EOTO #2

Universal History Archive 

Planting crops through broadcasting. 

Early history of radio and television in sports

Broadcasting on radio and television changed the game for spreading information and generating attention around sports across the nation. 

Radio was actually called broadcasting as well, when it took off in the 1920s, because the information being stated on the radio could be spread all over the place. People referenced the broadcasting farming process, which was when seeds would be scattered all over the soil, allowing the crops to spread. 

The first sporting event to ever be broadcasted over the radio was a boxing match between Johnny Ray and Johnny Dundee on April 11, 1921. Boxing was a great sport to start with in regard to introducing the radio to fans of sports because it was easy to follow with only two people fighting in the ring and it was a popular sport at the time.

 

The Lost Media Wiki

Newspaper covering the match

between Ray and Dundee.

The radio station KDKA in Pittsburgh, P.A. broadcasted the event, and the local newspaper reporter Florent Gibson covered it. Another boxing match was hosted on July 2, 1921. This match between Jack Dempsey and Georges Carpentier generated almost 300,000 radio listeners.

Bob Fulton

University of Pittsburgh vs. WVU.

Radio helped another sport in more ways than one: college football. On October 8, 1921 the first college football game was broadcasted between the University of Pittsburgh and West Virginia University. This helped give the sport more visibility because people who were unable to get to the game due to money or distance could hear the games over the radio. 

The excitement around college football also helped increase the usage of radios because more people bought them to listen to the games, allowing for radio stations to convince advertisers that it was worth paying for their ads to be included in the broadcast. With an increase in advertisements and more people tuning in on the radio, radio stations and college football generated lots more money.

People still wanted to go see sporting events for themselves even with the radio being introduced. But attendance at games didn't drop drastically like many athletic departments feared. 

TV being introduced into the world of sports led to more concerns from the athletic departments because they were fearful that people would much rather watch games in the comfort of their homes instead of spending money at stadiums. 

gocolumbialions.com

Cameraman filming a game between
 Columbia and Princeton.

The first sporting event to be broadcasted on TV was Columbia vs. Princeton baseball on May 17, 1939. Much like when radio was tested out on boxing since it is a simple sport, baseball was TV's test subject due to the game not being fast paced. NBC broadcasted the game and found out that they could get multiple cameras to cover each angle of the game, and the coverage of baseball on TV was born.

College football gave TV a shot and the first college football game broadcasted was Fordham vs. Waynesburg on September 30, 1939.

From there TV took off with Notre Dame football getting an exclusive deal with DuMont Presentation and UPenn gaining an exclusive deal with ABC in 1950. Other teams couldn't get coverage with these restrictive contracts.

Brendan Conroy

NCAA controlling college football. 

Other teams wanted to take advantage of selling ads and gaining sponsorships from commercials and they were fed up with only one game being shown every Saturday. This led to an antitrust case against the NCAA in 1984 because they were controlling all of the teams' schedules and the teams didn't generate much money from TV coverage.

NCAA v. Board of Regents of Oklahoma, Georgia and Arkansas provided teams in the current age to generate a lot of revenue from TV by having multiple games on certain days in the week. The NCAA didn't have overall control anymore over the TV aspect of the game and teams could now negotiate their own schedules and individual rights.

The effects of radio and TV were tremendous for teams to generate money and for fans to enjoy a variety of games in numerous ways. 

vox.com

Fans celebrating at a football game.

With people having the ability to listen or watch games even when they couldn't physically be there, the love for sports spread and people were able to associate with the sports they love and their favorite teams more. 

Blog #3

The Front Page reaction

I thoroughly enjoyed watching The Front Page because it was very interesting to see how things were done in journalism years ago. 

I have learned that it is important to know our history in general so that we don't repeat the negative aspects of it. This seems to be true when it comes to the history of journalism as well. As seen in The Front Page, journalists haven't always strived for accurate information, but rather the storyline that will have people paying for paper after paper. 

In numerous scenes we see the journalists reporting exaggerated headlines and providing the news about the convict, Earl Williams, with incorrect facts and exaggerated information. The reporters tend to jump to conclusions in this movie, to create a narrative that is more interesting than the one happening in real time. 

That kind of ideal, where the truth is in the shadows behind the greed for more money and publicity, bothers me because people's lives and reputations are at stake. Williams is perceived as a lunatic and Mollie Malloy is only depicted as a hooker  to keep readers coming back for more. They are clearly misunderstood, and it is unfortunate that the reporters didn't take the time to hear their side. The reporters never think about anything other than their own careers, resulting in Williams and Malloy's lives at risk, with Malloy jumping out the window to create a distraction.

