The Press and Civil War

The Civil War is actually considered to be the first technologically-documented war. This is in part due to the fact that there were more developments in printing technology and the switch from cloth to paper, which made printing cheaper and production faster (Goethe). 

Even though there was still some advance left for the press, that did not mean there was a lack of false and or fake news. This concept of misinformation took place long before the Civil War, by what first was word of mouth and storytelling those opinions, thoughts and stories of others became widely available to the public.

During the Civil war era, newspapers rarely included the reporters' names on an article like today. Instead, the newspaper was considered more of a collective voice so the reporters were anonymous which created a lack of accountability. This in turn made it easier for reporters to slip in fake articles and news. 

During the war, reporters with the army were called correspondents. Their jobs were to gather information from officers in command in order to write their stories. However, many also included their own opinions as to how things were going which lead to even more false information (Ryan). 

Reports of the war in the North and South intaled “facts” that heavily differed each other. Some newspapers were known to report false casualty rates and results of battles to boost morale. Confederate troops even received much of their information through newspapers because their commanders would refuse to relay reports of Union achievements (McDonald). 

Another example of false news would be on May 18th, 1864, two New York City papers released information stating that president Lincoln announced a draft for 400,000 new soldiers. The problem with this being that Lincoln made no such announcement (Mitchell). 

When looking at the bigger picture, not all fake news is bad news. Around 1863, two Democratic journalists from the New York World anonymously published a 71 page pamphlet called, Miscegenation: The Theory of the Blending of the races, Applied to the American White Man and Negro. This paper's intention was to idealize a potential future where black and white Americans could live together unrestricted across racial lines (Gallman). 

These two writers were attempting to convince white readers that even abolitionist Republicans supported the contents of this paper. They did this by adding an appendix with direct quotes from real abolitionists, implying that they endorsed miscegenation. 

They even published a photo drawing called “The Miscegenation Ball.” In this picture all the men were white and dancing with black women (Gallman). The caption to this photo stated that it was an accurate portrayal of a certain Republican event, which was completely false. However, they were willing to take a gamble to ensure rights for all. 

Overall, false news can be used to both help and hurt citizens. On one hand, it has started wars, provided false harmful information, and has been used to tear those apart rather than together. Fake news on the other hand has also helped abolish inequality, given those that read some peace of mind, and helped expose those who may be taking advantage of others. It ultimately all comes down to who holds the pen and paper. Who’s opinion will you be reading, and what opinions you have of your own.

What I Learned About the Liberator

 The Liberator was created by a man named William Lloyd Garrison. He was born December 1805 and lived in both Newburyport Massachusetts and New York City. During this time, he was a famous journalist and a passionate abolitionist who deeply cared about equal rights for all. 

 

One of his big passions was to help end slavery and make a change to the injustices of inequality. Most of his subscribers for the Liberator were free African Americans and fellow abolitionists. Many of these people believed in his cause to end slavery. 

His main focus of his papers was to form a platform for other abolitionists to speak on equality, slavery, and politics. Each issue also had a special illustration. The first published article from the Liberator was on January 1, 1831 and survived due to the amount of black subscribers. All of its editing and publishing was done in Boston

The Liberator encouraged black voters in Boston to vote and helped many African Americans to gain trust in white abolitionists. This publication also encouraged them to further their education. 

All in all, the Liberator made an impact in many peoples lives and was set up to make a change in a completely corrupt society. 

 

Cartoons and their Societal Impact on Journalism

For years now, cartoons have been used to relay information covering an extensive amount of topics dating all the way back to 16th century Germany during the Reformation (Ames).

The first person in America to make a political cartoon was Benjamin Franklin in the Pennsylvania Gazette in 1754. His first piece is still widely recognizable and called "Join or Die." It shows a coiled snake that is separated into eight different pieces each labeled with one of the American Colonies (Kiger). 

During the Civil war era political cartoons gained widespread attention. It was during this time that iconic staples like Uncle Sam, the democratic donkey, and the republican elephant were created by Thomas Nast (Boissoneault). 

There are many different kinds of cartoons. To name a few there are pocket cartoons, comic strip cartoons, and gag cartoons. These kinds of cartoons can cover all different genres of information. Any of these could educate people on politics, global threats, and even day to day life. 

Pocket cartoons have a set place in newspapers, usually somewhere on the first page. These cartoons usually depict something that relates to the life of an average person and tend to be funny and compassionate.

Comic strip cartoons consist of more than one panel. These usually consist of a series of drawings that form a humorous plot that is ended with a punchline. 

Gag cartoons are usually only one panel that makes fun of/ jokes about a certain group of people opposed to just one person. These are commonly found in magazines opposed to newspapers. 

Throughout history, cartoons have been used to express public opinion and convey messages with five key elements; irony, symbolism, analogy, exaggeration, and labeling (EIU). Often cartoons are made with overemphasized characteristics and hint towards a bigger picture, which is what usually engages readers. Cartoons provide such valuable information that even in an age of today where there are animations and photographs they still hold their own place in a newspaper. 

Cartoons are considered a visual medium, they help readers understand complex ideas whether that be political, social, or economic. So much so that even kids gained an interest and are able to learn ideas like this at a young age. 

The American Association of Editorial Cartoonists, AAEC, was formed in 1957 by a man named John Stampone and a small group of newspaper cartoonists. This company was created in order to stimulate and promote interest in the editorial cartoon page and bring together political cartoonists (AAEC). With this company being so new compared to other news organizations there is not a whole lot of history pertaining to the AAEC. However, this has not stopped them from making an immense impact. 

Over time the American Association of Editorial Cartoonists have been involved with many cases regarding freedom of the press by filing friend-of-the-court briefs. An example of one, is the Supreme Court case in 1988 Hustler Magazine v. Falwell. In this case, the Hustler Magazine released a parody of an actual ad campaign which targeted political leader Falwell who sued the magazine for emotional distress and invasion of privacy (Oyez).  The AAEC prides itself on defending the freedom of speech and press as it is essential to the backbone of the United States. 

The AAEC is determined to protect this valuable source of news as technology advances. After all, what is a world without cartoons?