Week 7 - History of news through late 20th c

Question 1

Describe newspapers in the early 19th century

Answer 1

Weren’t objective and were openly partisan

Question 2

Patronage

Answer 2

when political parties distribute resources to its supporters in exchange for their support

parties were less about ideology and more about patronage

Question 3

Two ways newspapers were part of patronage

Answer 3

1. Cash subsidies
2. Indirect patronage model

Question 4

Cash Subsidies

Answer 4

parties would pay papers to run particular stories

Question 5

Indirect patronage model

Answer 5

government printing contracts were given to newspapers when a poltiical party came into office
*because government needs a lot of forms so good for printing businesses
*with this it was expected that the printing company created a newspaper that favored that administration

Question 6

What caused the patronage system to break down?

Answer 6

1. Invention of drum base printing
2. Advertising
3. Newspaper consolidation

Question 7

Drum base printing

Answer 7

-replaced stamp style printing
-had higher fixed cost but low marginal costs
-meant that printers had to make a lot of copies for it to be profitable and in order to do this you had to appeal to more customers
-taking a political stance limited buyers

Question 8

Advertising

Answer 8

-rise of consumerism and national brands made advertising more important than direct subsidies
-increased ciruclation meant more ad revenue – incentived them to take a nuetral stance

Question 9

Consolidation

Answer 9

-long term trend from 1850-present of newspaper consolidations
-meant each paper that remains has to target a larger audience