1.3. The rise of the newspaper industry

Task 1. Before reading the text, find answers to the following questions:

• What is a Linotype machine? How did it revolutionize the printing process?

• What yearly event was established by Joseph Pulitzer, a prominent journalist? Elaborate.

Task 2. Read the text and translate it in the written form.

The Rise of the Newspaper Industry

Growth of newspapers and magazines. In the period between 1870 and 1900, the number of daily newspapers in the country increased from 600 to nearly 2500. Their circulation multiplied by six times - a jump far greater than the growth in population. This huge expansion reflected gains in the reading ability of great segments of the population and a growing interest in the world beyond the local community. It also reflected a new trend in journalism.

Several important mechanical inventions made it possible to print newspapers as well as magazines and books in greater numbers and at lower costs. Most important of these inventions were the typewriter, improved printing presses, and the Linotype, a fast and efficient typesetting machine invented by Ottmar Mergenthaler in 1885.

Mass circulation was also stimulated by the rapidly developing art of advertising. Business­men were ready to advertise, but they insisted that newspapers and magazines in which they advertised have a mass circulation. The desire to secure advertising stimulated publishers to capture an ever-wider reading public. Thus the publishers used more and more “popular” articles written in a “catchy” style to attract the largest possible number of readers.

New leaders and new trends. Three of the outstanding leaders of the new trend in journal­ism were Charles A. Dana, Joseph Pulitzer, and William Randolph Hearst.

D

Charles Anderson Dana (1819-1897)

Joseph Pulitzer

(1847-1911)

ana, publisher of the New York Sun, dug up sensational news and gave it prominent space on the front pages of his paper. Pulitzer, publisher of the New York World, followed much the same technique. His paper appealed to the general reader because it contained human-interest stories and devoted considerable space to the scandalous activities of the rich and the tragedies of the poor. Pulitzer also developed the comic strip, the sports page, and the section with columnists, puzzles, and advice to the lovelorn.

Hearst, who was Pulitzer's chief rival, outdid Pulitzer at his own game. The son of a self-made California millionaire, Hearst bought the New York Journal 1895 and ran up its circulation beyond that of any other paper. Hearst denounced the irresponsibility and selfishness of some of the well-to-do and so appealed to the masses of people. But his special success rested on his ability to hire gifted feature writers, able sports reporters, and popular comic artists. His success also rested upon his ability to get the most sensational news before anyone else and to play it up for all it was worth - frequently for far more than it was worth. The use by both Hearst and Pulitzer of a comic strip in colour featuring a character named the "Yellow Kid" is said to have given the name of "yellow journalism" to exces­sive sensationalism in newspapers.