The Transhistoric Relationship Between the Press and the Government

In one of my journalism classes we were asked to watch the 2005 film Good Night and Good Luck. This movie centers around the anti-communism regime of the 1950s. It also focused on the need for more educational television programming. Edward Murrow was depicted in this film. Murrow was one of the most prominent journalist in history and he was known for his television show Hear it Now. He provided crucial information during the anticommunist hysteria and advocated for keeping the public informed. In 1954 he called out Senator Joseph McCarthy for some shady actions he was taking regarding his accusations of people being communist.

Edward Murrow was exercising his rights in the sixth clause of the First Amendment, to petition the government, and used his voice to make a change. Thanks to the third clause of The First Amendment which states that Congress are not to abridge the freedom of the press, Murrow was successful even though people did try to get in his way. He was eventually appointed as Director of the U.S Information Agency in 1961 by John F. Kennedy. source 

Even though the First Amendment is in place for people like Edward Murrow to be protected, sometimes speech is suppressed because certain people or groups are afraid of being called out. The chilling effect is the concept of preventing free speech and association rights protected by the First Amendment as a result of government laws or actions that appear to target expression. The Chilling Effect was put into action during the McCarthy era. For more information on this you can view this article.

The relationship between the press and the government is a complicated one. The press is often overly critical of the government or does a great job at bringing up issues that need to be address more in depth.  Government leaders are often under pressure. Check out this New York Times article that discusses the modern day press and its relationship to the Trump administration.

The Press During the Civil War

From the first shots fired at Fort Sumter to the bloody battle at Antietam, the Civil war was a pivotal historical event in American history that has permanently shaped this country. What would such a huge occurrence in history such as the Civil war be without critics, and of course, journalist? People had to take their sides. Some were for the war some against it, some were team Union some were team Confederate.

Journalist during the Civil war would go so far as to risk their own lives to get the inside scoop on the war. George Smally of the New York Tribune was so close to one of the battles that his horse had been hit by gunfire. There was intense competition among journalist to get their story published in the newspaper. Smally was supportive of the union being that he was from the North. On the other hand, a journalist named Peter Wellington Alexander was from the south. Alexander was a reporter for the Savannah Republican. In one article he described the poor condition that confederate soldiers were in.

Modern day journalist play a role in preserving history and recounting the events of the war. Ford Risley published an article that discusses in depth, journalism during the Civil War, the types of stories that would be published, illustrations and artwork that is used in such publications, and technological developments during the time. You can read what else Ford Risley has to say on this topic here!

The Pennsylvania press was quite popular during war times. In 1861 there were 28  daily and 242 weekly newspapers in the state. In Philadelphia alone there was the Public Ledger, the Inquirer, the Press, the Evening Bulletin, the North American, the Daily News, the Pennsylvanian, and the Evening Journal. Some interesting figures in Pennsylvania journalism are William W. Harding, James P. Barr and George Sanderson.1 There was a good amount of democratic influence in these newspapers.

Source

1. Andrews, J. Cutler. “THE PENNSYLVANIA PRESS DURING THE CIVIL WAR.” Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies, vol. 9, no. 1, 1942, pp. 22–36. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/27766494. Accessed 6 May 2020.