The Dynamics of Mass Communication

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The Dynamics ofMass Communication
Seventh Edition

• Joseph R. Dominick

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Part 2 The Print Media
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Chapter 4 Newspapers
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Newspaper HistoryJournalism in Early America

• Early American Newspaper Characteristics
• Few newspapers existed
• Most publishers were printers and postmasters
• News was not very timely
• Colonial authority didnt support a free press

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Noteworthy Colonial Newspapers

• Publick Occurrences both Foreign And Domestick
• Boston, 1690, Benjamin Harris, publisher
• 1st American newspaper
• Published without authority
• Upsets local officials with scandalous story
• Lasts only one issue

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Noteworthy Colonial Newspapers

• Boston News Letter
• Boston, 1704, John Campbell, publisher
• Published with royal permission
• Bland, safe stories poorly received by public

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Noteworthy Colonial Newspapers

• New England Courant
• James Franklin, publisher
• pioneers idea papers dont need official approval
• Jailed for publishing without prior authority
• Appoints brother Ben publisher and paper thrives

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Noteworthy Colonial Newspapers

• Pennsylvania Gazette Ben
  Franklin, publisher
• Proves advertising copy can sell merchandise
• Shows journalism can be an honorable profession
• Debuts idea of editorial cartoons
• Greatly Improves newspaper readability
• Easier to read type fonts
• Use of headlines
• Cleaner, simpler layout designs

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The Beginnings of Revolution

• Zenger trial truth becomes legitimate libel
  defense
• Partisan papers support diverse political
  positions
• 1765 Stamp Act spurs strong partisan reactions
• Declaration of Independence widely reprinted

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The Political Press 1790 1833

• The Federalists Debates What is the rightful
  role and powers limits of the Federal Government?
• First Amendment Bill of Rights ratified in1791
  guarantees freedom of the press
• Newspaper numbers grow rapidly expensive (six
  cents) and still targeted to affluent, merchant
  class

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Birth of the Mass NewspaperThe Penny Press
1833 1860

• Prerequisites for mass newspapers
• Quick, cost-efficient printing presses
• A critical mass of literate customers

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Significant Contributors

• Benjamin Day, 22, starts the New York World
• Lowers paper price from six cents to one penny
• Content centers on sex, crime, and human interest
• James Bennett, 1855, the New York Herald
• Introduces financial and sports pages
• Advocates political reform in aggressive
  editorials

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Significant Contributors

• Horace Greeley, 1841, starts the New York Tribune
  
• Writing appeals to reader intellect rather than
  emotion
• News and editorials center on crusades and causes
• Henry Raymond, 1851, starts the New York Times
• Introduces objective and reasoned journalism

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The Penny Press changed . . .

• The basis of a papers economic support
• from rich subscribers to advertising aimed at a
  diverse audience
• The pattern of distribution
• from mail subscriptions to direct street sales
• The way news was collected
• thus heralding the advent of professional
  reporting
• What news content should be
• from the concerns of the elite class to the
  affairs of the middle
• class. News becomes a commodity, and the
  fresher the better

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Newspapers Become Big Business

• The Civil War and the telegraphic dispatch system
  change the way stories are written it heralded
  the start of the lead and inverted pyramid
  formats
• U.S. population doubles between 1870-1900, and
  circulations boast an overall fivefold increase

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The Post Civil War Newspaper Giants

• Joseph Pulitzer, St. Louis Post Dispatch, the New
  York World
• Aims paper at diverse NYC audience, particularly
  immigrants
• Stresses simple writing and generous use of
  pictures
• Emphasizes accuracy and introduces investigative
  reporting
• Increases ad space and ad rates based on
  circulation
• Re-introduces penny press sensationalism into
  stories
• Endorses idea papers should be advocates for
  public good
• Self-promotes paper with inflated circulation
  figures

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Post Civil War Newspaper Giants

• E.W. Scripps, Cleveland, Cincinnati working-class
  papers
• Promotes concisely edited news, mostly for blue
  collar workers
• Highlights human interest stories
• Practices editorial independence
• Runs frequent crusades for the working class
• Pioneers concept of chain newspapers (controls 13
  at peak)

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Post Civil War Newspaper Giants

• Wm. Randolph Hearst, San Francisco Examiner and
  the New York Journal. Also real-life basis for
  Citizen Kane film.
• Relies on sensationalized news dealing with
  death, dishonor, and disaster (yellow journalism)
  to boost circulation
• Promotes stories that appeal directly to reader
  emotion

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Their Collective Legacy

• Professional writing
• Aggressive reporting
• Investigative journalism
• Banner headlines, pictures, and color printing
• Injects energy and verve into American journalism

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Early Twentieth Century

• Overall Trends
• Circulations and profits up
• Number of daily and competing papers decline
• Large increases in equipment and supply costs
• Advertisers prefer big circulation newspapers
• Consolidation trend grows with chain increases

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Early Twentieth Century (Cont)

• Jazz Journalism (1920s)
• tabloid sized newspapers
• lavish use of photographs
• short, simple writing style
• Impact of the Great Depression (1930s)
• poor economy forces many papers to close
• radio emerges as a serious ad competitor
• tabloid journalism rejected
• stories begin getting interpretive reporting spin

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Major WWI Postwar Trends

• Economics force a trend towards consolidation
• Chain newspapers grow
• Circulation fall behind population growth
• Cities with competing papers fall to 2
• Labor and material costs continue to rise
• TV emerges as serious ad sales competitor

