Before radio and television, E. W. Scripps's twenty-one newspapers,
major newswire service, and prominent news syndication service comprised
the first truly national media organization in the United States. Dale
E. Zacher details the scope, organization, and character of the mighty
Scripps empire during World War I and reveals how the pressures of the
market, government censorship, propaganda, and progressivism transformed
news coverage.
Zacher's account delves into details inside a major newspaper operation
during World War I and provides fascinating accounts of its struggles
with competition, attending to patriotic duties, and internal editorial
dissent. Zacher also looks at war-related issues, considering the
newspapers' relationship with President Woodrow Wilson, American
neutrality, the move to join the war, and fallout from disillusionment
over the actuality of war. As Zacher shows, the progressive spirit and
political independence at the Scripps newspapers came under attack and
was changed forever during the era.