previously, a mix of news without separation of genre or type of news. It was a huge innovation for the newspaper and brought a lot more money to the industry. One of the first anti-slavery articles in a newspaper was seen in 1847 by Frederick Douglas. The former slave published the North Star. Around the same time, the author's name and the date he wrote it were published in the newspaper. Also, in 1846, the Associated Press, New York City newspapers, was founded. It was supposed to be a cooperative news-gathering organization. In the 1890s the term "yellow journalism" was used to describe a newspaper that was irresponsible, fickle, and sensational in its news gathering and reporting. In the 1890s, newspapers began to make visual strides closer to their appearance today. Following the example of Paris, the United States adopted color printing presses for the first time. They were mainly used for Sunday comics. By the late 1890s, the Spanish-American War began to receive sensationalist coverage. Leading the way, especially in New York, were publishers Joseph Pulitzer and Randolph Hearst, who were competing for circulation in the area. Then, the 1920s. The 1920s marked the beginning of the tabloid industry. Leading this category was none other than the New York Daily News, which established itself as “New York's illustrated newspaper.” The 1920s also introduced the concept of objectivity to aspiring journalists. They took the foundation of objectivity and began to institute ethics and rules. As the decade transitioned into the 1930s, the progression of newspapers coincided with the Great Depression. This ushered in an era of powerful newspaper chains or corporations that owned several newspapers. As the Great Depression persisted, however, the newspaper industry faced competition from the growth of radio. During this battle, many advertisers pulled their material from newspapers in search of airtime. As a result, the newspaper industry suffered. Fast forward to the 1950s: The vast majority of American homes (86%) have televisions. As you can imagine, this was a huge blow to both the newspaper and radio industries. Television will enjoy decades of leadership, but the Internet will soon reclaim that title. Now it's the 90s and the Internet has taken over. Instead of buying newspapers, consumers browsed the free web for news through an online medium. The decline of the newspaper industry has become increasingly steep. Eventually, in 2008, six large newspaper companies filed for bankruptcy protection under the.