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Contemporary Developments

• Birth of USA Today and its influences
• Short, easy-to-read stories
• Splashy graphics and colors
• Lots of graphs, charts, and tables
• Factoids (boiled down facts, like this list)
• Rebirth of investigative reporting (Watergate)
• Advent of Public Journalism
• Many papers create online editions in late 1990s

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Newspapers in the Digital Age

• Portals and Web Partners (welcome to our world)
• E-Commerce (getting into online retailing)
• Handheld Media (wireless media and PDAs)
• Siphoning Dilemma (keeping what you already
  have)

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Defining Features of Newspapers

• Diverse content
• Convenient packaging
• Best media for local news and advertising
• Serve as primary historical document
• Perform key Watch Dog role for society
• News is timely

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Newspaper Industry Organization

• Print dailies
• National newspapers
• Large metropolitan dailies
• Suburban dailies
• Small town dailies
• Print weeklies

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Print Dailies

• Dailies continue slow decline in total numbers
• National circulation totals continue to slide
• circulation subscription newsstand sales
• forms basis of advertising revenue rates
• Ratio of readers to population continue to slide

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National Newspapers

• Only a handful exist
• USA Today
• Wall Street Journal
• New York Times
• Christian Science Monitor
• Aimed at national audiences
• Satellites send publishing info to regional
  plants

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Large Metropolitan Dailies

• Circulation declines continue (though
  populations up)
• Dropping figures due in large part to
• suburban migrations
• increased production costs
• increased competition from all other media
• Alarming number of older papers continue to
  fold

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Suburban Dailies

• Continue to enjoy steady circulation growth
• Profits mirror affluence of malls and
  populations
• Metro papers fight back with zoned editions
• Some suburban papers entering urban markets

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Small Town Dailies (towns with 100,000 or less
populations)

• Steady but modest circulation gains
• Continue their role as primary local mass
  medium

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Print Weeklies

• Overall numbers remain relatively stable
• about 7,900 for last 20 years
• But circulation has doubled in same period
• now up to 74 million
• Slim profits make them vulnerable to rising
  costs

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The Effort to Recapture Readers
Tactics and Trends

• Better eye appeal vivid colors and splashy
  graphics
• Writing style shorter stories, summaries,
  and sidebars
• Content more lifestyle and utilitarian
  stories
• Editorial emphasis on the under-35 audience

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Special-Service and Minority
Newspapers

• African-American press declining
• focus shifts to local news and upscale readers
• Spanish press growing rapidly
• some mainline papers now offer Spanish editions
• College press strong, becoming attractive
  market

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Newspapers Online

• The big difference between online and print
  papers revolves around distribution methods
  rather than news functions

• Advantages of Online Papers
• No limits on story length or number of pictures
• Can be continually, easily, and inexpensively
  updated
• Offers readers several ways to interact online

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• Online Newspaper Profiles
• 1,100 papers now online 148 of 150 top papers
  active
• Staffs smaller, younger, less traditionally
  oriented
• Vary widely in size, mission, complexity
• Role, culture, and traditions continue to evolve

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Decline of Competition

• Number of competing papers continues to decline
  in all areas
• Joint-Operating Agreements (JOAs) allow competing
  papers to merge all but editorial departments to
  share, cut operating costs

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Group Ownership Pros Cons

• Pros
• Bigger financial resources
• Can afford new technologies
• Can provide extensive staff training
• Less market pressures
• Cons
• Less diversity of opinion
• Absentee ownership
• Lack of local empathy
• Profits valued above quality
• Tendency to avoid controversy

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Producing the Newspaper
Newspaper organization varies with paper size,
but common job and department functions remain
similar.

• Key Staff Positions
• Publisher CEO of entire paper sets policy
• Editor Oversees and helps set editorial
  direction
• Managing Editor in charge of day-to-day
  operations
• Dept. Editors Wire, Copy, City, Sports,
  Business, etc.

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Producing the Newspaper

• Key Department Functions
• Advertising Responsible for selling all
  ad space
• Business Covers administrative side
  of paper
• Circulation Promotes circulation and
  newsstand sales
• News-Editorial News, features, editorials,
  graphics, letters
• Production Printing and distribution

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Newspaper Organization Chart
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How a Paper Gets Published, Step-by-step

• News culled and written up from two main
  sources
• Local leads
• Wire Services
• Sold ad volume determines newshole, (the
  available space
• for the news and features newshole size varies
  daily)
• Stories, graphics trimmed to fit newshole
• Copy sent to composing room, then to printing
  presses
• Papers distributed to home and newsstands

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Newspaper Economics

• Two major revenue sources for newspapers
• Advertising about 80 of total paper revenue
• Circulation subscription single copy sales

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Potential Profit Problems

• National circulation figures continue to
  decline
• Percentage of people who read papers declining
• National literacy rate declining
• Local ad competition increasing from other
  media
• Newsprint prices unstable, often increasing
• Growing competition for classified ad dollars

Despite this, newspapers remain the most
cost-effective way to reach consumers for local
advertisers
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Advertising Revenue Sources

• National advertising about 8 of ad
  revenues
• Local advertising about 45 of ad
  revenues
• Classified ads about 40 of ad
  revenues
• Preprinted inserts about 7 of ad
  revenues

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General Expenses

• News and editorial costs
• Advertising sales generating expenses
• Printing materials (newsprint 25 of all
  costs)
• Circulation and distribution costs
• General administrative costs

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Getting Feedback
The Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) Purpose
To certify newspaper circulation figures for
accuracy figures determine advertising rates for
advertisers The ABC audits over three-fourths of
all U.S. and Canadian newspapers (about 2,600
newspapers).
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End of Chapter 4Newspapers