The Penny The Penny PressPress

The Penny The Penny PressPress

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In the 1820’s, a new kind of printing press was invented that ran on steam.

Because of this press, 1,000 newspapers could be printed in an hour.

Before this press, about 200 newspapers were printed per day.

The cost of a newspaper dropped to a penny.

Previously, a newspaper had cost a nickel.

Now, everyone – rich or poor – could afford to buy a newspaper.

Instead of being sold by mail, these newspapers

were sold on the street by boys known as Newsies.

Suddenly, newspapers were everywhere.

There were three times as many newspapers

published as before.

These penny newspapers wanted to attract as many readers as possible, so they began using sensationalism in their stories.

Sensationalism is using emotional or attention-getting stories to make someone want to buy the newspaper.

There were several Penny Press newspapers worth

remembering.

Benjamin Day & The New York Sun in 1833

• “It Shines For ALL,” was the paper’s motto• The Sun was four pages of sensational local

news and lots of violent police reports• Example headline: “Man Buried Alive”• Day hired a good police reporter who wrote

crime story after crime story with lots of gory details

• The newspaper was totally supported through ad revenue (first newspaper to do so)

• The most famous story ever published by the Sun was the Great Moon Hoax of 1835.

• A series of stories appeared in the Sun, written by a British astronomer. These stories said a new type of telescope had been used to see life on the Moon.

• According the stories, the Moon was inhabited by goats, cranes, pelicans and furry, winged men resembling bats.

• Within four days, the Sun had the largest circulation of any newspaper in the world.

• The Moon story was so believable that a missionary society in Massachusetts volunteered to convert and civilize the bat men.

• The final story described the Temple of the Moon, constructed of sapphire with a roof made of gold.

The last story ended by saying that unfortunately, the Sun’s rays had burned a hole through the lenses of the telescope, meaning there was no more information to be run.

Readers were frantic to find out more.

Soon it was revealed that the entire story had been a hoax.

James Gordon Bennett and the New York Herald

in 1835• When Bennett first started the

Herald, his entire staff consisted of himself.

• Bennett used more tricks to get readers than any other newspaper at the time.

• When it came to crime reporting, the Herald knew no equal.

•One whole front page was devoted to a local murder trial.

•There was so much information from the trial and so much interest in the case stirred up that the trial had to be postponed, due to the publicity in the Herald.

•Bennett set up newspaper correspondents in several U.S. cities and ran business news, an editorial page, play and book reviews, society news and sports news. All of this was very unusual at the time.

•He even bought a fleet of boats to meet incoming ships before they entered New York harbors. In this way, he got any news from the ships first, before any other newspaper.

Horace Greeley started the New York Tribune in 1835

• It may have cost a penny, but that was the only way the Tribune was similar to other penny papers.

• Greeley himself was a plain, shy man who worked to bring benefits to the common people through his newspaper.

• He wanted to produce a better world and a better press with it.

• Greeley refused to run police reports, advertisements or theater news.

• Instead, he used serious discussion and complete news coverage, all without sensationalism.

• He nominated Abraham Lincoln for president in 1860.

• The wrongs of slavery• Improving conditions of the poor• The slums of New York City• The wrongs of capital punishment• The evils of alcohol and smoking

Some of the causes Greeley wrote about:

He wrote about the West.

• Greeley advocated westward expansion of the United States.

• You have probably heard one of his phrases:

“Go west, young man; go west!”

• All kinds of people read the Tribune because of Greeley.

• The public could tell how sincere and honest he was toward them. He was highly respected, even if readers didn’t always agree with him.

• Greeley changed the penny press from sensational to a paper that made people think.

The last influential paper of the penny press was the

New York Times, begun in 1851.

The Times has always been known for its “good

manners.”• It ran foreign and local news• It had six wide columns on the

front page• All stories were well written

without any sensationalism

The Times is still with us

• After 152 years, the New York Times has the highest circulation rate in America.

• It is one of the most respected newspapers in the country and around the world today.