2025-12-Book-Review-November| Download PDF
Ford Risley and Ashley Walter. How America gets the news: A history of U.S. Journalism. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2024, 239 pp., $25.20 (hardback) ISBN 9781442235267. Reviewed by Joseph Jones, Reed School of Media & Communications, West Virginia University, joseph.jones@mail.wvu.edu
How America Gets the News is an engaging and concise history of United States journalism. It scratches an itch I didn’t know I had, namely, reading a short survey of American news filled with witty anecdotes and telling examples. While advanced scholars of American journalism may find little new here, they are seemingly not the intended audience, and the authors pull off an impressive feat by fitting so much information in under 200 pages. I say seemingly because reading such a compact descriptive history was a valuable exercise. In a matter of hours, I was able to refresh my overall knowledge of American journalism history and had a bigger picture in mind with which to approach my next history syllabus redesign. As Risley and Walter hit most of the familiar highlights of journalism history (e.g., the Zenger trial, Benjamin Franklin’s publishing career, the rise of penny papers, the Hearst-Pulitzer rivalry, the Black press, etc.), the narrative flows smoothly, and even as it trod familiar ground, it is an enjoyable read. While a textbook like Media in America: A History by Sloan and company clocks in at over 500 pages, this work tells a similar overarching story in a much more straightforward format. While brevity is not necessarily a good in itself, one can imagine a world where shortened attention spans demand shorter textbooks. Whether one might consider this a textbook requires an honest assessment of what this book is. Overall, it is primarily a contribution of descriptive history and grand narrative addressing the first American newspapers of the 1690s up to the digital transformations of the 2020s. Covering that much history in 197 pages means important decisions must be made, and whether one seems them as a strength or weakness depends on what one is looking for.
One ideal audience for this book is the general reader. Because it is informative, straightforward, and accessible, it is perfect for the kind of reader with minimal (or no) background in journalism history. I can imagine gifting this to a family member who is curious about how American news media developed but doesn’t share my privilege of having a healthy amount of time to read for work. There’s no doubt this book would help general readers develop more-informed views on what news is, how we got to our current state, and what journalism might be moving forward.
The first thing a scholar might notice is that this book lacks in-text citations, no doubt a smart choice for what this book is trying to achieve. While each chapter has a healthy bibliography, it does not necessarily require citations because this is largely a work of descriptive history. The historical narrative is logical and coherent with all of the hallmarks of good historical writing, contouring the causes, consequences, and contexts of unique actors, social phenomenon, and eras. But it is also not a work of complex argumentation or analytical depth. And perhaps this is the books greatest strength. I could imagine using this work as the short overall textbook for a history survey course, then providing academic articles and primary document analysis to sharpen students’ historical reasoning and imagination.
The book is organized into seven chronological chapters (with a prologue), and journalism historians will find the year demarcations familiar while the naming conventions are more thoughtfully novel. Chapter 1 is The Founding Press:1690 to 1765, then comes The Political Press: 1765 to 1833, followed by The Public Press: 1833 to 1865. While we may normally consider the Penny Press Era starting in 1833 a commercial press, calling it “public” says something important about the changing readership of news. Chapter 4 is then, The Commercial Press: 1865-1920, followed by The Expanding Press: 1920-1950. This organization allows the authors to address the development of radio and television news in one chapter. Chapter 6 is titled, The Alternative Press: 1950-1985, which highlights the discussion of civil rights, anti-war, and other justice-oriented news as well as the founding of public media. The final chapter is The Digital Press: 1985-2023 which includes discussions about the creation of the internet in addition to the digital outlets that now dot the mediascape. Like any historical categorization, the years don’t always neatly match the intended themes. Addressing, for example, the feminist and Black press in “the expanding press” chapter identified as 1920-1950, means discussing a good bit of content from the 19th century. But overall, the organization into seven chapters—each with a grounding theme—helps guide the reader, and the book holds together as a coherent narrative. In other words, and perhaps most importantly given the nature of the book, it tells a good story.
The biggest flaw might be a matter of the book copy I received for review. There are a few times in the text where the century changes seemingly out of nowhere. In discussing the lead up to the Revolutionary War, for example, the text discusses events in the 1700’s then states, “the Stamp Act, passed in March 1865…” (p. 26). Similarly, Ben Franklin’s career is talked about correctly in terms of the 1720’s, then states his publishing partner left in 1830. The text then references his increased use of advertising with numbers from “1835” before returning to (the correct) dates of Poor Richard’s Almanack in 1732 (p. 13-15). While this may be the result of the advanced copy I received, it is something worth double-checking before devising a reading quiz.
In the end, this is a book I didn’t know I needed. Its straightforward simplicity, telling anecdotes, and brevity are its greatest strengths, making this ideal for general readers or possibly undergrads who will also be given in-depth readings or assignments. For myself, it was a great read for when I otherwise might have picked up a magazine or novel, refreshing my historical knowledge while telling an enjoyable story. It can remind scholars of the highlights while also providing anecdotes one could use in class or during public-facing interviews. While it is not a book replete with original argumentation or deep analysis, this is also not its purpose. Anyone looking for a concise, uncomplicated, yet informative read on the history of American journalism would be served by this book. In an age where time is exceedingly precious and our attentions are hopelessly divided, such fact-based storytelling is something we desperately need.
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