During the 19th century, newspapers were how people got their news. The primary medium was present in cities in town, usually with a few per. They were almost always partisan with no pretense of objectivity. News was objectively rendered, and each side was given "the (partisan truth."
The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw two changes in the news industry---the emergence of independent newspapers, and the birth of the tabloid. Technology was always a positive thing.
Journalism was (and still is) a craft. News should be presented objectively (like The New York Times). Thus, independent papers picked up some popularity.
As far as tabloids go, the content was much more distinct, and the focus was geared towards crime, sex, commercial matters, celebrities, and entertainment rather than politics. Americans at the time didn't care much about politics, and hated politicians (wait, not much has changed, then). However, there was a desire to hear more about the sensational and less about the factual.
Introducing Henry Luce.
He played a major role in the first half of the 20th century shaping the newspaper industry. Luce was educated at Yale, and he and Briton Hadden were key figures in Yale's college newspaper. After working at New York World and Chicago Daily News, respectively, the two wanted to make a weekly paper to synthesize information that would be above tabloids. It was catered for "busy" people of the middle and affluent classes.
In 1923, Time magazine was launched. The iconic weekly news magazine was aimed at college-aged Americans and proved itself as an entertaining read. The goal of the magazine was that it could be read in one hour. According to Luce, before Time, people had to think too hard as they read. The lively, analytical and opinionated magazine created a narrative for readers. One line, for example read, "The sixth Pan-American Conference last week accomplished absolutely nothing." Finally, news had a voice.
In 1929, Hadden died, leaving Luce the editor-in-chief of Time. In 1930, circulation was up to 300,000. By 1940, it was one million. Time supported middle-class concerns of having adequate information.
In 1923, Time magazine was launched. The iconic weekly news magazine was aimed at college-aged Americans and proved itself as an entertaining read. The goal of the magazine was that it could be read in one hour. According to Luce, before Time, people had to think too hard as they read. The lively, analytical and opinionated magazine created a narrative for readers. One line, for example read, "The sixth Pan-American Conference last week accomplished absolutely nothing." Finally, news had a voice.
In 1929, Hadden died, leaving Luce the editor-in-chief of Time. In 1930, circulation was up to 300,000. By 1940, it was one million. Time supported middle-class concerns of having adequate information.
Time magazine increasingly communicated its sense of the people, especially because it was writing about personalities. This was different than the 19th century. Soon, personality journalism evolved.
For example, Time wrote a piece on Nietzsche, describing him as "a pale, chubby hermit who sat in a cheap Swiss boarding house, demanding the bread of supermen."
Facts were organized as part of a narrative, and details were given about individuals and their stories, like Stalin liking vodka, or Chrysler being a motor-maker. Writers and readers alike loved the terms tycoon, and socialite. However, American intellects felt that Time trivialized certain issues.
Interestingly, Time magazine did not have any reporters covering news on the scene. Many of the stories were written by reading daily newspapers. Writers assembled stories into narratives, but they assumed an eyewitness quality of secondhand news.
For example, when recounting Calvin Coolidge's funeral, Time wrote, "The night snow fell, blotting out all traces of the new grave."
As of 1928, every year, Time magazine designated a "Man of the Year " (later person). They were almost always the best-selling issues.
In the early 1930s, Luce launched news broadcasts on radio. 1934 saw the premiere of a newsreel called "The March of Time," which was the first time moviegoers saw the news appear in movie theaters. 20 minute dramatic reenactments of what was going on around the world would be filmed for the reels. By the end of the 1930s, 20 million Americans were watching newsreels at least once a month.
Fortune magazine launched in 1930, as it celebrated tycoons of industries and entrepreneurs. The featured articles tackled serious issues, and left-wing writers got a glimpse of the dark side of capitalism.
Life magazine was first published in 1936, with over two million copies circulating every week. It didn't always have newsworthy stories, sometimes there would be special interest/personality stories.
One important thing Luce realized in his work was that you can do very well if you aim for a target audience over the masses, like how Fortune did, or when he launched Sports Illustrated in 1954. With this market segmentation, you can get higher ad revenue if the magazine knows the readers are likely purchasers of what you're selling. This was a brilliant advertising move, and is still something heavily incorporated in magazines today.
Ad revenue was highly substantial, and niche magazines work for readers, as ads tailor to them.
In the past fifteen years, the communications field is changing more rapidly than ever before. Luce's efforts in the news field helped expand the general audience, create new audiences, and invent mass-produced magazines that appealed to special-focuses.
He contributed to the way in which the news is prepared and disseminated. Between personality journalism, niche market audiences, and narratives, Luce pushed the news industry into what it is today. These writing styles are still used today, and journalism still grows, thanks to Luce.
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