The American nation is relatively young. It was formed at the end of the eighteenth century, and the press played a large role in this process. Periodic pricing was intentionally underestimated, with the result that American newspapers cost only a cent or two. Thus, the press ceased to be the property of the upper classes of society and became publicly available. Publications skillfully used this. They not only carried new information, but also created a particular point of view, essentially manipulating public consciousness. As a result, the United States press was the first in the world to become the so-called "fourth power."
History
Some American newspapers are almost older than US statehood itself. So, “New Hampshire Newspaper” was founded in 1756, “Harford Courant” - in 1764, and “Augusta Chronicle” - in 1785. Old-timers are among the most popular publications. For example, the New York Post, one of the largest newspapers with a circulation of about six hundred twenty five thousand copies, was founded in 1801. Skilful pricing policies contributed a lot to popularizing periodicals in the country. In 1850, the total circulation of all daily publications was two and a half million copies, and four times more than ten million weekly. True, at that time journalism skill developed mainly in New York, while other newspapers were limited to simply reprinting articles supplemented by local news. Of the monsters of the second half of the nineteenth century, the Herald is worth mentioning: this newspaper in 1860 significantly outstripped the famous London Times in terms of circulation! And it is the States that have the honor of creating genres such as The Yellow Press and journalistic investigations.
Turning into the fourth power
Thanks to reprints in local media, the popular American newspapers in New York had even more readers than their circulation. The distribution area of their printed products was also increasing. For example, the editors of the New York Tribune claimed that they were read by about a million people, although the circulation of the publication was slightly more than three hundred thousand copies. According to Herald, some newspapers owned incomes greater than the state budget. And therefore, their editorial offices were not available for manipulation by politicians. They themselves influenced them. Publications could lead to a victory in the election of one or another party or turn a public figure into a political corpse. Herald called the process of turning the media into one of the branches of power in the country (the fourth, after legislative, executive and judicial) intellectual progress.
New Journalism: The Yellow Press
This genre could be born only in the States and nowhere else. The “American Dream,” according to which a simple cobbler could become a millionaire, aroused interest among the vast mass of the population in the personal life of the elite. Articles did not just carry information, albeit operational, they were focused on the awakening of strong emotions (although in fact, the reason was not worth it). This genre was originally called “human-interest stories” (that is, stories telling about people and their weaknesses). The articles covered crime news, high-profile scandals and sex. The pioneers of this genre were J. Pulitzer, who was in charge of the New York World at that time (eighties of the nineteenth century), and W. Hurst of the New York Journal. The American Big Apple newspapers such as The New York Tribune, The Herald and The New York Sun (Sunday Times supplement) became the platform for scandalous articles.
Journalistic Investigations
The defendants in the scandalous discoveries, carefully hidden from the general public, called these reporters "Mud Ruggers." Journalists who conducted independent investigations had to, like the paparazzi for the yellow press, penetrate the walls of private villas and connect real spy equipment for their activities. But the dangerous activity was worth it: the public paid for the result of the investigation with burning interest, and therefore money. However, historians are also grateful to such reporters. As part of a journalistic investigation, the Watergate case "crawled out." This brought unfading laurels to reporter Karl Benstein. Nowadays, Michael Moore took over the baton , who conducted his own investigation and released the Fahrenheit 9/11 film report. Also in this genre of new journalism Bob Woodworth and Thomas Woolf proved themselves. American newspapers, which published the results of such investigations, positioned themselves as publications designed for an advanced (at that time saying "elite") reader: "The New Yorker", "Esquire", "The Atlantic Mansley" and the like.
US censorship
Of course, political scandals are not needed by those in power. And in the United States, as in other countries, companies, corporations, parties and individual politicians tried to impede the work of journalists. American newspapers and magazines have been sued for politically incorrect or defamatory lawsuits. But the main enemy of the press is the Pentagon. The well-known organization “Reporters Without Borders" in the two thousand and third year accused the military department of fixing a barrier to journalists covering the events in Iraq. Former CNN employee Christina Borjesson said the Pentagon is trying to control all information regarding the military. Nevertheless, the level of freedom of speech and the protection of journalists in the United States is much higher than in other countries, and even more so in Russia.
The American Press and the World Economic Crisis
But not everything is so good. What censorship could not do, the global crisis has committed. Of course, many agencies began to release news in a virtual format, but nevertheless, the state of the periodical industry is now in bad shape. At the beginning of 2008, there were about one and a half thousand daily newspapers and more than six thousand weekly newspapers in the country. And only in the next twelve months 16 thousand journalists were laid off, 388 magazines and 120 newspapers were closed. Rocky Mountain News, published continuously for one hundred and fifty years, ceased to exist. The Times-owned media company Tribune Company filed for bankruptcy. And the specialized American newspaper in English “The Christian Science Monitor” stopped publishing on paper, turning into an Internet resource. It is clear that in such conditions it is difficult for publishers to maintain editorial independence.
American newspapers in Russian
In the United States there are many different nationalities, so the ethnic press is not the last in the country's newspaper industry. People from the republics of the former Soviet Union have the opportunity to find out the latest news in Russian. These, of course, are not diaries. Most Russian-language publications are published only once a month or per week. Among the most famous in the Soviet diaspora are “Russian House” (published in Atlanta), New York's “New World” and “The Dallas Telegraph”. Unfortunately, American newspapers in Russian are not among the top ten most popular publications. This is due to a lack of professional journalists and editors. But the growth of the Russian-speaking diaspora leaves hope that the situation will change for the better.
The most popular editions of the USA
Judging by the popularity by the volume of circulations, then in the first place is USA Today ("USA Today"). Among business people, the leader is The Wall Street Journal (it is so named after New York's Walt Street, where there is a vibrant brokerage and banking). Other well-known American newspapers are mainly based in large cities, state capitals. These are the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Washington Post, Denver Post, Dallas Morning News, Houston Chronicle, Philadelphia Inquire. By tradition, New York remains the uncrowned capital of the newspaper industry. There are such "bison" with huge circulations such as the New York Daily News and the New York Post.
American New York Times
One of the oldest newspapers in the UK is The Times. She goes without a break since 1785. Now this publication is owned by media holding Rupert Murdoch News Corporation. On Sundays, the See Sunday Times is released. To gain popularity right at the start, many newspapers borrowed this sonorous name. The American newspaper The Times was created on September 18, 1851. From that day she goes without a break. It was established as a regional publication, and therefore its official title is The New York Times. In the popularity rating among the American press, the newspaper takes an honorable third place (after USA Today and The Wall Street Journal). Her journalists won the Pulitzer Prize one hundred and twelve times , and thirty million readers visit her site every month. With the advent of the Internet version, the slogan of the newspaper has changed. Previously, it sounded like "We have all the news that you can print." Now the motto is a little different. It sounds: “We have all the news you can click on.” It needs to be clarified that under the title of The Times, a weekly news magazine is published in America. Its headquarters is also located in New York. It was founded in 1923 and since then has won the first line in the ranking of popularity among American magazines. Its circulation in 2007 amounted to three and a half million copies.