Loyola University Maryland - Evergreen / Green and Gray Yearbook (Baltimore, MD)

Page 12 text:

6 THE LOYOLA ANNUAL by the politicians and spoke only for that side whom they represented. The fact that so few papers were published in the early his- tory of America was due largely to the many difficulties which were encountered in printing the newspaper. Even in the early part of the nineteenth century newspapers were printed with very crude machinery and involved so much time and hard labor that the production of a large number of copies was out of the question. Later some iron presses were imported from England, and in 1822 the first power press was invented by Daniel Treadwell, of Boston, the power being furnished by a team of mules. None of these presses were well adapted to newspaper work, but in 1847 Richard M. Hoe, one of the great mechanical geniuses of this country, invented a cylinder press by which the mechanical ability of producing papers was almost immediately doubled, and which was in time destined to revolutionize the newspaper of America. Early in the nineteenth century the editor ceased to be the hired servant of the political bodies, and began to express his own views on different subjects. The editor now became the real writer of the paper and spoke to the people directly through the editorial columns of his paper. The newspaper became now a real medium of knowledge and not a mere presentation of news. This was the day of great editors, of which Horace Greely, the editor of the New York Tribune, was worthy of special mention. Their papers were made up for the most part of editorials, the aim of which was to convince and to educate, not to inform the public. The editor at this period was greater than his newspaper, and as a means of educating and elevating the people of the United States this era of newspapers was unparalleled in the history of journalism. The newspaper, as one of the great institutions of our gov-

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THE LOYOLA ANNUAL 5 otherwise had such a promising beginning. Such was the fate of America’s first newspaper. The historians of journalism have usually overlooked this unique and rather ludicrous origin of the newspaper in Amer- ica, and have conferred the honor of the father of American newspapers on John Campbell, the Boston Postmaster, who published his paper, “ The Boston Letter News,” as it was called, for the first time on April 24th, 1704. From such simple beginnings, the newspaper began to spread rapidly, and in 1747 there were eleven newspapers in the Eng- lish colonies. Soon almost every city of any considerable size had one or more newspapers, but no attempt was made in the country to publish a daily nevv spaper until 1784, and even in 1800 daily newspapers were printed only in a few of the largest cities. The years immediately preceding and following the out- break of the Revolution marked a change in the nev spaper, and in this change we see tv o of the greatest causes of the development of the American newspaper, namely the increased interest which the people took in the newspaper and its con- nection with politics and it was in response to these require- ments that the editors of the paper did all in their power to collect tlie news and to further the growth of the newspaper. Hitherto the unwarranted restrictions put on the liberty of the press had severely checked the efforts of the editors in the further development of their newspapers. Up to this time, in the face of this great opposition, the newspapers had grown gradually, but steadily, but now they seem stirred with the breath of a new life. They were breathing with a growing power and prosperity. The light of a grander day was falling fair on their faces. This marked the great commencement of the American newspaper. After the Revolution the newspapers became the organs of the different political bodies. They were practically subsidized

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THE LOYOLA ANNUAL 7 eminent, has kept pace with our national development. Up to the time of the Mexican War no systematic means of re- porting news had been introduced, and the news obtained was for the most part voluntary contributions, which were often semi-editorial. When the Civil War began the papers were able to gather news much more easily than before. A wonder- ful industrial development had taken place in this country, and great opportunities for advancement had arrived. The conditions were ripe for the rapid development of the news- paper, and the expected happened. American genius and ingenuity answered the call of the American newspaper. Reporters were engaged to collect the daily news, special correspondents and artists were sent to the field of battle that the news might be as prompt and as ac- curate as possible. The telegraph became the common means of communication, and in less than a year the American news- paper had entered upon a new era of marvelous development. From this time invention kept pace with the increased demand for newspapers. To give a record of the development of the newspaper would be to review the unparalleled progress in all science and art. The type is now set by linotype with as much ease as one would run over the keys of a typewriter. The Hoe octuple press is one of the marvels of the age, print- ing, cutting, folding and counting ninety-six thousand four, six or eight page papers and twenty-four thousand sixteen- page papers per hour. But in speaking of the newspapers of to-day, it is impossible to forego mention of one of the most conspicuous phases of journalism in this country — the Yellow Journal. These papers are a source of a great deal of evil in the country, for they tend to lower the reader’s character by presenting to him in print news which is of itself objectionable or which is presented in an objectionable manner. These papers are read.