New York City as a precursor to modern American mass media

Growth of Mass Media in the United States

How does the history of New York City predict the history of the development and growth of most of the mass media in the United States?"

New York City is famously the city that never sleeps -- and its morning, afternoon, and evening newspapers were harbingers of the 24/7 connected media society we live in today. Early on in its history, due to the fact that so many immigrants chose to settle within its confines, every neighborhood of New York took on different character. Immigrants gravitated to areas where their native languages were spoken. These concentrated ethnic neighborhoods often produced community institutions such as newspapers written in the language of the neighborhood. This is reflected the segmentation of mass media today, where people who are conservative tune into Fox news, while liberal individuals read similarly-spirited blogs. Every ethnicity or nationality can find access to the media voices that speak the language of their culture on the World Wide Web.

New York City's rapid industrialization and high population density made it the ideal location to launch yellow journalism, or highly inflammatory, populist journalistic style characteristic of the New York World, run by Joseph Pulitzer and the New York Journal, run by William Randolph Hearst, both of which began in the 19th century ("Yellow Journalism, Think Quest, 2007). New York's relatively small environment also enabled an intimate relationship with politicians and celebrities alike. What the mayor of New York City says and does is national news, and any New Yorker could see stars before their eyes on Broadway, or simply walking the streets. In the mass national media our contemporary gossip culture creates a sense of intimacy and knowledge about the rich and famous through television, if not personal interaction.