A Press Insider's View of Reconstruction Era Journalism in Washington, D.C., 1865–1877

Abstract

The history of Reconstruction era journalism has received little scholarly attention in comparison to Civil War era and New Journalism era press history. Squeezed between these two influential periods in the history of American journalism, the Reconstruction era press seems to have been squeezed out of our history texts and scholarly studies. If one were to draw any conclusions from this “leap-frogging” of the Reconstruction period in American journalism history, it would be that the period is of little significance in the evolution of daily journalism in American history.

This article seeks to contribute to a fuller appreciation of the Reconstruction era's impact on American journalism by looking at the world of Washington correspondence during Reconstruction through the eyes of one of the press corps' major figures, Benjamin Perley Poore. It looks inside the life of this prominent correspondent, examining what methods, motives, values, and practices shaped his reporting.