Khalida Senghori
September 5, 2022
The artifact I have chosen is the newspaper. The use of newspapers can date all the way back to the ancient Romans; they would post newspapers about social and political events. As literacy increased, the circulation of newspapers increased with it.
Newspaper businesses usually release new newspaper issues daily or weekly and newspaper businesses are based in certain cities ie. New York Times, Washington Post, etc. Although anyone in the world can read newspapers from these companies, the majority of the readers are most likely living in the same city/area that the newspaper is based in. The people in that city can pick up a newspaper from their front doorstep and read about the current events happening in their area. Are you planning a yard sale this weekend? Put an ad about it in the local newspaper. Do you want to know who in the community has died recently? Look in the obituary section in the local newspaper. Newspapers are what kept communities “in the loop” before the invention of the television or smartphones and social media. They connect people through the topics they present. They give people within the area something to talk about during casual conversation. More importantly, newspapers offer the opportunity of debate. For example, a district representative running for re-election may have their ad in the newspaper expressing their political views. Most people may agree with the representative’s views while others are against them.
Throughout American history, newspapers have played a major role in framing the civic by introducing new opinions and shaping public opinion. Every major political conflict found in American history has at least one major newspaper article associated with it. Take some newspapers from World War II as an example. The titles “War! Oahu bombed by Japanese planes” and “Peace! Japan Capitulates” is bolded in all caps at the top. Based on the article title, it is clear that the publication holds the opinion that we need to go to war against Japan. Therefore, the people reading the article will probably adopt this opinion as well. On the other hand, if the newspaper contained an anti-war related title, the people reading it would be introduced to this opinion and would likely adopt that opinion. The title of newspapers is important in shaping public opinion.
The influence of this artifact has clearly changed over time. Ever since the creation of the Internet and social media, younger members of society have relied less on newspapers as their main source of information. To the younger generation, newspapers are an artifact of the past while the older generation were raised using newspapers as their source of information and continue to rely on them for the most part.
References:
“Newspaper.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 20 July 1998, https://www.britannica.com/topic/newspaper.
“Part 3: The Role of Newspapers.” Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech, Pew Research Center, 31 Dec. 2019, https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2011/09/26/part-3-the-role-of-newspapers/.