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Newspaper
While several colonies had printers and occasional newspapers, high literacy rates combined with the desire for self-government made Boston a perfect location for the creation of a newspaper, and the first continuous press was started there in 1704. -
New York Sun
Between 1830 and 1860, machines and manufacturing made the production of newspapers faster and less expensive. Benjamin Day’s paper, the New York Sun, used technology like the linotype machine to mass-produce papers. -
Radio Equipment
Having first experimented with radio transmissions in the attic of his parent's home, Marconi traveled to England in a search for investors. There, he founded the Wireless Telegraph and Signal Company Limited which began building radio equipment in 1889. -
New York Times
Adolph Ochs purchased the New York Times with the goal of creating a dignified newspaper that would provide readers with important news about the economy, politics, and the world rather than gossip and comics. -
Motion Picture
Motion pictures became popular, first as single-viewer kinetoscopes, then as films projected for mass audiences. Edison's company, Thomas A. Edison, Inc., produced films showing famous people, news events, disasters, and everyday people doing everyday activities. -
Radio Signals
Marconi successfully transmitted the first radio signals across the Atlantic Ocean, becoming the Trans-Atlantic radio transmission. -
Newsreels
Only days after and earthquake and fire destroyed much of San Francisco, the first "newsreels" were there to capture the devastation. This disaster would be the first major event of its kind to be captured for the viewing audiences around the United States and the world, though much the "ongoing destruction" was staged for the cameras. -
Electric Light
Having already conceived, built and marketed an amazing number of devices like the motion picture camera — invents the electric light. The stars disappear in urban areas, and life becomes a 24-hour experience with the simple flick of a switch. -
Radio News
Radio news started to make its way into the mainstream. The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) and the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) began running sponsored news programs and radio dramas. As radio listenership grew, politicians realized that the medium offered a way to reach the public in a personal manner.