Goodbye Gutenberg
Journalism is on a fast-paced, transformative journey, its destination still unknown. That the Web and other media technologies are affecting mightily the practice of journalism is beyond dispute. Less clear is any shared vision of what the future holds.
In this issue, words about journalists' experiences in the digital era transport our vision forward, while our eye takes us on a visual voyage back to a time when newspapers wove communities together.
This model #1 linotype machine, built between January and June 1893, was first used in the Baltimore, Maryland area. It was sold to The Rappahanock Record circa 1925. Newseum collection/gift, Mr. and Mrs. Fred Gaskins and Mrs. Clara Christopher/Courtesy Newseum.
This Nikon camera belonged to Hocine Zaourar, an Algerian photographer who was awarded the World Press Photo of the Year award in 1998. He is in hiding, wanted by his government in connection with a photograph he made. Newseum collection, gift, Agence France Presse/Courtesy Newseum.
Father and child share the Sunday paper in their backyard in Alexandria, Virginia. 1943. Library of Congress/Courtesy Newseum.
The press room of The (Washington, D.C.) Evening Star. Photo National Archives/Courtesy Newseum.
Sargeant Bill Mauldin, cartoonist for the World Telegram and The Stars and Stripes, holds a drawing pad. June 1945. Library of Congress/Courtesy Newseum.
Fpc. Clarence Whitmore, voice radio operator, 24th Infantry Regiment, reads the latest news in The Stars and Stripes newspaper while eating during a lull in battle near Sangju, Korea. August 1950. National Archives/Courtesy Newseum.
Peter Braestrup used this Olivetti typewriter during his time as a New York Times national and international correspondent. Circa 1963. Newseum Collection/gift, Kate Braestrup/Courtesy Newseum.
Copy is prepared on a linotype machine in the composing room of The New York Times. September 1942. National Archives/Courtesy Newseum.
A man reads a newspaper while on a commuter train to New York City from Westport, Connecticut. Fall 1941. Photo by John Collier. Library of Congress/Courtesy Newseum.
A copyboy is about to tear off a dispatch from The Associated Press wire at The New York Times. September 1942. Library of Congress/Courtesy Newseum.
Copyreaders at The New York Times foreign desk. In the foreground, foreign desk editor spikes a story. September 1942. Library of Congress/Courtesy Newseum.
Staff of the Daily Reporter, Utah Territory, in front of their tent office. 1869. National Archives/Courtesy Newseum.
Three men look at a picture display in The Detroit News window. July 1942. Library of Congress/Courtesy Newseum.
This Kodak digital camera was used by a Time magazine photographer during the coverage of the Branch Davidian siege in Waco, Texas. April 1993. Newseum collection/gift, Time, Inc./Courtesy Newseum.
"Young Woman in Bed Reading a Newspaper" (circa 1890's), Louise Lyons Heustis (American, 1865-1951). Graphite on Bristol board. 12 1/2 x 16 3/4 inches. Mobile Museum of Art/Gift of Mrs. Carter C. Smith. From "Press Gallery," Shaun O'L. Higgins and Colleen Striegel, plate 7, page 54.
"In the editorial department the complexities of life are reduced to their graphic elements." Caption and image from "The Detroit News 1873-1917," William A. Ulman, ©1918 by The Evening News Association, Detroit, Michigan.
World War II correspondent Ernie Pyle at his typewriter. March 1944. National Archives/Courtesy Newseum.
A farmer reading his trade paper. Coryell County, Texas. September 1931. George W. Ackerman, National Archives/Courtesy Newseum.
Marguerite Higgins adjusts her helmet sitting in front of her typewriter. She covered the fall of Adolf Hitler's war machine as a 23 year old and six years later won a Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting in Korea. July 1950. Library of Congress/Courtesy Newseum.
A medal by Scharff of Vienna from "A Short History of The Printing Press And of the Improvements in Printing Machinery from the Time of Gutenberg up to the Present Day," printed and published for Robert Hoe, New York, 1902
This Nikon camera belonged to Hocine Zaourar, an Algerian photographer who was awarded the World Press Photo of the Year award in 1998. He is in hiding, wanted by his government in connection with a photograph he made. Newseum collection, gift, Agence France Presse/Courtesy Newseum.
The press room at the Houston Forward Times, a black-owned and operated newspaper in Texas, circa 1960-69. National Archives/Courtesy Newseum.
