1. Famous Events in
Journalism
By Anna Shorina
Chuvash State University

2. The beginning
As in ever event, there is always a first for
each. Whether this first moment is etched
in stone or widely believed to have
occurred through historical research is the
difference in placing actual dates on the
occasion or speculate about a period of
time. Journalism is no different.

3. The very first organized form of
journalism can be dated back to
prehistoric times when transmitting
news was performed through the
word of mouth system. Ancient
monarchical governments were able
to develop a more reliable system of
written reports.

4. The Roman
Empire from Julius
Caesar and beyond
recorded and distributed a
daily report of political
news and acts of the
Roman colonies. Ancient
Egypt was another empire
that practiced this type of
journalism.

5. When we start counting
by specific years, 1456 can
be the first significant date
in journalism history.
Johannes Gutenberg
invented the first movable
type printing press which
led way to the wide
distribution of the Bible
and other books.

6. The invention of journalism
Journalism as we know
it today is relatively
young. It started in
Europe in XVII century
and came to Russia one
century later.

7. Jean Chalaby (1996) argues that
journalism is an Anglo-American
invention.

8. In ‘Journalism as an Anglo-American
invention: A comparison of the development
of French and Anglo-American journalism
1830s-1920s’, he develops this argument
through a comparison of French and Anglo-
American journalism.

9. People
Chalaby’s work is aligned to that
of journalism scholars such as
Schudson (2001), who interrogated
the core journalistic concept of
objectivity.
Michael Schudson-
(born November 3,1946) is
an American academic sociologist
working in the fields
of journalism and its history, and
public culture.

10. The Mercurius
Gallobelgicus
appeared as the
world's first
periodical in
1592.

11. It was issued in Latin semi-annually
and generally distributed at book
fairs. While the periodical provide
information to the reader, the
publishing dates gave more an
impression of reviewing recent
history than reading the latest news.

12. First regular newspaper
But in 1665 this all
changed. The Oxford
Gazette became
known as the first
regularly published
newspaper.

14. Incidentally, some contribute the invention of
the newspaper to the English court's way of
communicating to London what was
occurring. London, at the time, was suffering
the affects of the plague and the English court
transferred to Oxford to avoid falling victim.
When the plague went away and the English
court returned to Oxford, the Gazette survived
the move and set up publishing in London.

15. An earlier newsbook, The Continuation of
Our Weekly News, had previously been
published in London on a regular basis since
1623.

16. The first printer in the U.S.
In the U.S., the printing was regulated by the
Press Restriction Act. This act made it
mandatory for the printer's name and place of
publication to be included on each printed
document. In 1638, Stephen Day became the
first printer in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

17. “Publick occurrences”
The first gossip newspaper, Benjamin Harris's
Publick Occurrences both Foreign and
Domestick was published in 1690 and was
closed down after one issue.

19. Unwanted story
Apart from not being licensed, the
newspaper published an unfavourable story of
the French King having an affair with his son's
wife. Censorship had arrived to the U.S.
shores.

20. In 1721, the birth
of James Franklin's
New England
Courant occurred.
Most experts
consider this to be
the first real
colonial newspaper.

21. Not-so-serious newspaper
As was the case of most early newspapers, the New
England Courant was more of a hobby than a full-time
newspaper and the news was usually biased on the
political beliefs of Franklin.

22. Unfortunately for
Franklin, his political
beliefs were on the
opposite side of the
ones in power.
While Franklin
eventually had to
give up publishing
his newspaper.

23. His younger brother Ben learned from the
experience he shared with his older brother and, in
1729, Ben Franklin moved to Philadelphia where he
took over the Pennsylvania Gazette.

24. By 1750, weekly newspapers had grown to 14
in the six largest colonies. Some were even
turning over a profit for their owners.

25. In the history of the U.S. journalism, 1835
marked the beginning of New York Herald
under James Gordon Bennett.

26. Getting steady
This newspaper introduced the world to the
modern concept of the newspaper. The New
York Herald was a capitalist institution free of
government or political party control. Within
fifteen months, the circulation grew to 40,000.

27. The New York Tribune
The New York Tribune began print in 1841
and was known as the first newspaper to carry
national influence with it. By the eve of the
Civil War, the Tribune was getting demands for
thousands of copies from any parts of the U.S.
The New York Times was founded in 1851 and
represented the principle of balanced
reportage with high-level writing.

28. The New York Tribune

29. In 1848, the wire service originated with six
large New York newspapers working together to
provide coverage of Europe. This eventually
evolved into what is known today as the
Associated Press and ten years later the first-ever
cable transmission of European news through the
transatlantic cable was received.

30. First radio broadcast
While the nineteenth century witness
newspapers growing across the U.S., the next
significant events didn't occur until 1901 when
Gugliemo Marconi and his colleagues were
successful in sending the first wireless signal
across the ocean. Broadcast news was on the
brink of existence. In 1912, it arrived with the
first radio broadcast in Los Angeles.

31. In 1920, the first radio
station, KDKA in
Pittsburgh brought in
broadcasts of election and
sports results. In the
1930s, Franklin Delano
Roosevelt took full
advantage of the new
technology of radio
broadcasting to comfort a
weary nation through the
Great Depression with a
series of fireside chats
that were broadcasted
nationally on the
developing radio

32. Where as the Civil War
brought the need to
inaugurate high-speed
transmission from remote
areas through the
telegraph; World War II
provided the foundation of
the need to demonstrate
the value of radio. Leaders
such as Winston Churchill
and Roosevelt used radio
broadcasting as a tool to
install hope and faith in
their fellow countrymen
during the trying
times. Edward Murrow of
CBS became the father of
the reporter in the war
zone.

33. Recovering newsprint
The growth of the radio, followed by the
introduction of mainstream journalism into
television saw the decline of the newspaper. It
wasn't until Al Neauharth founded the USA
Today in the 1980s as a national "hometown"
newspaper did journalism in print recover
some of its prestige and following.

34. 1997 saw journalism
moving into a new
frontier. Internet
journalism got a much
needed boost when the
Dallas Morning News
broke the story about
Timothy McVeigh
confessing to the
Oklahoma City
bombing on their web
site.

35. Journalism has grown through many different
forms and measures. It has fought against
censorship as well as it has been used as a
tool of manipulation by government leaders.
Still, there are many boundaries to explore
and the journalists of tomorrow will be the
ones leading the path. The history of
journalism is ongoing and forever changing. As
long as there are journalists willing to keep the
desire to inform alive, journalism will continue
to adapt to the technologies of tomorrow.

36. The End