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The silhouette of a colonial American man overlayed on the front page of Publick Occurrences.

Why the Debut Issue of America’s First Newspaper Was Also the Publication’s Last

The paper angered colonial officials by repeating a scandalous rumor and condemning a British alliance with the Mohawk.
Illustration of Nancy and the first edition of the Emancipator.

He Published the First Abolitionist Newspaper in America. He Was Also an Enslaver.

When "The Emancipator" was first published in 1820, its original owner had to answer for why he owned Nancy and her five children.
The front page of a copy the Los Angeles Municipal Times.

Once Upon a Time, Los Angeles Voters Created Their Own Newspaper

The story of the Los Angeles Municipal News, and the hope — and limitations — of publicly owned newsrooms.
Folded newspapers sitting in a printing factory

The Times-Picayune's Historical Use of the N-Word

A survey of the New Orleans paper from 1837 to 1914 shows reporters and editors frequent used the racial slur to trivialize Black people in news and commentary.
A woman is seated at a desk, writing.

Wake Up and Smell the Coffee

Meet the feuding twin sisters who popularized the American advice column.
Marijuana leaves superimposed over photo of two men.

The Dank Underground

In the late Sixties, countercultural media was distributed by the Underground Press Syndicate and bankrolled by marijuana.
Sketch of a newspaper office with men holding stacks of papers.
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The Feud Between Immigrant Newspapers in Arkansas

A feud between two nineteenth-century German-language newspapers showed that immigrant communities embraced a diversity of interests and beliefs.
Ink prints of men fighting each other.
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After Attica, the McKay Report in the Prison Press

How was the famous prisoner uprising and its aftermath depicted in the prison press? The American Prison Newspapers collection on JSTOR has answers.
Employees of print shop

Who Owns the Narrative? Texas Law Enforcement Versus Tejano Journalists

At the turn of the century, Mexican American publications paid a price for challenging the local sheriff and elements of the Texas Rangers.
Lord Beaverbrook and Winston Churchill on the HMS Prince of Wales during the Atlantic Conference, Newfoundland, Canada, August 1941.

The Limits of Press Power

To what extent did newspapers influence public opinion in the US and Britain before and during World War II?
Photograph of Mrs. Frank Leslie

‘Mrs. Frank Leslie’ Ran a Media Empire and Bankrolled the Suffragist Movement

A new book tells the scandalous secrets of a forgotten 19th-century tycoon, Miriam Follin Peacock Squier Leslie Wilde, also known as Mrs. Frank Leslie.
A selection of newspaper covers from the Reveal Digital American Prison Newspapers collection
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Introducing American Prison Newspapers, 1800-2020: Voices from the Inside

This overlooked corner of the press provided news by and for people incarcerated. A newly available archive shows it worked hard to reach outside audiences too.
Newspaper and a black background and the words "Printing Hate"

Printing Hate

How white-owned newspapers incited racial terror in America.
Newspapers

Skewed View of Tulsa Race Massacre Started on Day 1 With 'The Story That Set Tulsa Ablaze'

A Tulsa Tribune newspaper story of an alleged assault attempt helped instigate the Tulsa Race Massacre, leaving hundreds dead along Black Wall Street.
A cover of the newspaper Muhammad Speaks
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Muhammad Speaks for Freedom, Justice, and Equality

The official newspaper of the Nation of Islam—published from 1960-1975—combined investigative journalism and Black Nationalist views on racial uplift.
An excerpt of a newspaper from the 19th century.

How US Newspapers Became Utterly Ubiquitous in the 1830s

Ken Ellingwood on the social and political function of political media.
Graphic illustration of a tilted white column with a pointed white top, resembling a race, against a red background. The words: "Media Monuments and Hooded Headlines" are printed within the triangular top.

American Journalism’s Role in Promoting Racist Terror

History must be acknowledged before justice can be done.
A newsboy holding a bag of papers.

Popular Journalism’s Day in ‘The Sun’

The penny press of the nineteenth century was a revolution in newspapers—and is a salutary reminder of lost ties between reporters and readers.
A woman videochats on her phone
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During Epidemics, Media (And Now Social Media) Have Always Helped People to Connect

In a devastating 1793 epidemic people transformed their newspaper into something like today’s social media.

The 1619 Project and the Work of the Historian

Sean Wilentz wrote a piece opposing the New York Times Magazine's 1619 Project, but his use of Revolutionary-era newspapers as sources is flawed.
Dutch paintings of man writing letter and woman reading letter.

How Personal Letters Built the Possibility of a Modern Public

The first newspapers contained not high-minded journalism, but hundreds of readers’ letters exchanging news with one another.

Maligned in Black and White

Southern newspapers played a major role in racial violence. Do they owe their communities an apology?

100 Years Later, Dearborn Confronts the Hate of Hometown Hero Henry Ford

Dearborn, proud home of Henry Ford, has addressed the auto pioneer's anti-Semitism in the 1920s, which flourishes today on extremist websites.

How Small-Town Newspapers Ignored Local Lynchings

Sherilynn A. Ifill on justice (and its absence) in the 1930s.

Lonesome on the Lower East Side

The story of the Bintel Brief, an early twentieth-century advice column for Jewish immigrants.
A stone marker for a post road, slightly chipped, reading "Boston 8 miles 1734 A.I."

"To Undertake a News-Paper in This Town"

How printers in the 1770s assembled the news for their papers, how they used the postal system, and how they may have approached Twitter.
Roy Takeno, editor, and group reading paper in front of office, Manzanar Relocation Center, California

Behind Barbed Wire

Japanese-American internment camp newspapers.

The Rise of the Image: Every NY Times Front Page Since 1852 in Under a Minute

Every single New York Times front page since 1852 in under a minute. Hint: Pay attention to the images!

The Original Attack Dog

James Callender spread scurrilous rumors about Alexander Hamilton and John Adams. Then he turned on Thomas Jefferson, too.

Here's How Memes Went Viral - In the 1800s

The Infectious Texts project is the compilation of 41,829 issues of 132 newspapers from the Library of Congress.

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