Addressing the Problem(s) of Journalism History

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Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. James Carey, “The Problem of Journalism History,” in The American Journalism History Reader, ed. Bonnie Brennen and Hanno Hardt (New York: Routledge, 2011), 23.

2. David Paul Nord, “James Carey and Journalism History: A Remembrance,” Journalism History 32, no. 3 (2006): 122–27, https://doi.org/10.1080/00947679.2006.12062707.

3. Nord, “James Carey and Journalism History,” 125.

4. Marion Marzolf, “Operationalizing Carey—An Approach to the Cultural History of Journalism,” Journalism History 2, no. 2 (1975): 42–43, https://doi.org/10.1080/00947679.1975.12066772; John E. Erickson, “One Approach to the Cultural History of Reporting,” Journalism History 2, no. 2 (1975): 40–41, 43, https://doi.org/10.1080/00947679.1975.12066771; and Richard A. Schwarzlose, “First Things First: A Proposal,” Journalism History 2, no. 2 (1975): 38–39, 63, https://doi.org/10.1080/00947679.1975.12066770.

5. Amber Roessner, Rick Popp, Brian Creech, and Fred Blevens, “‘A Measure of Theory?’ Considering the Role of Theory in Media History,” American Journalism 30, no. 2 (2013): 260–78, https://doi.org/10.1080/08821127.2013.790778; Raymond Williams, The Long Revolution (New York: Columbia University Press, 1961); and Stuart Hall, “Notes on Deconstructing ‘The Popular’,” in People’s History and Socialist Theory, ed. Raphael Samuel (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1981), 227–40.

6. Gerry Lanosga, Alexia Little, Lillie Fears, and Candi Carter Olson, “Identifying Research Gaps and Opportunities as Journal’s Fiftieth Anniversary Nears,” Journalism History 48, no. 4 (2022): 269–82, https://doi.org/10.1080/00947679.2022.2125780.

7. Lanosga et al., “Identifying Research Gaps.”

8. David Paul Nord, “A Plea for Journalism History,” Journalism History 15, no. 1 (1988): 8–15, https://doi.org/10.1080/00947679.1988.12066658.

9. Lanosga et al., “Identifying Research Gaps,” 269–82.

10. Lanosga et al., “Identifying Research Gaps.”

11. Roessner et al., “‘A Measure of Theory?’” 262; and Barbara Friedman, Carolyn Kitch, Therese Lueck, Amber Roessner, and Betty Winfield, “Stirred, Not Yet Shaken: Integrating Women’s History into Media History,” American Journalism 26, no. 1 (2009): 160–73, https://doi.org/10.1080/08821127.2009.10677706.

12. Lanosga et al., “Identifying Research Gaps,” 269–82.

13. Lanosga et al., “Identifying Research Gaps.”

14. Lanosga et al., “Identifying Research Gaps.”

15. Susan J. Douglas. “Writing From the Archive: Creating Your Own,” Communication Review 13, no. 1 (2010): 5–14, https://doi.org/10.1080/10714420903558613; Roessner et al., “‘A Measure of Theory?’”; and John Nerone, “Does Journalism History Matter?” American Journalism 28, no. 4 (2011): 7–27, https://doi.org/10.1080/08821127.2011.10677800.

16. Nerone, “Does Journalism History Matter?” 20.

17. Margaret A. Blanchard, “The Ossification of Journalism History: A Challenge for the Twenty-first Century,” Journalism History 25, no. 3 (1999): 107, https://doi.org/10.1080/00947679.1999.12062521.

18. Jordan E. Taylor, “Enquire of the Printer: Newspaper Advertising and the Moral Economy of the North American Slave Trade, 1704–1807,” Early American Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal 18, no. 3 (2020): 287–323, https://doi.org/10.1353/eam.2020.0008.

19. Melissa Greene-Blye and Teri Finneman, “The Influence of Indigenous Standpoint: Examining Indian Country Press Portrayals of Native Women in Politics,” Newspaper Research Journal 44, no. 4 (2023): 390–408, https://doi.org/10.1177/07395329231155195; Melita M. Garza, They Came to Toil: Newspaper Representations of Mexicans and Immigrants in the Great Depression (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2018); Jinx Broussard, Giving a Voice to the Voiceless: Four Pioneering Black Women Journalists (New York: Routledge, 2003); Yong Volz, “Going Public Through Writing: Women Journalists and Gendered Journalistic Space in China, 1890s-1920s,” Media, Culture & Society 29, no. 3 (2007): 469–89, https://doi.org/10.1177/0163443707076186; and Andrew E. Stoner, Dear Abby, I’m Gay: Newspaper Advice Columnists and Homosexuality in America (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2021). See also Melissa Greene-Blye, “Finding the First Americans in American Journalism History,” in The Routledge Companion to American Journalism History, ed. Melita M. Garza, Michael Fuhlhage, and Tracy Lucht (New York: Routledge, 2023), 297–306. Additional chapters in The Routledge Companion to American Journalism History feature comprehensive explorations of gap areas related to race, gender, intersectionality, community journalism, labor journalism, radio news, transnational television history, alternative media, and more—all critical foundations for future research.

20. The foregoing articles are mentioned only by way of example. Given the brevity of this essay, it cannot acknowledge all extant work that provides foundations for future directions, nor does it provide a comprehensive historiography of debate about the problem of journalism history. Rather, it focuses on the findings commissioned for this journal with brief suggestions for progress.

21. Nord, “A Plea for Journalism History,” 9.

22. Roessner et al., “‘A Measure of Theory?’” 272–73.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Alexia Little

Alexia Little is a doctoral student studying journalism and mass communication at the University of Georgia. Her research primarily focuses on the cultural intersections of collective memory, myth, and media. Her work has appeared in Journalism History and American Journalism, earning best article finalist recognitions for both publications.

Gerry Lanosga

Gerry Lanosga, PhD, is an associate professor and director of journalism in the Media School at Indiana University. He researches the practice of journalism in both contemporary and historical settings, in particular the development of journalism as a profession, prize culture in journalism, and journalism’s intersections with public policy.