Another interesting thing that I noticed throughout the film is how friendly the reporters were with each other, even though they were competing for audience members. I'm not sure if they were necessarily concerned with the competition because they were making so many outrageous claims, so all the papers would entice readers to read no matter what. 

However, I don't think that we will ever see this kind of friendliness again for a few reasons. For instance, there aren't as many face-to-face interactions as possible with others in the field, with so many stories being produced online, so proper relationships can't be made. A lot of papers also support causes or side with certain political stances; therefore, it is not guaranteed that reporters will want to engage in friendly behavior with others if they don't agree with the values or opinions that their news organization aligns with.

In more recent years, media consumers have matured, which has resulted in many news organizations prioritizing accuracy. Media consumers have learned about misinformation and about how to detect it, so to keep and increase audience members, journalists can no longer exaggerate information or twists narratives. 

With all this in consideration, I don't think that we see news organizations trying to manipulate audiences as much as we use to, especially with media consumers having limited attention spans. There are so many ways for people to get their news, so news organizations must separate themselves from other platforms by gaining accurate information from reliable sources while also enticing readers with eye catching headlines that are also accurate.

We see multiple eras of journalism being depicted in the movie including the Penny Press era, Yellow Journalism / Sensationalism era and impressing the press baron era. 

For starters the Penny Press allowed for reporters to cut their strong tie with political parties because they could now sell papers for cheaper and have more people from the lower and middle classes buying them. Newspapers were now financially stable on their own and could write about more than just politics, which is why we see in the movie the reporters focusing many headlines on the Earl Williams case. 

As I previously mentioned, the newspapers are no longer relying on political parties for money, so they feel a sense of urgency to push out false narratives to get more people to buy and read the papers. We see the reporters all sitting around the table and as they witness or hear about the news, they immediately report it without knowing for sure the facts behind it all. 

We also see the competitive aspect between the reporters because even with them seeing and hearing the same information, they still come up with their own twist to the information. Instead of using  accuracy to stand apart from their competitors, they try to exaggerate the story more to catch reader's attention. By reporting in this manner, they impress their press barons because the crazier the story they tell, the more papers they will sell. However, by throwing accuracy and more thorough reporting to the side, the reporters risk people's lives, like Williams and Malloy's. They don't care about getting the story right, even when they are evoking fear into the people in the city, along with the people who are closer to the case.

The Front Page was a great movie and it clearly correlated nicely with our lessons in class. It provided us with a lot of lessons, demonstrating the dangers of Yellow Journalism. It certainly showed me that journalists need to provide accuracy when discussing events, especially when peoples' lives are on the line. 

I want to be a part of a respected organization, where accuracy, revealing the truth and showing multiple points of view are at the top of the priorities list. I couldn't live with myself if I was intentionally providing false narratives to the public because journalists are trusted in the community, or they at least should be, to unveil the truth and keep the public properly informed.

EOTO #1 Reaction

The impact of the first newspapers

Even though I have dreamt of becoming a sports journalist and pursuing a degree in journalism since the seventh grade, I have never thought about how journalism began. 

It seems silly to think that I have never thought about this before because if Benjamin Harris didn't fight for the creation of newspapers in 1660, my dream profession may have never existed. I found this presentation to be extra interesting because I had no idea how difficult it was to start a paper and to keep it running. It was also mind-boggling to me that censorship has continued to impact journalism from the creation of the first newspaper to reporters being sent to jail or silenced currently for going against government beliefs.

As I mentioned, Benjamin Harris created the first ever newspaper in the colonies in 1660 called Publick Occurrences. This made the colonists happy, because it gave them the ability to read someone else's perspective other than the perspective of the government. Publick Occurrences opened the door for colonists to read about topics, see what others had to say and discuss situations that typically were off limits for colonists to discuss. 

The British government did not like what Harris was doing because they felt threatened by the power a newspaper would give to colonists to express their thoughts and get them talking about everyday issues. Freedom of Speech did not exist in the colonies for this reason because the British government wanted full control and didn't want to risk colonists realizing that others felt the same way they did because that could cause people to start getting together and have them want to figure out ways to distance themselves from the control of the government. 

Harris's paper could only remain with the British government's stamp of approval, but they didn't want the paper to run because it challenged their ability to deceive the colonists who could originally only get their news from the government. Therefore, the paper did not stand a chance against the government at the time, and it was banned. 

