Founder and Editor of the New York Herald, James Gordon Bennett, knew the potential power of the newspaper over 150 years ago when he said American industry was in a "heaving, tumbling age." Before the invention of the steam engine and telegraph, newspapers were political party devices delivered in small circulations and highly priced; afterwards, newspaper circulations rose drastically and they became affordable.
Bennett was the first to take advantage of the new technology that made newspapers for pennies when he created the New York Herald in 1835. By 1860, he and other competing newspaper owners had made the newspaper indispensable.
How did Bennett do it? First, he kept his news coverage politically neutral, pleasing a larger audience. Second, he tried giving the people what they wanted to know, covering the stories that appealed to them. Third, Bennett implemented the idea of foreign correspondence - now a dying breed - getting the news fastest by sending reporters all over the world to cover stories. As John Steele Gordon says, "Bennett made the Herald a window to the world."
Gordon makes another good point: "The new world [of journalism] about to emerge will be profoundly different from the one we know."
No kidding! The Internet plays a major role in redefining what we know as the news business. Now, anyone can be a journalist, with the advent of blogs and open forums. This is a worrisome situation. What about professionalism and ethical standards? Truth, too, is "in for a bumpy ride," Gordon says. And the most distressing of all questions Gordon raises to an aspiring journalist like me is "Who is a journalist?" We will have to redefine a journalist as well. If nothing else, Gordon says, providing links to the evidence for a story will keep us hopeful for the future of online journalism.