American newspapers. The American newspaper The Times. American newspapers and magazines

The American nation is relatively young. It was formed at the end of the eighteenth century, and the press played a big role in this process. The price policy of the periodicals was intentionally understated, as a result of which American newspapers cost only a cent or two. Thus, the press ceased to be the property of the upper classes of society and became public. Editions skillfully used this. They not only carried new information, but also created this or that point of view, in fact, manipulating the public consciousness. As a result, the United States press was the first in the world to become the so-called "fourth power".

History

Some American newspapers are almost older than the US state itself. Thus, the "New Hampshire Gazette" was founded in 1756, "Harford Courant" - in 1764, and "Augusta Chronicle" - in 1785. There are also old-timers among the most popular publications. For example, the "New York Post" - one of the largest newspapers, whose circulation is about six hundred twenty-five thousand copies, was founded in 1801. A good deal contributed to the popularization of periodicals in the country skillful pricing policy. In 1850, the total circulation of all daily editions was two and a half million copies, and weekly - four times more - ten million. True, at that time journalistic skill developed mainly in New York, while other newspapers limited themselves to simple reprinting of articles supplemented Local news. Of the monsters of the second half of the nineteenth century, it is worth mentioning the "Herald": this newspaper in 1860 significantly outscored the famous London Times in terms of circulation! And it is the States that own the honor of the birth of such genres as the "Yellow Press" and the journalistic investigation.

Transformation into the fourth power

Due to a reprint in local media, the popular American newspapers of New York had even more readers than their circulation. The distribution of their printed products also increased. For example, the editors of the New York Tribune asserted that they were read by about a million people, although the edition circulation was a little over three hundred thousand copies. According to the Herald, some newspapers owned revenues higher than the state budget. Therefore, their editorial offices were not available for manipulation by politicians. They themselves influenced them. Publications could lead to a victory in the election of a particular party or turn a public figure into a political corpse. "Herald" called the process of turning the media into one of the branches of power in the country (the fourth, after legislative, executive and judicial) intellectual progress.

New journalism: the yellow press

This genre could only originate in the States and nowhere else. "The American Dream", according to which a simple shoemaker could become a millionaire, aroused the interest of a huge mass of the population in the private life of the elite. The articles did not just carry information, even if they were operational, they were focused on awakening strong emotions (although in fact, the reason was not worth it). Originally this genre was called "human-interest stories" (that is, stories telling about people and their weaknesses). The articles covered criminal news, scandals in high society and sex. The pioneers of this genre were J. Pulitzer, who at that time (eighties of the nineteenth century) headed New York World, and W. Hurst of The New York Journal. The site for scandalous articles became such American newspapers of the Big Apple as The New York Tribune, "The Herald" and "The New York Sun" (Sunday appendix to The Times).

Journalistic investigations

Figures scandalous, carefully hidden from the general public of the discovery called these reporters "Mud shovels." Journalists who conducted independent investigations had, like the paparazzi for the yellow press, had to penetrate the fences of private villas and connect real spy equipment for their activities. But a dangerous occupation was worth it: the public paid for the result of the investigation with a burning interest, and consequently with money. However, historians are also grateful to such reporters. As part of the journalistic investigation, the Watergate case "got out". This brought unfading laurels to the reporter Carl Benstein. In our time, the relay took over Michael Moore, who conducted his own investigation and released a film report "Fahrenheit 9/11". Also in this genre of new journalism showed themselves Bob Woodworth and Thomas Wolfe. American newspapers that published the results of such investigations positioned themselves as publications designed for an advanced (at that time they said "elitist") readers: "The New Yorker", "Esquire", "The Atlantic Mannley" and the like.

Censorship in the USA

Of course, political scandals are not needed by the powers that be. And in the US, as in other countries, companies, corporations, parties and individual politicians tried to obstruct the work of journalists. American newspapers and magazines received lawsuits on charges of politically incorrect or libelous. But the main enemy of the press is the Pentagon. The well-known organization "Reporters Without Borders" in two thousand and third year accused the military department of obstructing the coverage of events in Iraq. Former CNN employee Christine Borgesson said that the Pentagon is trying to control all information relating to the military. But nevertheless, the level of freedom of speech and protection of journalists in the US is much higher than in other countries, and even more so in Russia.

The American press and the global economic crisis

But not everything is so good. What the censorship could not do was the global crisis. Of course, many agencies began to publish news in a virtual format, but nevertheless the state of the periodical industry is now not in the best shape. At the beginning of 2008, there were about 1,500 daily newspapers and more than six thousand weekly newspapers in the country. And only in the next twelve months 16,000 journalists were dismissed, 388 magazines and 120 newspapers were closed. Rocky Mountain News, which went out continuously for one hundred and fifty years, ceased to exist. Announced the bankruptcy owning The Times media company Tribune Company. A specialized American newspaper in English "The Christian Science Monitor" stopped coming out on paper, turning into an Internet resource. It is clear that in such circumstances publishing houses find it difficult to maintain editorial independence.

American newspapers in Russian

In the United States live a lot of different nationalities, so in the newspaper industry of the country the ethnic press is not the last place. Natives of the republics of the former Soviet Union have the opportunity to learn the latest news in Russian. This, of course, is not a diary. Most Russian-language publications are published only once a month or a week. Among the most famous in the Soviet diaspora are the "Russian House" (published in Atlanta), the New York "New World" and "The Dallas Telegraph". Unfortunately, American newspapers in Russian are not included in the top-ten of the most popular publications. This is due to the shortage of professional journalists and editors. But the growth of the Russian-speaking diaspora leaves hope that the situation will change for the better.

Most popular editions of the USA

If you judge the popularity of the volume of circulations, then in the first place is USA Today ("USA Today"). Among business people, the leader is the publication of The Wall Street Journal (it is so named in honor of the New York street of Walt Street, where there is a stormy brokerage and banking activity). Other well-known American newspapers are mostly based in major cities, state capitals. These are the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Washington Post, Denver Post, Dallas Morning News, Houston Chronicle, Philadelphia Inquirer. By tradition, the uncrowned capital of the newspaper industry remains New York. There are such "bison" with giant print runs, like the New York Daily News and the New York Post.

The American newspaper The New York Times

One of the oldest newspapers in the UK is The Times ("Time"). It has been going on without interruption since 1785. Now this edition belongs to media holding Rupert Murdoch News Corporation. On Sundays, the "The Sunday Times" is released. To win their popularity right at the start, many newspapers borrowed this sonorous name. The American newspaper The Times was established on September 18, 1851. From that day it leaves without a break. It was established as a regional publication, and therefore the official title of it sounds The New York Times (New York Times). In the rating of popularity among the American press, the newspaper takes an honorable third place (after USA Today and The Wall Street Journal). Her journalists received one hundred and twelve Pulitzer Prizes, and her website is visited by thirty million readers every month. With the advent of the Internet version of the slogan of the newspaper has changed. Earlier it sounded like "We have all the news that can only be printed." Now the motto is a little different. It reads: "We have all the news you can just click on." It should be clarified that under the title of "The Times" in America is a weekly news magazine. Its headquarters are also located in New York. It was founded in 1923 and since then has won first place in the popularity rating among American magazines. His circulation in 2007 was three and a half million copies.