THE PARTY PRESS: THE NEWSPAPER ROLE IN NATIONAL POLITICS, 1789-1816

摘要

The political function of American newspapers during 1789-1816 has received little study by historians, who tend to evaluate the press of the period very critically.;This dissertation is an attempt to (1)define more clearly the role of the party press during the Federalist-Republican period with especial attention given to the relationship between journalists and politicians, (2)present some critical analysis of the major historical assumptions about the press, and (3)offer a re-evaluation of the party press based on its performance of its journalistic and political roles. The dissertation's various chapters assess the importance of the press in regard to public opinion, discuss the relationship of the press to politicians, examine the political functions of the press, discuss the methods by which the press attempted to carry out its functions, examine the political threats aimed at silencing editors, and evaluate the performance of the press and the traditional historical interpretations of the press in light of this performance.;This dissertation, taking exception to most of the assumptions implicit in the traditional historical interpretations, attempts to show (1)that the press was a major instrument in the Federalists' and Republicans' attempts to gain political dominance, (2)that the expected role of the press was one measured by partisanship and not by performance of more recent journalistic standards, (3)that the traditional interpretations are short-sighted, and (4)that the performance of the party press was better than historians have perceived.