The Year That Defined American Journalism: 1897 and the Clash of Paradigms

by Campbell; W. Joseph

• ISBN13: 9780415977036
• ISBN10: 0415977037
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2006-06-26
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

The Year That Defined American Journalismexamines the 1897 conflict between the activist "yellow journalism" of William Randolph Hearst and its objective antithesis represented by the New York Times. No other year, arguably, has produced more memorable, singularly important, or defining moments in American journalism. This exceptional year brought the establishment of the White House Press Corps; the introduction of half-tone photographs to newspaper printing; the publication of American journalism's most famous editorial, "Is There A Santa Claus?"; and the inauguration of newspaper history's longest-running comic strip, the "Katzenjammer Kids." Moreover, the outcome of this conflict reshaped the profession and gave American journalism its modern contours. This work enriches not only our understanding of this decisive moment in journalism history, but also our understanding of how to do media history.

Author Biography

W. Joseph Campbell is an Associate Professor at American University's School of Communication

Table of Contents

About the Author	ix
Acknowledgments	xi
An 1897 Timeline: Pivotal Moments of a Decisive Year	xiii
Preface	xix
Introduction	1	(30)
The Clash of Paradigms	5	(4)
The Centrality of Newspapers	9	(3)
Parallels, Then and Now	12	(4)
Introducing the Year Study	16	(4)
The Merits of Year Studies	20	(3)
Death of the "Pope"	23	(8)
Chapter 1 1897: America at an Hour of Transition	31	(38)
"Something out of the Common"	36	(6)
New Journalism, New Woman	42	(18)
An Instrument of Social Control	60	(3)
Violence in Sport	63	(6)
Chapter 2 The Clash of Paradigms	69	(50)
"Wonderfully Able & Attractive"	75	(12)
New Year's Eve 1897	87	(8)
The Motto Contest	95	(8)
Why the Times Model Prevailed	103	(3)
Why the "Journalism of Action" Failed	106	(13)
Chapter 3 Exceptional Journalism in Journalism's Exceptional Year	119	(42)
A Hard-Luck Field	122	(8)
A Diffident Embrace	130	(3)
Incongruous Timing	133	(2)
On Assignment to Cuba	135	(8)
Scovel the Fearless	143	(7)
To the Klondike	150	(7)
Conclusion	157	(4)
Chapter 4 Not a Hoax: New Evidence in the New York Journal's Rescue of Evangelina Cisneros	161	(34)
No Evidence of Bribery	171	(2)
The Clandestine Accomplices	173	(8)
Barker: the "Fighting Consul"	181	(3)
Testing the Internal Evidence	184	(3)
From Hiding to the Seneca	187	(3)
Discussion and Conclusion	190	(2)
Epilogue	192	(3)
Conclusion: How 1897 Lives on	195	(6)
Notes	201	(90)
Selected Bibliography	291	(12)
Index	303