Existing comment:
1860
A New Era of Reporting:
The Civil War marked the first time that large numbers of independent reporters covered the same story. The high cost of sending a telegraph message resulted in reporters concentrating on essential facts rather than flowery prose. President Abraham Lincoln's assassination marked an unusual convergence of history, technology and journalistic innovation that resulted in unprecedented coverage of a breaking news event. Some newspapers updated editions as bulletins arrived -- the first time that extra editions were published in such rapid succession for such an extended period. |