Description
Book Synopsis
Journalism in the Civil War Era presents the historical context of Civil War journalismplacing the press of the era within the entire nineteenth century. It gives a broad account of journalism in the Civil War, reflecting on the political, military, legal, and journalistic issues involved in this era. It is written with chapters that examine these various facets of the journalism of the period, but they are connected by the theme of the development of the wartime press, with an emphasis on the professional, political, social, economic, legal, and military factors that affected it.
It provides:
- An in-depth look at the political press in the 1850s and 1860s, and how it played a major role in the nation's understanding of the conflict;
- Technology's role in carrying information in a timely fashion;
- The development of journalism as a profession;
- The international context of Civil War journalism;
Trade Review
“Bulla and Borchard’s analysis of newspapers during the Civil War era shows that this was a transformative time for the press and a perilous time for the relationship between government and the press. The authors argue effectively that ‘the media that emerged [from the first Modern War] laid the foundation for modern news.”—David B. Sachsman, West Chair of Excellence and Director of the Symposium on the Nineteenth Century Press, the Civil War, and Free Expression, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
“Bulla and Borchard have produced what has been long needed in the study of U.S. Civil War journalism: a social and cultural history of the American press that goes beyond anecdotal accounts of war news. They explore the nature of the Civil War-era press itself in all its strengths and weaknesses, ranging from political and economic grandstanding and over-the-top verbal grandiloquence to the sheer bravery and determination of a number of editors, publishers, and journalists who viewed their tasks as interpreters and informers of the day’s news. Using a mix of carefully selected case studies as well as an extensive study of newspapers both large and small, this highly readable work places the Civil War press squarely where it belongs—as a part of the larger social and cultural experience of mid-nineteenth century America.”—Mary M. Cronin, Department of Journalism, New Mexico State University
“The study of Civil War journalism has traditionally been treated as a facet of the history of war correspondence, but war reporting does not exist in a vacuum, as David Bulla and Gregory Borchard skillfully show readers in their latest edition of Journalism in the Civil War Era. This new edition freshens the book’s original version by expanding on their insightful examination of the way the American Civil War ushered in the greater reliance on the information model of journalism, which would exist side-by-side with the existing partisan model. Few scholars have attempted the sort of holistic study that examines not only the nature of Civil War journalism but, more significantly, the symbiotic relationship between the press and its culture. Bulla and Borchard have done the hard work of digging out the necessary evidence to paint a full-color portrait of journalism during America’s bloodiest conflict.”—Debbie van Tuyll, Professor Emerita, Department of Communications, Augusta University
Table of Contents
Illustrations – Foreword – Preface – Acknowledgements – A Typical Newspaper of the Era: The St. Joseph Valley Register – Journalism and Politics: New York and the 1860 Election – Horace Greeley’s New York Tribune – News Spin: Fredericksburg, Stones River, and Chancellorsville – Journalistic Practice and Technological Change – A Battle of Content: Party Press vs. Informative Press – Classifieds of the Era: The Case of Ads about Runaway Slaves – Abolitionism and the Fight to End Slavery – Beyond the War: Everyday News in Wartime – The Naval War Mediated in Newspapers and Magazines – Press Suppression, North and South – Three Newspapers that Supported the President – The International Dimension of Civil War Journalism – Abraham Lincoln’s Legacy Emergent – Reconstruction Journalism: Two Examples – Conclusion: Renewing the History of Journalism in the Civil War Era – Appendix: Journalism and Abraham Lincoln – Selected Bibliography – Index – About the Authors.
