1500s |
Newssheets appear in Venice, Italy |
1690 |
Publick Occurrences, first U.S. Newspaper |
1704 |
John Campbell publishes the Boston News-Letter |
1721 |
The New-England Courant, first printed in 1721, landed publisher James Franklin in jail. |
1733 |
Peter Zenger is put in jail for New York Weekly content, but wins case against New York for seditious libel |
1798 |
Alien and Sedition Acts forbid criticism of key government officials. Repealed in 1800. |
1830s |
Penny press introduces era of mass communication |
1864 |
Newspapers start using telegraph to transmit news |
1848 |
Associated Press founded |
1800s |
Linotype machines speed up typesetting by making possible the automatic casting of entire lines of type |
1890s |
Period of yellow journalism. This is followed by era of Jazz Journalism. |
1941-1945 |
Government censors press during World War II |
1950s |
Television impacts newspaper ad revenue and newspaper subscriptions |
1970s |
Weekly newspapers get major foothold |
1971 |
Supreme Court allows publication of secret Pentagon Papers; calls government effort to stop publication "prior restraint" |
1973 |
Washington Post reporters uncover presidential corruption in Watergate scandal |
1982 |
Gannett starts USA Today |
1990s |
First newspapers go online |
1995 |
TV advertising exceeds newspaper advertising for the first time |