¶ … nineteenth century, Benjamin Henry Day learned the printer's trade in the office of the Springfield republican and later opened a printing office in the city of New York. In 1833, circumstances compelled him to publish his very first copy of The New York Sun and thus introduced the penny press to the residents of the United States. The first edition of this newspaper comprised of four mere pages and the copy was sold for 1c, a price that was far too less compared to the other New York dailies. With the origination of this newspaper came many new changes such as the employment of newsboys. By the year 1835, Sun claimed to have sold 19,360 news copies, the largest in the world. In 1838, Benjamin Henry Day sold the newspaper to his brother in law for $40,000 and later founded the monthly Brother Jonathan, which later became the first weekly newspaper in the history of the United States of America.
Benjamin Day, who was named after his father Benjamin Henry Day "invented a process, utilizing celluloid sheets, for shading plates in the color printing of maps and illustrations" (Benjamin Day, The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia). This process later came to be known as Ben Day or Benday process. Hence, both father and son played a colossal role in inventing mass media.
Benjamin Day after being unsatisfied with the subscription sales sent newsboys out to hawk papers. The best part about this newspaper was that it provided news or media to the mass at large and at an affordable price of 1c rather than the standard 6c. The newspaper comprised details pertaining to crime, violence, local happenings, politics and trade. It was Benjamin Day who gave rise to the period of sensationalize journalism since the newspaper was aimed for every common man. Unlike any other newspaper at that time, Sun's motive was human interest.
Characteristics of Sun's reporting were as follows,
Little concern for truth
Hoaxes prevalent
from the elite to the common reader. "We've seen it! What! Why that mermaid! The mischief you have! Where? What is it? It's twin sister to the deucedest looking thing imaginable -half fish, half flesh; and taken by and large, the most odd of all oddities earth or sea has ever produced" (Penny Press, New York Sun).
Before The New York Sun, no other newspaper had managed to gain so much of popularity among the people. After being influenced by this newspaper, other newspapers and magazines started to play a greater role when they published stories and articles directed at readers whom newspapers overlooked. Later, a new breed of power daily newspapers appeared.
Ethnic newspapers thrived as well; many newcomers found more newspapers printed in their language in the United States than in their homeland. At the turn of the century, for example, there were six Yiddish dailies in New York City. African-
Americans founded some forty papers before 1865 and responded to the end of slavery by starting more than one thousand by 1900 Overall, the United States began the twentieth century with more varied sources of news in print than it had ever had or would have again. The number of daily newspapers alone peaked by 1910 at about twenty-six hundred (Magazines And Newspapers).
Benjamin Day even during that time made use of great marketing strategy for the distribution of his paper i.e. It was much more sophisticated and a better looking product. The Sun created a whole range of reader, expanded the newspaper reading audience, caused a great societal modification and provided more direct and…