The government still tries to silence us, but we have Freedom of Speech luckily, so it is more challenging for the government to insert themselves into our everyday conversations. However, I have learned that the government still tries to control the conversations of its citizens and that it is important for us journalists to continue to hunt for the truth, or else we will be left in the dark and only hear the government's side. Benjamin Harris demonstrated that being a voice for the public and having a platform is essential in society because even after having the Publick Occurrences shut down he tried again in 1690.

This edition was shut down immediately in 1690, but I learned during the presentation that I have Harris to thank again for jump starting journalistic style writing. Harris added descriptive details and introduced the four-page format that had never been seen in any form of governmental press. Without Harris showing the significance of people being aware of what is going on outside of the information provided from the government and without adding this new format to journalism, the way that journalism is conducted in today's age may have never become a thing. 

I appreciate Harris's work because my passion for journalism has stemmed from wanting to share the truth with people and allow peoples' voices to be heard through my writing. If Harris had not provided us with this platform many years ago, I'm not sure that I would be pursuing a journalism career without knowing that it was possible to go against the status quo and take risks to start the flame of change.

The first newspaper to be continuously published in the U.S. was created by John Campbell on April 24, 1704, and was called the Boston News-Letter. This paper also impacted my future career because it proved that people want their voices heard and want to be in the know, especially when social issues are occurring. This paper played a huge role in the lead-up to the American Revolution and the publicity around the revolution made people come back to the paper for more. 

The sports industry has issues which are consistent with ones that are going on in the world and this paper demonstrates that people want to stay informed. Therefore, they need platforms that provide multiple viewpoints on situations to see the full picture and understand the situations on a deeper level. 

Both papers have demonstrated the core reasons why I've gotten into this profession, and they have given me hope that even with censorship from the government, media consumers will continue to look to journalists to provide them with the proper information so that we can continue to make change and have a say in the way our world looks and runs.

Blog #2- EOTO #1

The Associated Press: History and impact

I thought May 22 was a special day only in the year 2004 because that is the day that I was born. 

All jokes aside, I have now learned that an important news agency was born many years before me, which has an impact on my future profession in journalism. On May 22, 1846 the Associated Press was created in New York City as a non-profit news cooperative. Five newspapers: The Sun, the New York Herald, the New York Courier and Enquirer, The Journal of Commerce and the New York Evening Express, banded together to afford to transmit news of the Mexican-American War. This joint effort to spread news did not stop in 1846. 

Two years later, in 1848, six papers worked together to finance a telegraphic relay of foreign news brought by ships to Boston. This made Boston the first U.S. port of call for westbound transatlantic ships. The New York Associated Press got its name in 1856, and it sold its work to numerous regional newspaper organizations. Midwestern newspaper publishers created the Western Associated Press in 1862, after being pressured by regional customers to make some changes in the control of the NYAP. The Western Associated Press separated itself from the NYAP in 1892 and was established separately in Illinois as the Associated Press.

The regional organizations did not stay apart for long and merged in 1900, where the modern AP was formed. Issues occurred when a newspaper that was not a member of the AP, called the Chicago Inter Ocean, filed an anti-monopoly suit against AP. The Associated Press moved from Chicago to New York City after the Illinois Supreme Court decided that AP was a public utility that was operating in restraint of trade. 

New York City was the place to be in 1900 for the Associated Press because corporation laws were more favorable to cooperatives there. AP was targeted by the Western Associated Press as well for their monopolistic news gathering and price setting practices, so it was best for them to stay on the east coast. The AP was not protected by New York corporation laws for long, when Marshall Field III, who created the Chicago Sun, fought his exclusion from the AP service in the early 1940s. Under the federal antitrust laws, prosecution put an end to AP's restrictive practices.

As technology continued to advance, so did the Associated Press. They partnered with Dow Jones & Co., Inc., to create the AP-Dow Jones Economic Report. This partnership, which formed in 1967, allowed for news about business, economic and financial information to be spread across the world. 

In the '70s and '80s, the AP created DataStream, a highly efficient news transmission service;  LaserPhoto, which established transmission of the first laser-scanned photos; the "electronic darkroom," which electronically formatted, cropped and transferred photos; and LaserPhoto II, the first satellite color-photograph network. The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law came out in 1977 and became the rulebook for news writing in the U.S. 

They continued to make advancements in television, radio and video. In the '90s the Associated Press Television (renamed Associated Press Television News), a London-based global video news platform; AP All News Radio (a 24-hour radio news network); and the WIRE (an online news platform that had continuously updated audio, photos, video and text) were all created. 

