The Chicago Tribune: Shifting Views and Inspiring Investigations

One of the most important newspapers throughout the 19th and 20^th centuries was the Chicago Tribune, a paper that rose above the many others due to its important political contributions and bold, explosive reporting. The paper was founded in 1847 by James Kelly, John E. Wheeler and Joseph K. C. Forrest. The early years of the paper were some of its most tumultuous, as a lack of success led to near bankruptcy in a mere eight years. This led to a huge change that would propel the paper forward: the acquisition of the paper by Joseph Medill, who put the paper in the green and pushed abolitionist views and support for president Abraham Lincoln. Much of the success of the paper came from their coverage of the Civil War and their pursuit of reformation after the war.

 

The paper went in a different direction in 1911 after Medill’s grandson Robert McCormick took over the paper and transformed it into being a more conservative voice. McCormick used the paper to oppose the presidencies of both Franklin D. Roosevelt and Dwight D. Eisenhower. This new direction proved to be overwhelmingly successful, as the daily circulation swelled from 230,000 in 1912 to 650,000 in 1925, making the Tribune the most successful and most read paper in the city. McCormick died at the age of 74 in 1955, as he had been in failing health for two years due to severe pneumonia. The paper became much more moderate after his death and even moved away from politics, focusing instead on local topics, such as Chicago city life, social life, commerce and agriculture.

 

The Tribune had some huge contributions to the journalism world. They had a heavy focus on investigative reporting and would investigate members of both the Republican and Democrat parties. Their reporting had a tangible effect, as in one case, the investigation of Republican senator William Lorimer ultimately forced him out of congress due to evidence of him paying off voters being exposed. The Tribune also played a major role in the Watergate scandal, as they were the first and only paper to attain and publish the 246,000 word text of the Watergate tapes for the world to read, a massive moment in the history of journalism. 

 

The Tribune also was responsible for the Treaty of Versailles being brought to the US. Henry Wales, a reporter for the Tribune working in Paris, had being doing journalism in the area and had developed plenty of connections. One day, a man handed a thick package to Wales in the Paris office and walked out. That package contained the Treaty, which was given to Frazier Hunt, a war correspondent who smuggled the treaty back to the US in secret. The man who delivered the package to Wales turned out to be a Chinese delegate in possession of the treaty who had appreciated Wales’ journalism.

 

The Tribune has gone through many shifts in both political leanings and views, practices and published content, yet has proven itself to be an important and popular voice during nearly every time period. Their contributions to both journalism and politics will be felt for many years and discussed far in the future, with their investigative reporting being a particularly inspiring aspect that modern news institutions should take after. 

Sources:

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Chicago-Tribune

https://www.chicagotribune.com/chi-companyhistory-htmlpage-htmlstory.html

http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/275.html

Frederick Douglass, A Champion of Equality

There have been many important journalists throughout history, but one that particularly stands out is Frederick Douglass, a champion in the fight for freedom and equality for African Americans. Douglass’ powerful writing and critical journalism was written out of experience; Douglass himself had once been a slave. 

 

Douglass was born enslaved to a wealthy landowner and slaveholder named Edward Lloyd V. Over the early years of his life, he went through great hardship: he never even met his father, his mother died when he was only eight, and he had been moved to different plantations over the years. There were a few bright spots in his childhood, such as when a woman on one of the plantations briefly taught him to read. When he was only 16, he took action and started a sabbath school where he in turn taught enslaved blacks to read and write. Still, Douglass desired true freedom, and began to plot his escape from slavery. 

 

In September of 1838, Douglass finally escaped from slavery with the help of a free black woman he met named Anna Murray. With her help, Douglass disguised himself as a sailor and took trains and boats to multiple cities before finally ending up in New York City, where he and Anna stayed only briefly in order to have their marriage. Quickly after the marriage, they went to the much safer New Bedford, Massachusetts. It was in New Bedford that Douglass dedicated himself to the Abolitionist movement. He was part of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society as well as the American Anti-Slavery Society.

 

Douglass published an autobiography in 1845 titled Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself. The work was largely successful, though maybe too successful. The wide success of the work caught the attention of Hugh Auld, one of Douglass’ former owners, who threatened to recapture him. Douglass fled to Europe, where he had many speaking tours. After having his freedom bought by English supporters, he returned to the United States as a free man in 1847, moving to Rochester and pursuing a new goal: his own newspaper, written specifically for black citizens. Thus the North Star was born.

 

The paper was funded by Douglass’ earnings from his speaking tour in Europe. The first issue was published on December 3^rd, 1847. Douglass intended for the paper to focus on antislavery efforts and be written for African Americans, by African Americans. Many of the antislavery papers of the time were written by and offered opinions from white Americans, while Douglass emphasized the importance of giving a platform and voice to those that often weren’t given one. 

Douglass not only focused on the rights of African Americans, but women as well. He cofounded the Equal Rights Association in 1866 with Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, two critical members of the women’s suffrage movement. The organization was founded to help fight for universal suffrage. Douglass also attended the Seneca Falls Convention, a massive statement as it was attended by only a few men. Douglass was a champion for the rights of all persons lacking freedom.

 

Douglass’ long life of fighting for justice came to an end in 1895 due to an unexpected heart attack. He is an role model for any people working to fight injustice, and his incredible story of escaping slavery as well as his dedication to equality will be an inspiration for many years to come.

Sources

 

https://www.nps.gov/wori/learn/historyculture/frederick-douglass.htm

 

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Frederick-Douglass

Why I'm Taking This Class

 I feel as though I should preface this post by saying that I am not a journalism major. I'm an English major. This class isn't required for me to take, but I decided I wanted to take it because I found it to be a class on an important facet of American culture and politics, a piece of America that is currently in turmoil.

I don't have much experience in journalism, as my education career in English has mainly focused on poetry and the publication field. Journalism is a very specialized field of writing, one with a special skillset and rules that I largely haven't practiced. Despite this, I feel as though it is at least my duty to be knowledgable about journalism and how it operates in American culture and politics. I feel like being aware of what is happening politically is something important to me, and journalism is a factor in politics that I am not super knowledgeable in. I want to know more not just so that I will know how to be a journalist, but so that I can recognize good and bad journalism, so I can recognize what things journalists should focus on, so I can understand how to recognize misinformation or biases.

Even if I don't pursue a path in journalism, it will likely always be a part of my life and the culture I take part in. When so much of what I understand, when so much of what makes up one's perception of the country and world is journalism, I feel like it is not only beneficial, but critical that I understand it.