36. the emergence of a mass newspaper in the USA

New readers differed from previous spiritual needs, interests, tastes. The daily New York “Sun”, founded in 1833, became the first mass “tabloid” newspaper. Benjamin Dey “Sun” cost only one cent - 5-6 times less than usual. If in the olden days newspaper sales were carried out in the silence of bookstores, then Lei attacked readers with shrill crowds of newsletter boys.

The content of the newspaper was built on three pillars: a sensation, an anecdote and a criminal chronicle. The traditionally non-advertising part of a quality newspaper was opened with an editorial or a report on the debate in Congress. How did the "San" begin? No. 1 of September 3, 1833, for example, was opened with jokes about an Irish captain who occupied almost the entire lane, except for the first column intended for advertising. So, choosing between politics and a joke, Day from the very first issue preferred the joke.

One of the first Jy hired a full-time court reporter who could conduct independent investigations in addition to the police. The development of technology and the opening of the XIX century. caused a general interest in science and space travel. The audience first became concerned about the question of whether there is life on other planets. Of course, in the pursuit of the circulation, “San” could not pass by new trends.

On August 25, 1835, she published a report about the supposedly amazing discovery of astronomer John Herschel, who saw little people through a powerful telescope on the moon.

In subsequent years, Sun successfully continued to exploit the interest of the audience in science. One of its authors was the famous American writer, the founder of the genres of detective and fiction Edgar A. Poe. However, the editors published his stories not only as works of art, but sometimes gave them up for information about real events and presented them as messages and reports. In such cases, the newspaper strongly risked, but the increase in circulation caused by the sensation effect usually exceeded its fall when a lie was recognized. By 1860, the circulation of "San" was 60 thousand copies.

On the pages of "San" for the first time a new genre appeared, the so-called stories of "human interest", representing essays, sketches from the lives of ordinary people. On the merit of "Sun" you can put the fact that she first began to pay attention to the life of the "little man." This interest in the "little man" subsequently moved to the pages of other publications, in literature and cinema.

The second mass newspaper was the daily New York "Herald", created in 1835 by James Bennett. Day was the first to start and was actually a monopolist for his audience. In order to withstand the competition, Bennett had to offer something that Day couldn’t have thought of.

The first such discovery of Bennett was sex. Against the Herald, a “moral war” was declared. Another novelty of the Herald was sports materials, in particular, reports about horse racing and boxing. Special attention was paid to the female audience, the idea of ​​the emancipation of women was supported, especially for them information about fashion was printed.

For the first time in the US, the Herald began to go out all seven days a week, including Sunday. It compares favorably with the "Sun" in high efficiency and accuracy. The newspaper held special correspondents in Washington, and when the war began with Mexico, the only one in New York sent a war correspondent to the front. In 1847, Bonnet became one of the founders of the first United States Press Agency, the Associated Press.

The rest of the "Herald" looked like "Sun", there was in it a crime chronicle, and anecdotes. It became the most popular American newspaper, and in 1860 its circulation was 77 thousand copies.

The tabloid press prevailed among the mass American newspapers. But there were also workers' newspapers. The first mass working paper, the New York Tribune, was founded in 1841 by Horace Greeley. The specificity of Greeley is that he made his fortune by promoting the ideas of socialism.

The main advantage of the “New York Tribune” and the merit of its publisher was the criticism of slavery in the southern states. Humanism Grills was manifested in the recognition of the equality of all people, regardless of color.

A significant contribution to the prosperity of the Tribune was made by its editor-in-chief, Charles Dana.