Discovering The News: A Social History Of American Newspapers

Discovering The News: A Social History Of American Newspapers

This instructive and entertaining social history of American newspapers shows that the very idea of impartial, objective “news” was the social product of the democratization of political, economic, and social life in the nineteenth century. Professor Schudson analyzes the shifts in reportorial style over the years and explains why the belief among journalists and readers alike that newspapers must be objective still lives on. This book traces the development of the American newspaper...thoughtfully and intelligently, and provocatively enough to raise legitimate doubts about the usefulness of most published histories of the American press. Professor Schudson analyzes the shifts in reportorial style over the years and readers alike that newspapers must be objective still lives on.