These advancements helped consumers become more aware of information and events developing and occurring around them. In the early 21st century AP switched their focus to including more activity from readers, such as creating a blog; asap, a multimedia news service for younger subscribers; citizen journalism; and the Mobile News Network for individuals with mobile phones.

The Associated Press has impacted the way we gain news, allowing us to gain more news from around the globe at a faster rate on various platforms. On the journalism side of things, they became a role model demonstrating what good journalism looks like, as they strive to gather and publish news efficiently, accurately and factually. They have won 58 Pulitzer Prizes, with 35 being for photography since the award was established in 1917. 

The Associated Press has extremely high standards and has proven themselves to be the trailblazers of the news, with many news organizations and journalists trying to keep up with them. 

Their stylebook is acclaimed by many, with a lot of organizations turning to it, to run their organizations properly. The work of the Associated Press has ultimately gotten the ball rolling to make the news clearer and more concise for readers, by being a standard of good journalism practice, that other organizations strive to be like. 

I will certainly use the Associated Press Stylebook in my future profession, and I look forward to reading the AP as reference to work on configuring efficient, accurate and unbiased news pieces for many audiences around the world.

Blog #1

Why Am I Here?

This was an interesting question to me, because I feel like I'm always on the go and never really think of why I'm doing what I'm doing. 

However, I will say that I am confident in my decision to go to High Point University. I love the weather, the people, my professors, my classes, and the opportunities here. I want to become a sports journalist and I could never have imagined that during my college career I would already be writing on a more professional level. 

I am a writer for the View Point which is an unaffiliated newspaper that covers news and events happening at HPU and around the community. I decided to start writing for the View Point, because I liked the idea of giving the voice to the voiceless and opening people's eyes to what actually goes on at and around this campus.

I've wanted to be a journalist since middle school because I wanted to provide the truth to others. Sports have been a part of my life since I was little. Playing a sport has helped me gain confidence and has taught me how to work hard and persevere. I think that sports are so important for so many others and I want to be able to show that sports are so much more than winning and losing. 

I want to write about the issues surrounding sports as well, because even though I can see how sports changed my life, I know that the sports world is not perfect. I want to write about more than just the scores of games, I want to write about how sports have brought people together, how sports have helped to evolve the conversation of gender inequality, racism, and so many more social issues. 

I hope to be an online journalist who writes for a sports section of a paper or a sports site. My dream is to write for ESPN, but I know that the sports industry is laying off people left and right, so I would do anything just to get a chance in the industry. I'm open to being on podcasts and I'm interested in learning about broadcasting too because I have learned that the industry is changing with the evolving technology. I look forward to expanding my skills at High Point University to become the best possible employee I can be.

Regarding this class, I think that it is important that I take it, because I think that it is essential to understand the history of journalism. I think that understanding how we got here can help me in the future, because when something goes on, I can look to the past to see how journalists handle it back then. 

I'm looking forward to writing more blog posts, because they help connect history to my life and I think I process it better with the help of a writing prompt. I think that it is essential as a journalist to know my rights and to know how to conduct ethical journalism practices. If I didn't learn things like the First Amendment or about censorship, I feel like I would be blind to mass media, because cases of the First Amendment and censorship happen all the time and could eventually happen to me. 

It is also essential to learn about libel because writing false information that could hinder someone's reputation could also destroy mine too. I would lose all credibility as a journalist, lose my job, and be charged for libel on top of everything else. 

I'm looking forward to this class, because I think that it will challenge me to focus on what has happened in my potential field and what is happening currently. There is a lot of change going on and it will continue, so I think that this class will be super helpful in a sense, because I think that I will feel obligated to pay attention to what is going on in the world for journalists. It's impossible to thrive in a field of work without knowing what is going on in it, so it is essential for me to stay up to date. 

I need to demonstrate that I am fit for my future career in interviews with employers and being educated on certain journalistic principles and news is one way to do so. I'm looking forward to writing and presenting in this class, because I hope to write and present for the world. This class will give me good practice on doing both activities in more of a professional manner. I have found my love for blogging through previous classes, and I could certainly see myself creating my own sports blog in the future. I have learned that I enjoy the freedom that I have when blogging and I feel little anxiety when I write in this type of format. 

Ultimately, I think that this class will provide me with many lessons on the history of the career I wish to go into and will also allow me to expand on multiple skills that are essential for the ever-changing world of journalism in the digital realm.