Through the story of the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, Scott M. Bushnell presents the political history of Fort Wayne, Allen County, and Indiana's northeastern region. With an informal tone and the snappy style of a seasoned journalist, Bushnell explores just how integrally newspapers were linked to, and even shaped, political events.
Recently the IU Press blog interviewed Bushnell about his latest book:
IU Press blog: How did a Poughkeepsie, NY native become involved in writing a history of a Fort Wayne, Indiana newspaper?
IUPB: In the introduction of your book, you write that as a small American city, Fort Wayne deserves more attention. Why do you feel this way?
SB: Cities like Fort Wayne are often overlooked in favor of
state capitals or metropolitan areas. If
one wants to have greater insight, or a clearer understanding, of such issues
as the so-called Midwest work ethic or its entrepreneurial spirit, it can be
found in the history of the small Midwestern cities. I believe that if you want
to understand individual capitalism and the path to economic success, you ought
to examine the lives of Sylvanus Bowser or Theodore Thieme – both successful
Fort Wayne industrialists at the turn of the 20th century. It was,
and is, the individual inventiveness and the access to local capital that has
been the backbone of the nation’s strength. I think this has been clearly shown
on a regional basis by Midwest historian Andrew R.L. Cayton and ought to be
studied on a small-city basis further.
SB: The notion of a “liberal newsroom” is one of the great lies of our time, often propagated, it seems to me, by folks whose partisanship makes them less willing to examine two sides of a complex issue. The editorial position of a modern day newspaper affects it editorials, not its reporting. There is more emphasis now than ever before on objectivity and accuracy in journalism schools and in newsrooms.
IUPB: A dynamic personality who stands out in the history of the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette is publisher Andrew Joseph Moynihan. What is your favorite story about him? On a more serious note, what do you feel was his most important contribution to the success of the paper?
SB: The Moynihan stories are legion and the book has most of my favorites. His meteoric personality and unmistakable ability to find and train talented young journalists were Moynihan’s great strengths. This proved true when he identified Lewis Ellingham as his successor at the Journal-Gazette. Ellingham made it a modern paper of its time.
IUPB: Many newspapers are publicly owned, yet a private company operates the Journal Gazette. What are the advantages or disadvantages of private vs. public ownership, and what is the impact upon newspapers and their readers?
SB: The demise of Knight Ridder Corporation is indicative of the disadvantages of a publicly owned newspaper or newspaper chain. The Knight Ridder shareholders decided they were not making enough profit and put all of the chain’s newspapers for sale. They received their profits when the newspapers were divvied up among other newspaper corporations. One drawback is that these other corporations, while well-intended, lack financial capability to pursue important news around the world as Knight Ridder did.
And this is just one example of a loss to the American reader.
IUPB: How do you think the increase in people reading the news online will impact the future of the Journal Gazette and the newspaper industry in general?
SB: It may not seem so now, but it is a good thing that online news has occurred. It is increasing young readers’ appetite for news and for understanding our complex world. Its brevity will drive many young readers to seek more information – broadcast, blogs, books, magazines and, yes, even newspapers. Newspapers learned how to package news and advertising in the 19th century and find ways to get it into the hands of the readers. For example, the Journal-Gazette and most other small city newspapers used to print mid-week weekly editions that were mailed to readers beyond the delivery distance of a horse-drawn vehicle. These editions carried summaries and actual articles that had been printed in the daily issues, enabling farmers and their families to be current on national, state and local issues. These weekly editions disappeared in the Fort Wayne area around the time of World War I as motorized vehicles became more common for daily newspaper delivery. Similarly, newspaper design has changed over the years to a more visual layout, reflecting the readers’ preferences. The challenge of news online will – and is – bringing about changes to the Journal Gazette and the rest of the newspaper industry.
SB: Hard News, Heartfelt Opinions is, at its roots, a paean to
newspapering. Yes, the book is about a certain group of people at a certain
period of time. Yes, it is a look at Midwestern American society and how it
addressed the issues of its day. And, yes, it is also a tribute to the men and
women of a great profession, dedicated to preserving freedom of the press in
Fort Wayne and the rest of northeastern Indiana every day.
But it is a bit more than that, too: It is meant to look at
the difference between news and history. The Journal Gazette reported the news
of the day and this book tries to see now if the paper’s perspective on the
news proved historically accurate. For example, The Daily Gazette subscribed to
a telegraphic service during the Civil War and it reported on the Union victory
at Gettysburg while its opposition (without a wire service) claimed the
Confederate Army had not been defeated. Readers of both newspapers responded strongly to what they read and
therefore believed.
I am the grandson of Lewis G. Ellingham, featured in "Hard News, Heartfelt Opinion". On page 91, Opening Chapter 5, there is the genealogical datum that Lewis (Glendale) Ellingham was the son of parents born in Scotland. In fact they were born in parishes now part of Coventry, UK, which was then in the shire of Warwick and now is in a newly created English county. They emigrated from Coventry circa 1830 to Canada and then Ohio, then by the mid-1830s to Wells Co., IN, and were farmers there. I have published on this, as "Two Coventry Shoemakers Become Indiana Farmers". Since LGE's mother's maiden name was Scotten, perhaps that is the source of this small error. I have posted the full Ellingham genealogy on websites and it is on paper at the Fort Wayne / Allen County, Indiana, Public Library's Genealogy Department. Anyone interested in knowing more about all this may contact me personally in San Francisco, CA. My contact can be found at switchboard.com on the web. -Lewis Ellingham (10=X-2007)
Posted by: Lewis Ellingham | October 10, 2007 at 11:10 AM