The Popular Press, 1833-65

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Description

The third volume in The History of Journalism series, this work provides an overview of the period from 1833 to 1865 when major journalistic forces evolved within professional circles, reform movements, Southern nationalism, ethnic, religious and racial minorities. The transition from partisan press to commercial journalism, it is argued, was a gradual process that covered the entire popular press era from the founding of the penny newspapers in 1833 through the end of the Civil War in 1865.

Newspapers reflected a diverse, multicultural society and numerous reform and partisan groups during the antebellum era. Civil War correspondents created a new power base, the reporter in the field, by occassionally sending reports independent from the views of their commanding officers and employing editors.

The relationship between newspapers and the government and political parties remained a complex one, especially during the war when reporters demonstrated their independence if not their objectivity. Scholars and researchers of journalism history and of the American Civil war will appreciate this synthesis of journalism history during an important period in American history.

Among the subjects covered are the New York newspaper wars, specialized publications, alternative newspapers, Western newspaper wars, reporters, officers, and soldiers in the field, and reflections on the popular press. A complete list of sources follows a bibliographical overview. Review: ?This profusely documented study of one of the most dynamic periods in American media history should help answer the perpetual question that bedevils many historians about what to study next.

It is elementary: pick a topic from the period, look at the author's references, and see what he has to say about it. Seasoned scholars will find much to recommend the book while graduate students will find this volume of particular use in plotting a research area....In the final chapter, modestly called Reflections on the Popular Press, 1833-1865, the author produces a succinct but important overview of the period.

It should be required reading for all students of American journalism. Also of use is the bibliographical essay that leads to the bibliography.?-Journalism History