Penny Press

Urbanization, industrialization, immigration, and massive population growth fueled the emergence of the penny press in the United States during the 19th century. With its emphasis on news of interest to non-elites, the penny press redefined news as the unusual, the bizarre, and the sensational. The penny press contributed to changes that would define American journalism for more than 100 [Page 1220]years. It stimulated an interest in current affairs and reading among American citizens. It also produced some of the most legendary editors and reporters in the history of American journalism: James Gordon Bennett, Horace Greeley, and Henry Raymond, to name perhaps the three most prominent.

While most penny papers have long since folded, a few still remain in publication today. Those include The New York Times, ...