Final answer:
The dominant style of journalism in early American history, driven by political party patronage, was partisan journalism, along with sensationalized yellow journalism. Papers fueled political opinions and often prioritized scandal over substance. Objective journalism emerged in the 20th century, paving the way for fact-based reporting.
Step-by-step explanation:
An early dominant style of American journalism, which generally pushed the strategy of a particular political group that subsidized the paper, was known as partisan journalism. Newspapers at this time were often the voices of political parties, echoing their views and promoting their agendas. This phenomenon was not limited to partisan papers; sensationalized reporting, or yellow journalism, also played a significant role in American media, prioritizing shocking news to attract readers and increase circulation.
During the latter part of the 19th century, as the suffrage movement expanded and politics required the cultivation of public opinion, journals morphed into mouthpieces for political parties. This broadened the public discourse to an unprecedented extent while sometimes reducing political discourse to simplistic slogans. The period saw a proliferation of newspapers owned by different groups, including immigrants, labor unions, and political movements, each presenting views reflective of their constituencies.
Newspapers like the New York World, under Joseph Pulitzer, and the New York Journal, under William Randolph Hearst, exemplified yellow journalism with bold headlines and sensational stories. Such tactics were notably used during the Cuban independence movement, where published stories aimed to captivate and sway the American public. The rise of these styles of reporting marked a distinct shift from earlier practices where papers such as the New York Tribune, under the direction of Horace Greeley, aimed for higher journalistic standards by upholding accuracy and impartiality.
Eventually, the call for unbiased reporting emerged. Pioneers like Adolph Ochs of The New York Times championed objective journalism, focusing on fact-based reporting. Yet, the lingering effects of these earlier journalistic practices continue to shape perceptions of media and reporting today, whether in the form of interpretive reporting or criticisms of pack journalism.