The power of the American press to influence and even set the political agenda is commonly associated with the rise of such press barons as Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst at the turn of the century. The latter even took credit for instigating the Spanish-American War. Their power, however, had deeper roots in the journalistic culture of the nineteenth century, particularly in the social and political conflicts that climaxed with the Civil War. Until now historians have paid little attention to the role of the press in defining and disseminating the conflicting views of the North and the South in the decades leading up to the Civil War. In The Civil War and the Press historians, political scientists, and scholars of journalism measure the influence of the press, explore its diversity, and profile the prominent editors and publishers of the day. The book is divided into three sections covering the role of the press in the prewar years, throughout the conflict itself, and during the Reconstruction period. Part 1, "Setting the Agenda for Secession and War," considers the rise of the consumer society and the journalistic readership, the changing nature of editorial standards and practice, the issues of abolitionism, secession, and armed resistence as reflected in Northern and Southern newspapers, the reporting on John Brown's Harper's Ferry raid, and the influence of journalism on the 1860 election results. Part 2, "In Time of War," includes discussions of journalistic images and ideas of womanhood in the context of war, the political orientation of the Jewish press, the rise of illustrated periodicals, and issues of censorship and opposition journalism. The chapters in Part 3, "Reconstructing a Nation," detail the infiltration of the former Confederacy by hundreds of federally subsidized Republican newspapers, editorial reactions to the developing issue of voting rights for freed slaves, and the journalistic mythologization of Jesse James as a resister of Reconstruction laws and conquering Unionists. In tracing the confluence of journalism and politics from its source, this groundbreaking volume opens a wide variety of perspectives on a crucial period in American history while raising questions that remain pertainent to contemporary tensions between press power and government power. The Civil War and the Press will be essential reading for historians, media studies specialists, political scientists, and readers interested in the Civil War period.
Sections of the book are devoted to the British press' handling of contentious issues between the North and South, specific battles or persons, a detailed profile of The Times of London (including personal correspondence) with examples of ...
... 149 , 212 , 227n4 Yellow Journalism , 138 see also reporters ; specific battles • K • Kalisch , David , 221 Kansas ... 97 indemnity for unconstitutional actions , 121 on John Brown , 30 myths about , 31 , 225 , 229n35 newspaper ...
This book contains sections including Fighting Words, Confederates and Copperheads, and The Union Forever.
This book examines newspapers, magazines, photographs, illustrations, and editorial cartoons to tell the important story of journalism, documenting its role during the Civil War as well as the impact of the war on the press.
The development of journalism as a profession; The international context of Civil War journalism; The leadership journalists displayed, including Horace Greeley and his New York Tribune bully pulpit; The nature of journalism during the war; ...
(London: Chapman & Hall, 1862), 2:427. Samuel Wilkeson testimony, January 24, 1862, National Archives. ... See also Croffut, An American Procession, 1855–1914: A Personal Memoir of Famous Men (Boston: Little, Brown, 1931), 56–64.
A shrewd politician, Abraham Lincoln recognized the power of the press.
Called the first modern war and our nation's greatest calmity, the nation's press conveyed news from the Civil War to the citizens of the South who looked to newspapers as their primary source of information.
Remarks by General Shalikashvili , Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff , to the Robert R. McCormick Tribune ... regional journalist struggled to understand the ethnic power politics , see Lindsey Hilsum , “ Where is Kigali ?
"After the War presents a panoramic view of social, political, and economic change in post-Civil War America by examining its journalism, from coverage of politics and Reconstruction to sensational reporting and images of the American ...