A History of American Journalism

Why is Journalism Important?

According to journalists Tom Rosentiel and Bill Kovach, “The primary purpose of journalism is to provide citizens with the information they need to be free and self-governing.” 

This is true.

Smart, fair, independent journalism is essential for a democracy to function well.  By reporting what government, businesses and other powerful institutions do, journalists give citizens information they need to decide everything from which school to attend to whom they should vote for.

Learning about journalism is more than just building important skills like researching, writing, interviewing and thinking critically. It is learning about our community and ourselves. When a journalist's work is published, their voices are heard by the whole community.

Upon completion of this web quest, the student will be able to interpret definitions of journalism, editors, communication and mass media by gathering information from a variety of reliable databases.

Using teacher-provided handout and a writing utensil, the student will seeking answers to the questions provided through use of provided sites.

Using the catalog of websites below as well as your lecture notes from class to supply answers to questions on the evaluation.

http://www.americaslibrary.gov/jb/recon/jb_recon_phongrph_1.html

http://www.wallacefoundation.org/about-wallace/Pages/History.aspx

http://www.history.com/topics/inventions/guglielmo-marconi

http://www.biography.com/people/samuel-morse

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/dagu/hd_dagu.htm

http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/John_Campbell.aspx

http://www.librarycompany.org/BFWriter/writer.htm

http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0312.html

http://www.biography.com/people/nellie-bly-9216680

http://xroads.virginia.edu/~1930s/PRINT/comic/annie/annie.html

http://comicskingdom.com/blondie

http://shsmo.org/historicmissourians/name/c/clemens/

http://www.biography.com/people/barbara-walters-9523127

http://www.ap.org/company/FAQs

http://about.upi.com/

https://web.stanford.edu/group/ic/cgi-bin/drupal/book/export/html/169

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Benjamin-Henry-Day

http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h150.html

http://www.biography.com/people/bill-nye-39247

http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Edwin_Lawrence_Godkin.aspx

https://www.nwhm.org/education-resources/biography/biographies/mary-katherine-goddard/

http://www.biography.com/people/joseph-pulitzer-9448470

http://www.biography.com/people/katharine-graham-9317709

http://www.biography.com/people/william-randolph-hearst-9332973

https://www.britannica.com/biography/William-Rockhill-Nelson

http://www.biography.com/people/henry-r-luce-38240

http://www.ushistory.org/us/7c.asp

https://www.britannica.com/biography/David-Sarnoff

http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/VDT-video-display-terminal-visual-display-terminal

https://webcomicoverlook.com/2011/03/03/know-thy-history-lil-abner/

http://www.nndb.com/people/297/000205679/

http://www.biography.com/people/web-du-bois-9279924

http://comicskingdom.com/katzenjammer-kids

http://www.biography.com/people/amelia-bloomer-9216245

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Arthur-Brisbane

http://www.biography.com/people/frederick-douglass-9278324

Complete the "A Brief History of American Journalism" handouts by using the research links provided and your class notes.

On the back of your handout, create a well-developed paragraph that answers the following questions:

After researching a number of the people and events in history of American journalism, whom do you feel had the most significant impact?  Explain why you feel this person is the most noteworthy and how you feel journalism would have differed without him/her.