[[File:Telegraph.jpeg|250px|left|thumbnail|Telegraph Wires]]In <i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/067462212X/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=067462212X&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=442704e8ea61d8459f5ce027a668a0c4 News over the Wires: The Telegraph and the Flow of Public Information in America, 1844-1897]</i> published by the Harvard University Press, Menahem Blondheim sees argues that the telegraph as was a key crucial moment in the change from an "age of transportation" to an "age of electric communication." He quotes an 1847 poem to highlight the changedifference, with rhapsodizing over "the sleepless heralds [who] run along the smooth and slender wires." Clearly, an An earlier idea of communication as a messenger traveling across space has survived in the emerging nineteenth -century ways of understanding "instant" transmission. The possibility that information could be transmitted immediately to multiple points seemed wondrous to people of the time, as if it were a force of nature, like the rays of the sun. The telegraph could allow details of life and death importance to be conveyed much more quickly, and its . Its utility to the financial industry (e.g. , verifying checks against existing accounts, developing networks) was obvious. The 1840s and 50s saw a reduction in price differences between different regional markets, as information about goods could become more widely shared by people geographically separated. Some noted the potentially adverse effect of the telegraph on state sovereignties and local authority, as people's access to information grows more uniform and sources become more centralized. Blondheim is particularly interested in the role of the Associated Press, first as an oligopoly (the New York AP and the Western AP) and then as a monopoly of information when two competitors joined forcesevident.
Blondheim is careful to note that the telegraph only improved upon rapid The 1840s and recent gains 50s saw a reduction in the speed of price differences between different regional markets, as information. Between 1790 and 1817 the time it took for messages to reach Boston from Washington went from 18 to 6.2 days, and about goods could become more widely shared by 1841 it took only 2.8 dayspeople geographically separated. All this without Some noted the telegraph. The author says that the new device only improved the speed by a day or two, but that is also supposing that the news travels between two major cities with significant transportation infrastructure. At the start potentially adverse effect of the nineteenth century, there was actually a dearth of news, since the population was small, scattered, telegraph on state sovereignties and locally focusedlocal authority, and even the party papers had not gotten fully started yet. Blondheim describes this period as the people'discovery of timelinesss access to information grows more uniform,' as instant transmission meant getting the scoop on a story was and sources become more important than evercentralized. He quotes James Carey: "when information moves at unequal rates of speed, what Blondheim is already particularly interested in the past for role of the privileged is still Associated Press, first as an oligopoly (the future for New York AP and the deprived." Using the mail system privileged private correspondence over the cumbersome process of editing Western AP) and printing then as a publication, thus favoring insiders; so newspapers invested in costly pony and locomotive expresses to get the edge monopoly of new information, allowing the public sphere could compete with the private in terms of speed. By the time these accomplishments had been made, the telegraph came along (1844) to nullify their significancewhen two competitors joined forces.
Oddly enoughBlondheim is careful to note that the telegraph only improved upon rapid and recent gains in the speed of information. Between 1790 and 1817, Samuel Fthe time it took for messages to reach Boston from Washington went from 18 to 6.B2 days, and by 1841 it took only 2.8 days. All this without the telegraph. Morse's dad was The author says that the new device only improved the speed by a day or two, but that is also supposing that the Noah Webster of teaching geography in Americanews travels between two major cities with significant transportation infrastructure. And he missed his wife's funeral because At the start of the slowness nineteenth century, there was a dearth of newssince the population was small, scattered, and locally focused, and even the party papers had not gotten fully started yet. "Unlike most previous technological advances applied to communicationsBlondheim describes this period as the 'discovery of timeliness, ' as instant transmission meant getting the telegraph scoop on a story was not a vehicle but a channelmore important than ever.He quotes James Carey: " It was multidirectionalwhen information moves at unequal rates of speed, as evidenced in what is already the role it played in past for the 1844 Democratic nominating convention, when Silas Wright let privileged is still the Dems know he declined joining future for the ticket with James Polkdeprived. While older systems such as " Using the mails or mail system privileged private expresses favored those with connections or large capital investments, correspondence over the telegraph did not destroy all such inequities - geography still played cumbersome process of editing and printing a rolepublication. This system favored insiders, even though lines proliferated rapidly so newspapers invested in the 1840s a costly pony and 50slocomotive express to get new information faster. Nearness This change allowed the public sphere to compete with the lines and points private in terms of convergence in speed. By the networks, like New York or Boston, still mattered. In this sensetime these accomplishments had been made, the network was nearly as rigid as the railroads and perhaps even more centrally controlledtelegraph came along (1844) to nullify their significance.
