The Business of Newspapers in Post-Civil War America

Population demographics in Hawaii, 1860 to 1930

Durnad, E. Dana, and WM. J. Harris. “Thirteenth Census of the United States Taken in the Year 1910-Statistics for Hawaii,” 1913. https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1910/abstract/supplement-hi.pdf. Lamont, R.P, and W.M. Steuart. “Fifteenth Census of the United States:1930 Outlying Territories and Possessions,” 1932. https://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/00476569ch3.pdf Robert C. Schmitt, Demographic Statistics of Hawaii: 1778-1965. (Honolulu,1968). Robert C. Schmitt, Historical Statistics of Hawaii. (Honolulu,1977), http://www.ohadatabook.com/T01-01-13.pdf

Photo of Joseph Pulitzer from The Missouri Historical Society (c. 1880)

Joseph Pulitzer was the founder and publisher of the New York Evening World printing company. Born in Mako, Hungary, he moved to Boston, Massachusetts in 1864 and served in the Union Army during the American Civil War After the war, he moved to St. Louis, Missouri and gained a profit from his share in the newspaper, the Westliche Post. The profit he made helped him to purchase the St. Louis Dispatch and St. Louis Post and merge them into one newspaper, known as the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. In 1883, Pulitzer moved to New York City and purchased the New York World from financial speculator, Jay Gould. The success of the New York Evening World came out of Pulitzer’s rivalry with William Randolph Hearst (founder of the New York Journal). According to Pulitzer biographers George H. Douglas and Nancy Whitelaw, the success of the New York Evening World came from Pulitzer’s decision to make daily newspaper prices cheap for consumers and focus on lower-class citizens as well as immigrants.

Sinking of the USS Maine, 1898

Front page of the New-York Tribune, February 16, 1898 https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/data/batches/dlc_triumph_ver01/data/sn83030214/00175036817/1898021601/0281.pdf

Jersey City News, March 17, 1896

This specific edition of The Jersey City news includes many different stories from Washington D.C., showing that the newspaper found political news to be significant. The news covered from Washington D.C. includes information on the supreme court and justices, and even congressional decisions. The editor could have included all of this information and news from Washington D.C. because decisions made in places such as congress and the supreme court could have a large impact on cities like Jersey City.

Jersey City News, July 29, 1902

This specific advertisement in The Jersey City News has a very large and obvious advertisement directly on the front page for a gas range, which implies that this product is something that many readers would need in their everyday lives. Advertisements on the front page are more likely to be read and more readers will be interested in the product.

Jersey City News, July 29, 1902

This specific advertisement in The Jersey City News has a very large and obvious advertisement directly on the front page for a gas range, which implies that this product is something that many readers would need in their everyday lives. Advertisements on the front page are more likely to be read and more readers will be interested in the product.

Jersey City News

In the paper’s description of who wrote, edited and published the edition, The Jersey City News has the same quote on every issue, “The only Democratic daily paper published in Jersey City.” This expresses that the paper had a significant stance in the political and social world, which influences what audience would read and discuss the content.