The Press of the Young Republic, 1783-1833

(Hardback)

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Description

The second book in a six-volume series on the history of American journalism, this work focuses on the 50 years following the end of the Revolution, during which the American press grew and expanded. Newspapers played an important political role as the press became involved in the partisanship that characterized most of this period. As political parties grew in the United States, newspapers became an essential part of the communication network for the dissemination of the ideology of the parties. In this volume, Humphrey presents the changing role of the press in American society - from a vehicle through which to convert people to a particular point of view, to a provider of news and information.

Reviews

Humphrey provides an overview of how newspapers perceived public issues and evolved as an industry. She divides the five decades into nine distinct eras, with an added chapter on how technological changes caused newspapers to expand circulation and improve news reporting....one highlight is the suggestion that most printers believed the First Amendment usually protected against prior governmental restraints to publish. The author finds that few printers interpreted the First Amendment as a broad protection for freedom of expression. Exceptionally well written with complete annotation; recommended for undergraduate, general, and professional journalism history collections.-Choice
"Humphrey provides an overview of how newspapers perceived public issues and evolved as an industry. She divides the five decades into nine distinct eras, with an added chapter on how technological changes caused newspapers to expand circulation and improve news reporting....one highlight is the suggestion that most printers believed the First Amendment usually protected against prior governmental restraints to publish. The author finds that few printers interpreted the First Amendment as a broad protection for freedom of expression. Exceptionally well written with complete annotation; recommended for undergraduate, general, and professional journalism history collections."-Choice

Author Bio

CAROL SUE HUMPHREY is Associate Professor of History at Oklahoma Baptist University. She is the author of This Popular Engine: New England Newspapers During the American Revolution, 1775-1789 (1992).