Marvin N. Olasky - Central Ideas in the Development of American Journalism: A Narrative History

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Routledge Library Editions: Journalism

Volume 11

CENTRAL IDEAS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF AMERICAN JOURNALISM

Central Ideas in the Development of American Journalism

A Narrative History

Marvin Olasky

First published in 1991

This edition first published in 2016

by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

1991 Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Trademark notice : Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-138-80197-4 (Set)
ISBN: 978-1-315-68235-8 (Set) (ebk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-92132-0 (Volume 11) (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-68250-1 (Volume 11) (ebk)

Publisher's Note
The publisher has gone to great lengths to ensure the quality of this reprint but points out that some imperfections in the original copies may be apparent.

Disclaimer
The publisher has made every effort to trace copyright holders and would welcome correspondence from those they have been unable to trace.

Central Ideas in the Development of American Journalism:

A Narrative History

Marvin Olasky

Copyright 1991, by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of the book may be reproduced in any form, by photostat, microform, retrieval system, or any other means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., Publishers

365 Broadway

Hillsdale, New Jersey 07642

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Olasky, Marvin N.

Central ideas in the development of American journalism: a narrative history / Marvin Olasky.

p. cm.

Includes index.

ISBN 0-8058-0893-0

1. Journalism-United States-History. I. Title.

PN4801.04 1991

071',3dc20
90-40153
CIP

Printed in the United States of Ameica
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

For Peter, David, Daniel, and one to come

Contents

Acknowledgments

This book arose out of 5 years of teaching journalism history at The University of Texas. In lectures I presented both the conventional interpretations and my own, slowly developing contrarian analysis; students who asked hard questions suggested that a wider audience might find my research useful. I thank them for their quiet pressure.

Librarians at The University of Texas, the Library of Congress, and the Newberry Library helped me to find out-of-the-way material, and a grant from the Sarah Scaife Foundation provided additional writing time. The material in Appendix B previously appeared in American Journalism. I also thank Jennings Bryant, Robin Marks Weisberg, and others associated with Lawrence Erlbaum; this book shows for a third time their admirable tolerance for decidedly nontrendy ideas.

My children are aspiring journalists who certainly inspired me: Peter (editor of the Austin Animal-Statesman ) , David (editor of an ancient Greek newspaper, The Ithaca Times ) , and Daniel (a crackerjack cub reporter and Civil War general) continued to provide joy and deep satisfaction. My wife Susan is an excellent journalist in her own right; she has a wise head, a gracious heart, and a loveliness that goes beyond narrative. I would not be able to put in a long day of writing if I could not look forward to a family dinner at its close.

Portions of this book appeared as articles in American Journalism, Antithesis, and Academic Questions, and as columns in the Houston Post, the Rocky Mountain News, and the Indianapolis Star. My thanks to their editors.

"Public opinion on any subject," Abraham Lincoln once said, "always has a 'central idea' from which all its minor thoughts radiate." This book applies Lincoln's statement not to American public opinion generally but to journalism specifically (which is often at the base of public opinion). Writers and editors have espoused so many different philosophies over the years that American journalism history might seem to be a crazy-quilt, but the thesis of this book is that a broad look at the whole pattern shows three central ideas achieving dominance, sequentially.

The first of these central ideas in journalism-I call them macrostories because they overarch the daily bits and pieces of journalistic coverage-could be called the official story. Dominant until the 18th century in most of Europe and America, this macrostory was built on the belief that power knows best, and that editors should merely print whatever the king or governor demands. Published news was what state authorities (and, sometimes, their allies in established churches) wanted people to know.

The press continued to be dominated by the official story until growing numbers of journalists, heavily influenced by the ideas of the Protestant Reformation, began to emphasize the corruption story. This macrostory, rather than serving as public relations for the state, emphasized the universality of human failings and the tendency for individuals in positions of power to abuse their authority and then attempt to cover up wrongdoing. Journalists from the 17th through 19th centuries who embraced the corruption story invented much of what we associate with modem journalism at its best: A sense of purpose, a willingness to oppose arrogant rulers, and a stress on accuracy and specific detail.

Mid- and late-19th-century editors such as Horace Greeley and Joseph Pulitzer achieved their prominence and influence on the foundations laid down by corruption story journalists. However, they and others scorned the theology on which that macrostory was based; instead of seeing sinful man and demanding personal change, they believed that man is naturally good but is enslaved by oppressive social systems. In this third of journalism's central ideas, the oppression story, problems arise not from personal corruption but from external influences, and the role of journalists is to put a spotlight on those influences. The hope is that if man's environment is changed, man himself changes, and poverty, war, and so on, are no more.

This change affected not only story content but reporters' methods. Corruption story journalists tended to have limited personal agendas because they emphasized personal transformation rather than social revolution. Oppression story journalists, who came to dominate the most influential publications early in the 20th century, believed their own work could be the breakthrough to a better world. As the great ends of oppression story journalism-peace, justice, freedom-began to seem attainable, means began to be negotiable.

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