The power of the American press to influence and even set the
political agenda is commonly associated with the rise of such press
barons as Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst at the turn
of the century. The latter even took credit for instigating the
Spanish-American War. Their power, however, had deeper roots in the
journalistic culture of the nineteenth century, particularly in the
social and political conflicts that climaxed with the Civil War.
Until now historians have paid little attention to the role of the
press in defining and disseminating the conflicting views of the
North and the South in the decades leading up to the Civil War. In
"The Civil War and the Press" historians, political scientists, and
scholars of journalism measure the influence of the press, explore
its diversity, and profile the prominent editors and publishers of
the day. The book is divided into three sections covering the role
of the press in the prewar years, throughout the conflict itself,
and during the Reconstruction period. Part 1, "Setting the Agenda
for Secession and War," considers the rise of the consumer society
and the journalistic readership, the changing nature of editorial
standards and practice, the issues of abolitionism, secession, and
armed resistence as reflected in Northern and Southern newspapers,
the reporting on John Brown's Harper's Ferry raid, and the
influence of journalism on the 1860 election results. Part 2, "In
Time of War," includes discussions of journalistic images and ideas
of womanhood in the context of war, the political orientation of
the Jewish press, the rise of illustrated periodicals, and issues
of censorship and opposition journalism. The chapters in Part 3,
"Reconstructing a Nation," detail the infiltration of the former
Confederacy by hundreds of federally subsidized Republican
newspapers, editorial reactions to the developing issue of voting
rights for freed slaves, and the journalistic mythologization of
Jesse James as a resister of Reconstruction laws and conquering
Unionists. In tracing the confluence of journalism and politics
from its source, this groundbreaking volume opens a wide variety of
perspectives on a crucial period in American history while raising
questions that remain pertainent to contemporary tensions between
press power and government power. "The Civil War and the Press"
will be essential reading for historians, media studies
specialists, political scientists, and readers interested in the
Civil War period.
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