COMMUNICATION IN HISTORY: THE KEY TO UNDERSTANDING
"Sensationalism always sold well. By the early 19th century, modern newspapers came on the scene, touting scoops and exposés, but also fake stories to increase circulation." - Jacob Soll, The Long and Brutal History of Fake News
Thesis
Journalism in the early 20th century revolutionized how industries would communicate information to the general public, especially due to the beginning of tabloid journalism in the 1920s. At the time, they no longer had the primary goal to report the news to people, but the goal to compete with other industries for which one can generate the best eye-catching and sensationalist newspaper article by just a well-designed headline, even if it meant diving into people's personal lives. This practice would evolve into what we know today as supermarket tabloids, the most notably popular being the National Equirer, due to its grand success in the magazine sections of supermarkets.
N.Y. : Published by Keppler & Schwarzmann, Puck Building, 1910 September 7. N.Y. : Published by Keppler & Schwarzmann, 1894 March 7. N.Y. : Published by Keppler & Schwarzmann, 1897 March 17.
Where does the word tabloid come from?
The term was originally coined by Burroughs, Wellcome & Company to refer to a compressed tablet of medicine in 1884. From there, the term tabloid would be used to describe the compressed version of an object. When specifically applied to journalism, according to the 1989 edition of the Oxford English Dictionary, “A popular newspaper which presents its news and features in a concentrated, easily assimilable, and often sensational form, especially one with smaller pages than those of a regular newspaper.”
Isabella Minano Individual Website Senior Division Website Word Count: 1200 Process Paper Word Count: 438
