The Rise of Cancel Culture: A Modern Look at "Good Night and Good Luck"

Based on true events, the 2005 film "Good Night and Good Luck" follows journalist and CBS broadcaster Edward Murrow as he faces off against Senator Joseph McCarthy during the height of the Red Scare as McCarthyism runs rampant in the United States. Murrow uses his television program "See It Now" to inform U.S. citizens about what is going on in their own country, which their government doesn't want them to know. 

The movie dives into the role of the government in censoring and silencing the media. With communist accusations running wild at the CBS studio, Murrow stays strong and continues to fight against McCarthy in order to show the corruption behind not only McCarthy but the United States government as a whole. Those above Murrow, as well as government officials, threaten and try to pressure Murrow to back down, but her refuses as he bands together with fellow reporters and editors to expose McCarthy.

Murrow is one of the few journalists that have seemed to be somewhat successful in standing up against censorship. Government control runs deep in our media and therefore our society. This problem seems to only get worse as we move forward. 

With the movie set over 70 years in the past, we face the exact same issues today, even on a bigger scale. Whenever Professor Smith asked our class about some of the true goings-on concerning U.S. soldiers in other countries or some of the truth behind government scandals, we had no answers or information. 

The biggest example over the course of the semester was the issue of the Russian-Ukrainian War. Our government pushed the idea that it was entirely Russia's fault, but the small detail is left out that we may have had a hand in it as well. Although I am not one devoted to learning about current events, some of my classmates are much more connected, and even they hadn't been exposed to the "truth." That speaks volumes about the government control of the media here in 2023. 

Although the phenomenon known as "McCarthyism" technically no longer exists, a similar movement has arisen, proving that we are in a similar position (arguably worse) as the 1950s, maybe more than we would like to admit. 

Cancel Culture is a relatively modern idea that has been able to spread as quickly as it did thanks to technology and social media. It entails someone in the spotlight or in a position of power doing or saying something considered offensive that garners outrage and causes them to lose their following, be boycotted by the media, and/or generally create a massive hate movement against the individual. 

While sometimes cancel culture can be beneficial as some celebrities can be genuinely problematic and don't deserve a following of any kind like how famous rapper Kanye West has officially been "canceled" due to his sharing hate speech, anti-semitism, and erratic behavior. 

On the other hand, there are countless examples of celebrities or people of power being "canceled" for small mistakes or issues dug up from their past or personal life. The media will jump down their throat in an instant carrying torches and pitchforks insisting they should lose the status they have achieved. 

Similar to Joseph McCarthy's listing of names of those who are apparently part of the Communist party and should be blackballed in their respective field no matter if it was true or not, cancel culture upholds a similar ideal. In the case of world-famous actress Lucille Ball and McCarthyism, the iconic redhead was registered with the Communist party purely because of her family's opinions, but was never an official part of the group, nor did she actively uphold any of the ideas. However, when this news hit the media at the height of her career, her reputation and career were almost ruined if her husband and creative team hadn't stepped in to defend her. 

Celebrities today are in constant fear of losing their status because of a slip-up or possibly something as simple as their family's opinions, much like the fear that spread during the Red Scare. 

Something I think everyone should be scared of? How much our country has seemed to stay the same since the time of "Good Night and Good Luck" in regards to government and the media. 

The Publishing Pioneer in Pearls: The Life and Legacy of Katherine Graham

Katherine "Kay" Graham was a remarkable woman who played an instrumental role in shaping the modern American press. As the publisher of The Washington Post, Graham oversaw one of the most influential newspapers of the twentieth century, and her leadership allowed the paper to gain national recognition. 

Born in 1917 in New York City, Graham was the daughter of Eugene Meyer, a prominent financier and former chairman of the Federal Reserve. She attended the exclusive all-girls Madeira School in Virginia and then went to study at The University of Chicago, where she earned her bachelor's degree in history in 1938.

After college, Graham worked briefly as a reporter for the San Francisco News and then returned to New York to work for her father's newspaper, The Washington Post. Meyer had purchased the paper in 1933, and it was under his ownership that the paper first gained a reputation for its hard-hitting investigative reporting. 

