-
The Wall Street Journal should read its own history
An owner “most properly, considers his newspaper as a plain business proposition.” WSJ, 1925Anyone considering the absurd talk of editorial strictures being put around the Wall Street Journal prior to its possible purchase by Rupert Murdoch might want to look into the Journal’s own archives. Back in January 1925 it published an op-ed titled, “A…
-
Solving a tiny footnote puzzle in journalism history
I love the Internet, for all the usual reasons, but today it helped solve a tiny puzzle over a footnote in a book called Imagined Communities by Benedict Anderson. In the book (first published back in 1983), Anderson quoted a line from Hegel that has been much copied. Here’s an excerpt from the London Review…
-
An Unreliable History of the News in 500 words
Ever wondered where the modern news media started? Germany, 1450s – Johann Gutenberg invents movable type printing and brings out the Bible. Problem with the Bible? You only buy it once. New translations keep presses rolling. They also raise political problems (like Tyndale‘s translation in England). Readers can use their Bible to make up their…