Linotype operators compose stories for The Evening Star of Washington, D.C. Photo The Evening Star. National Archives/Courtesy Newseum.
Farmer Fred Wilfang sits on a rocking chair, reading Wallace's Farmer while listening to the radio. November 1939. Black Hawk County, Iowa. Library of Congress/Courtesy Newseum.
Max Schwartz and his brother Jacob often sold newspapers until 10 p.m.. Newark, New Jersey. December 1909. Photo by Lewis W. Hine/Courtesy Bob Giles.
Francis Luis Mora. "Morning News" (circa 1912). Oil on panel, 11 3/4 x 16 inches. San Diego Museum of Art. Bequest of Mrs. Henry A. Everett. From "The Newspaper in Art," Shaun O'L. Higgins, Colleen Striegel, and Garry Apgar, plate 153, page 139. www.sdmart.org
Newsboy holding newspapers, St. Louis, Missouri. He stands by the lightpost with the front page in his hand, scowling at passing pedestrians who aren't buying his paper. May 1910. Photo by Lewis W. Hine. National Archives/Courtesy Newseum.
A blue painted wooden newsboy wagon with white lettering that was used to deliver The Buffalo Evening News. 1915. Newseum collection/Courtesy Newseum.
Newsboys return unsold Sunday papers. Many of them had been out since 5 and 6 a.m.. Hartford, Connecticut. March 1909. Photo by Lewis W. Hine/Courtesy Bob Giles.
Newsgirls sell newspapers in Wilmington, Delaware. 1910. Photo Lewis W. Hine. Library of Congress/Courtesy Newseum.
Copyeditors in a newsroom of a city newspaper. 1952. National Archives/Courtesy Newseum.
A newsstand in New York City. January 1903. Library of Congress/Courtesy Newseum.
The editorial staff of the New York Tribune is seen in a group portrait. Seated, left to right: George M. Snow, financial editor; Bayard Taylor; Horace Greeley; George Ripley, literary editor. Standing, left to right: William Henry Fry, music editor; Charles A. Dana; Henry J. Raymond. Circa 1844-1860. Produced by Mathew Brady's studio. Library of Congress/Courtesy Newseum.
Newsroom at the New York World. January 1890. National Park Service Research Library/Courtesy Newseum.
Old Press Room, Pulitzer Building. 1908. Library of Congress/Courtesy Newseum.
A man reads The Detroit Times. August 1942. Library of Congress/ Courtesy Newseum.
Painting by William H. Jackson depicting the Pony Express and Crossings Station on the Sweetwater. National Archives/Courtesy Newseum.
Courtesy Newseum
A replica of the form used to print Poor Richard's Almanack in 1773.
Newseum collection/gift, Michael Anderson/Courtesy Newseum.
Remington 2 typewriter, circa 1880. This typewriter was the first of its kind to have upper- and lowercase letters. The space bar is made of wood. Newseum collection/Courtesy Newseum.
Sailors eagerly read an American newspaper during World War II. National Archives/Courtesy Newseum.
"The stereotypers handle fifty-six tons of metal daily." Caption and image from "The Detroit News 1873-1917," William A. Ulman, ©1918 by The Evening News Association, Detroit, Michigan.
"Telegraphic dispatches to the news exceed 75,000 words a day." Caption and image from "The Detroit News 1873-1917," William A. Ulman, ©1918 by The Evening News Association, Detroit, Michigan.
This model #1 linotype machine, built between January and June 1893, was first used in the Baltimore, Maryland area. It was sold to The Rappahanock Record circa 1925. Newseum collection/gift, Mr. and Mrs. Fred Gaskins and Mrs. Clara Christopher/Courtesy Newseum.
This 1990 Toshiba laptop was used by John Burns of The New York Times to cover assignments in Bosnia. Newseum collection/gift, John Fisher Burns/Courtesy Newseum.
"Train Station" (circa 1940), Saul Berman (American, b. Russia, 1899-1972). Oil on canvas. 20 x 35 1/2 inches. Mobile Museum of Art, purchased with proceeds from The Mobile Art AssociationÕs Treasure Benefit and Museum Purchase Fund. From "Press Gallery," Shaun O'L. Higgins and Colleen Striegel, plate 70, page 121.
People reading the newspaper on Broadway in New York City. 1861. Library of Congress/Courtesy Newseum.
