Laura

Newspapers have been around for hundreds of years.  The first newspaper was published in America back in 1690.  During the colonial period, the government made it a crime to say anything negative about the government, regardless if it was the truth; this was known as seditious libel laws.  The Zenger Case is what led to the freedom of the press.  The jury agreed that the newspapers should be allowed to publish the truth and found Zenger not guilty.

            Multiple newspapers were published in colonial times, such as, partisan press and mercantile press.  As time went on and after the Revolutionary War was over, America was beginning to take form.  One newspaper that helped to form America were the federalist papers.  These papers provided information to Americans about the federal government.

            Over time, different styles of journalism began to emerge.  Such as the following:  yellow journalism, investigative journalism, stunt journalism, and jazz journalism.  Today journalism of all kinds can be found not only in print, but also on the internet as well.             Media is constantly changing.  News can be read in the newspapers, heard on the radio, watched on television or viewed on the internet.  Not only is the news getting convenient, but it also caters to the reader’s wants and needs.  Special interest newspapers are being published.  The alternative press writes from a different viewpoint from the majority of papers.

            The newspaper field offers a wide range of careers.  These careers can be broken down into two different groups:  the editorial staff and the business staff.  The diversity of a newspaper is important in order to get different viewpoints and relate to its readers, however, diversity is hard to find in the newspaper field.