Journalism History

Episode 106: Doctors Confront the Turn-of-the-Century Press

Researcher Ulf Jonas Bjork explains the criticism voiced in medical journals against reporters, advertisers and the newspaper industry in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Show transcripts are available at https://journalism-history.org/podcast/.

Episode 105: Watergate and the Press

In observance of the 50th anniversary of the Watergate arrests, researcher Jon Marshall explores the role of the press in covering the scandal and the eventual downfall of the Nixon administration. Show transcripts are available at https://journalism-history.org/podcast/

Episode 104: The Moon Hoax

Researcher Brian Thornton discusses one of the first and most bizarre newspaper frauds in the United States: the infamous moon hoax of 1835, perpetuated by the New York Sun and reporter Richard Adams Locke. Show transcripts are available at https://journalism-history.org/podcast/

Episode 103: Journalists on Film

Author Richard Ness reviews Hollywood’s diverse depictions of journalists over the years, from crusading reporters in All the President’s Men and Spotlight to manipulative media executives in Citizen Kane and Network. Show transcripts are available at https://journalism-history.org/podcast/.

Episode 102: Defining the Partisan Press Era

Historian Erika Pribanic-Smith uses the hotly contested 1844 presidential election to explain the partisan press era and to draw connections between that era and our own. Show transcripts are available at https://journalism-history.org/podcast/

Episode 101: The Immigrant Press and First Red Scare

Researcher Anna Popkova describes the importance of the immigrant press in the early 1900s to help build and inform communities new to America and how critical these newspapers were during times of sweeping discrimination. Show transcripts are available at https://journalism-history.org/podcast/

Episode 100: The Telegraph, Libel and Press Freedom

Author Patrick File discusses his book, Bad News Travels Fast: The Telegraph, Libel and Press Freedom in the Progressive Era, and reviews three turn-of-the-century libel suits, including one from world-famous sharpshooter Annie Oakley. Show transcripts are available at https://journalism-history.org/podcast/. 

Episode 99: A Tour of the Midcentury Newsroom

Historian Will Mari gives a tour of the American newsroom as it existed in the mid-20th century, introducing the various roles involved in the newsgathering process both inside and out of the newsroom. Show transcripts are available at https://journalism-history.org/podcast/. 

Episode 98: Dear Abby, I’m Gay

Author Andrew Stoner describes how advice columnists, such as Ann Landers, Dear Abby and Dr. Joyce Brothers, affected public opinion on homosexuality. Show transcripts are available at https://journalism-history.org/podcast/. Editor's Note: Stoner passed away after the recording of this podcast. We dedicate this episode to his legacy.

Episode 97: The Community-Building Bennett Banner

Researcher Sheryl Kennedy Haydel explains how the journalists of the student-run Bennett Banner used their paper to rally their peers at Bennett College, a historically Black college for women, from the 1930s through the '50s.  Show transcripts are available at https://journalism-history.org/podcast/