How the Sun Conned the World With “The Great Moon Hoax”
The birth of the penny press, the first mass media, was very much mixed up with fake news, including the Great Moon Hoax of 1835.
Why William Randolph Hearst Hated Citizen Kane
Most Americans know about William Randolph Hearst through his fictional alter-ego, the protagonist of the film Citizen Kane. Was it an accurate portrait?
Nineteenth-Century Clickbait
Online publications that offer clickbait and easy entertainment mirror some of the most popular nineteenth century British magazines.
The Bloody History of the True Crime Genre
True Crime is having a renaissance with popular TV series and podcasts. But the history of the genre dates back much further.
How Hulk Hogan v. Gawker May Change the Face of Journalism
The recent Gawker vs. Hogan spat is the latest in the long history of journalism, free speech, gossip, and the law.
Pulp Nonfiction: The Unlikely Origin of American Mass Media
How wood pulp paper created the American mass media.
The Internet Didn’t Doom the Daily New Orleans Times-Picayune; Katrina Did
The Times-Picayune had no choice after Katrina but to publish primarily online.
Anonymity and Public Debate—in the 1800s
But 150 years ago in Great Britain, the question of what role anonymity should play in public discourse looked completely different than today.
Privacy, Journalism, and the Gilded Age
The interview is now such a standard part of journalism that it may come as a surprise to read that the New York Times editorialized against it in 1874.
