1.4 Read All about It: The Birth of the Newsfeed

While some early newspapers, political tracts, academic bulletins, and other printed sheets were gaining ground in Europe and Japan from the early 1600s through the first decades of the 19th century, it took a broke businessman in New York City to understand the power of reach and frequency for the medium to become profitable. You see, in 1833 in New York City, most newspapers were costly luxuries, selling for 6 to 10 cents a copy. But then Benjamin Day started publishing a newspaper called The Sun, selling copies for just one cent. These new, lower-priced papers suddenly had much higher readerships, and as they were partially funded by advertisements (it sounds more old-timey if you pronounce it “ad-VER-tis-ments”) Mr. Day quickly realized that as he printed and sold MORE copies of The Sun, he could also charge the advertisers in the paper MORE money for the same size ads because they were reaching more potential buyers of their products.

Of course, advances in printing press efficiencies, lower shipping costs, and an ever-growing community of readers didn’t hurt either. Within a decade, other “penny press” papers had started up both in New York City and in other growing markets along the Eastern seaboard. These inexpensive papers helped create a common culture among a nation of immigrants. News, politics, sports, and gossip were made available to the working classes and brought them together as never before. Prejudice and racism and poverty were perhaps commonplace. But the American Dream of freedom and opportunity were being experienced and embraced by more of her citizens than ever before.