Sloan has undertaken to fill a long-standing gap in the study of journalism history. He has compiled a comprehensive annotated bibliography of works pertaining to United States journalism history from colonial to contemporary times. Some 2,600 separate entries provide information on dissertations, articles, monographs, books and reference materials published between 1810 and 1988. . . . Overall this is a useful, stimulating volume that pulls together a diverse collection of materials. It should enrich the teaching and writing of journalism history. American Journalism The history of the American news media has been a popular subject with journalists, popular writers, and historians since the early years of the Republic, and it continues to attract widespread interest. Until now, however, no complete bibliography of these historical materials has been available. This comprehensive work provides access to the existing literature on all types of journalism from newspapers to television. In his introduction, Sloan reviews the different approaches to journalism history that have characterized writing in the field. The bibliography is divided by historical period and general theme into 16 sections. Carefully annotated, it presents concise summaries and bibliographic information for some 2,600 articles, books, research guides, and reference works published between 1810 and 1988. More than 100 journals are included. Cross-referencing and a detailed index will help the reader locate materials on specific topics as well as those with wider application. An invaluable tool for historians and other scholars engaged in research, this book will also serve as a useful reference for courses in mass communications and the history of journalism.

The first book in a six-volume series on the history of American journalism, this volume provides a survey of the earliest printing in the American colonies, up through the Revolutionary War. The work focuses on the nature of journalism during the years covered, considers noteworthy figures, examines the relationship of journalism to society, and provides explanations for the main directions that journalism was taking.

Early American printing was animated by remarkable vitality and sophistication, with the life of each newspaper and printer being marked by individual ideas and individual struggles. Early Americans also had quite sophisticated ideas about the role and operation of the press. In this survey, the authors try to suggest the complexities of the early American press. They address such issues as why newspapers first appeared, the purpose that newspaper operators saw for themselves, the role of the practice of journalism in the colonial press, and the role of the press in influencing public opinion. Their primary focus, however, is on the essential nature of the early American press and the factors that accounted for that character.