Some thought instantaneous communication should have helped resolve social problemsOddly enough, but the author points to Lewis MumfordSamuel F.B. Morse's ideas about communicationdad was the Noah Webster of teaching geography in America. And he missed his wife's "paradox" - basically, that funeral because of the more people talk to each other, slowness of the more they disagreenews. The AP had existed 15 years prior "Unlike most previous technological advances applied to communications, the Civil War, telegraph was not a vehicle but it had not fostered an adequate enough understanding of regional differences to prevent conflicta channel. Indeed" It was multidirectional, Blondheim argues, "The change as evidenced in the speed and scope of political reporting accelerated escalation of role it played in the sectional issue… Ultimately, rapid and intensive circulation of political statements nationwide made it impossible for 1844 Democratic nominating convention when Silas Wright let the parties and candidates Dems know he declined to say different things in different areasjoin the ticket with James Polk." Robert Wiebe may have described Americans While older systems such as living in "island communities" at the start of mails or private expresses favored those with connections or large capital investments, the Gilded Agetelegraph did not destroy all such inequities - geography still played a role, even though lines proliferated rapidly in the late 19th century, but Blondheim argues that the telegraph began 1840s and 50s. Nearness to expose people to more homogenized insights about the outside world once the Civil War lines and Reconstruction had come to pass. On one hand, we may say that points of convergence in the APnetworks, being a monopoly that could easily impose a uniform slant on its reportinglike New York or Boston, meant there was very little choice available in terms of newsstill mattered. On In this sense, the other hand, one could say that network was nearly as rigid as the telegraph railroads and the AP made a greater number of political viewpoints available, since the various parties’ actual platforms were better known throughout the country than they had been in earlier yearsperhaps even more centrally controlled.
Some thought instantaneous communication should have helped resolve social problems, but the author points to Lewis Mumford's ideas about communication's "paradox" - basically, that the more people talk to each other, the more they disagree. The AP had existed 15 years prior to the Civil War, but it had not fostered an adequate enough understanding of regional differences to prevent conflict. Indeed, Blondheim argues, "The change in the speed and scope of political reporting accelerated escalation of the sectional issue… Ultimately, rapid and intensive circulation of political statements nationwide made it impossible for the parties and candidates to say different things in different areas." Robert Wiebe may have described Americans as living in "island communities" at the start of the Gilded Age, in the late 19th century, but Blondheim argues that the telegraph began to expose people to more homogenized insights about the outside world once the Civil War and Reconstruction had come to pass. On one hand, we may say that the AP, being a monopoly that could easily impose a uniform slant on its reporting, meant there was very little choice available in terms of news. On the other hand, one could say that the telegraph and the AP made a greater number of political viewpoints available since the various parties' actual platforms were better known throughout the country than they had been in earlier years. News over the Wires contains an argument about longer-term American political and social development. It makes a nice companion piece to Michael McGerr's The Decline of Popular Politics, which illustrates the shift from a classic nineteenth -century model of high voter turnout, intense partisanship, political machines , and pageantry, to a new politics characterized by "education" (intellectual arguments about policy, widely distributed), advertising, and sensational mass journalism. Blondheim sees the AP replacing the old partisan journalism with a new, "objective," rationalized, mass-market form of knowledge, lacking in regional curiosities. "The wire service was not a local institution," he notes. AP leaders emphasized facts, unjudged, and considered information to be a commodity like any other. Blondheim acknowledges that this regime of supposed neutrality tended to favor Republicans, business, and anti-labor politics, and may have influenced key elections along the way, but he does not account for how the intensely biased media institutions of distinctive personalities like Pulitzer and Hearst grew up alongside this so-called monopoly of singular general knowledge. [[Category:Book Review]] [[Category:Wikis]]
