1. Choose a topic and read the article in 100 Media Moments that Changed America.
2. Copy and paste the article on a word document. Use MLA format.
3. Highlight 5 pieces of textual support that provides evidence of why the event or person changed America.
4. Write a summary of the evidence.
• The event or person had an important significance in the development of American society. It had to change society—or at least a large portion of it—in some meaningful way.
• The event or person had important significance for the development of the media themselves. It had to change the media or journalism in some important way.
• The person and/or news medium gave a voice to those who needed a voice.
• The way in which the moment was presented by the media had to affect American society in some significant way.
• The development reflected an important change underway in society.
• The development or individual was just too unique not to be included.
PART 1: THE NEW NATION: 1690–1799 1
1. America’s First Newspaper 1
2. James Franklin Defies Authority 2
3. The Zenger Case 4
4. The Massachusetts Spy Incites a Revolution 5
5. The Committees of Correspondence 6
6. Thomas Paine Writes of ‘‘The Crisis’’ 8
7. Ben Franklin Picks Up a Pen 9
8. The Federalist Papers Stir Debate 10
9. Press Freedom Becomes the Law 12
PART II: THE 19TH CENTURY:THE PIONEERING SPIRIT ABOUNDS 15
10. Founding the New York Sun 15
11. Greeley Launches the New York Tribune 16
12. The Great Moon Hoax 19
13. Stanley Finds Livingstone 21
14. The First Advertising Agency 23
15. Douglass Launches the North Star 24
16. Founding the Associated Press 25
PART III: THE 20TH CENTURY:GROWTH AND TRAGEDIES DEFINE AMERICA 45
26. The Shame of the Cities 45
27. The Beginning of Public Relations 47
28. The Sinking of the Titanic 48
29. The President Meets the Press 49
30. Witnessing the Dawn of World War I 51
31. Wilson Drafts George Creel 52
32. Station 8XK Goes on the Air 54
33. The Founding of RCA 55
34. William Allen White’s ‘‘Mary White’’ 57
35. Henry Luce Launches Time 59
36. NBC Launches a Network 60
37. Bill Paley Builds CBS 61
38. Cissy Patterson Shakes Up Washington 64
39. The Communications Act of 1934 66
40. The War of the Worlds Broadcast 68
41. Adolf Hitler Steps into History 69
42. ‘‘This Is London’’ 70
43. Ernie Pyle Reports World War II 72
44. The Flag Raising on Mount Suribachi 73
45. The Launching of Ebony 75
46. Candid Camera Starts Reality TV 76
47. Hearst Promotes Young Evangelist 77
48. Launching the USIA 79
49. The First Network Television Newscast 81
50. Murrow Confronts McCarthy 82
51. TV’s First Presidential Election 84
52. NBC Launches Today 86
53. Publishing Christianity Today 88
54. The Twenty-One Scandal 89
55. Introducing the Mercury Seven Astronauts 92
56. Truman Capote Pens In Cold Blood 94
57. The Kennedy/Nixon Debates 96
58. The Cuban Missile Crisis 97
59. Cronkite Takes the CBS Anchor Desk 100
60. The First Television News Consultants 101
61. The Birmingham Protests 103
62. The Kennedy Assassination 105
63. A Barbed Press Arises 107
64. Birthing the FOIA 109
65. The Paper Lion Joins the Story 111
66. Rolling Out Rolling Stone 112
67. Covering the Tet Offensive 114
68. The Birth of 60 Minutes 116
69. The Pentagon Papers 119
70. Gloria Steinem Launches Ms. Magazine 121
71. Watergate 123
72. The Founding of Microsoft 125
73. Walters and Reasoner Shake Up the News 126
74. Launching ESPN 128
75. From Film to Real-Time Reporting 129
76. The Birth of Nightline 130
77. ‘‘Jimmy’s World’’ of Imagination 132
78. Ted Turner Launches CNN 134
79. MTV Branches Out 137
80. Launching USA Today 139
81. The Fox Network Premiers 140
82. The Challenger Disaster 142
83. The Wall Comes Down 144
84. The Carol Stuart Murder Case 146
85. Live from Baghdad 148
86. NBC’s Exploding Pickup Truck 149
87. The Oklahoma City Bombing 150
88. The O. J. Simpson Trial 154
89. Exposing Big Tobacco Abuses 156
90. The Birth of the World Wide Web 159
91. The Launching of Google 161 P
PART IV: THE 21ST CENTURY: 2000–2009 171
92. 9/11 171
93. Embedding War Reporters 174
94. The Founding of Facebook 176
95. Hurricane Katrina 177
96. CBS Taps Katie Couric 181
97. The Abramoff Scandal 183
98. The YouTubing of America 186
99. The 2008 Presidential Campaign 187
100. From Analog to Digital TV 191
PART V: STRETCHING THE LIST OF 100: TEN NOTABLE ADDITIONAL MOMENTS 195
1. Joe Louis KO’s Max Schmeling 195
2. The Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II 198
3. New York Times v. Sullivan 198
4. The Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. 201
5. Viewtron: Right Idea, Wrong Time 203
6. Dropping in on a Famine 204
7. Exposing Erring Televangelists 206
8. The Drudge Report 207
9. The Founding of Napster 208
10. The Fight for PBS 209