In 1940, Graham married Philip Graham, a Harvard Law School graduate who would later become the president of The Washington Post Company. Together they had four children and Graham would later write truthfully about how she balanced motherhood with her demanding professional life. 

In 1963, Philip Graham committed suicide, leaving Katherine in charge of The Washington Post Company. At the time, the paper was struggling financially and only have a limited national readership. But Graham was determined to turn the paper around. She quickly started hiring top-notch journalists and investing in new technology to improve production value.

Under Graham’s leadership, The Washington Post became one of the most respected newspapers in the country. The paper's coverage of the Watergate scandal in the early 1970s, which ultimately led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon, is regarded as one of the largest triumphs of investigative journalism. And Graham's decision to publish the Pentagon Papers, a secret government study of the Vietnam War, helped establish the paper as a leader in the freedom of the press movement.

Set in the 1970s, during the height of the Vietnam War, the 2017 film "The Post" follows the journey of how Graham and her team fought to publish the Pentagon Papers. Meryl Streep captures her grace and intelligence through her nuanced and powerful performance. She brings a vulnerability to the character as well as a kind of quiet strength.

Graham's impact on the media world went far beyond The Washington Post. She was one of the first women to hold a top leadership position in a major American media company, and her success paved the way for other women to follow in her footsteps. 

In addition to The Washington Post, Graham was a tireless advocate for various social and political issues. She was a strong supporter of the civil rights movement, and she used her platform to speak out against discrimination and inequality. She was also passionate about women's rights, and she helped contribute to the Women's Action Alliance, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting gender equality. 

Graham's legacy is a reminder of the ongoing struggle for gender equality in the workplace. Despite her many achievements, Graham faced numerous challenges and obstacles in the male-dominated field. Even today, women continue to face discrimination and bias in many industries, including journalism. 

In 1991, Graham passed away at the age of 84. Her death was mourned by journalists and political leaders alike, who recognized her contributions to the American public and her commitment to the truth. 

Today, Katherine Graham's legacy lives through The Washington Post, which remains one of the most respected and influential newspapers in the world. Her story is a reminder that with determination and courage, you can overcome even the most daunting challenges.

Graham once wrote, "To love what you do and feel that it matters -- how could anything be more fun?" Her passion for journalism continues to inspire writers and readers today. 

Lies, and Tears, and Breakups, Oh My!: What I Learned About Celebrity Journalism

From the moment I realized that journalism was my perfect career field, I knew I wanted to pursue the arts and entertainment world. I have been obsessed with celebrity journalism since I started watching interviews with boy bands like One Direction and Five Seconds of Summer when I was in middle school. I always dreamed of being that interviewer or reporter getting the scoop on the private lives of Hollywood. 

I feel like it is something everyone is interested in. No matter who you are or what you like there has to be some celebrity you're a fan of and would be interested in learning about their life. There has to be some sort of celebrity gossip everyone has taken part in or been invested in. 

Kylie Jenner might be dating Timothee Chalamet, Millie Bobby Brown got engaged, Tiger Woods struggled at The Masters, Drake Bell has been reported as missing and endangered, and Prince Harry will attend King Charles' coronation, but his wife will not. And this is all just from the past week. 

There is a part of this field for everyone's interests, no matter how niche. 

That's the beauty of it.  

I was excited to hear more about this kind of journalism when entering our third EOTO project of the semester, and I was not disappointed. I had never really thought of how celebrity journalism got started because you would have to think about those who were even considered the "first" celebrities. Thankfully, my questions were quickly answered through my classmates' presentation. 

They traced celebrity journalism all the way back to one of the first presidential interviews ever conducted. The sixth president of the United States, John Quincy Adams, was interviewed by journalist Anne Newport Royall in 1817. At first, he refused to meet with a woman reporter because he didn't believe that she could handle interviewing a president. 

Royall took matters into her own hands as and found out that Adams enjoyed a morning swim each day without clothes. Royall met the president once he got into the water, trapping him while she asked him her questions sitting on his clothes. 

I really enjoyed learning the origins of this way of writing and made me appreciate celebrity journalism that much more. 

The idea of celebrity journalism could even be traced back farther to London in the late 1700s. A writer by the name of James Boswell wrote many columns for the London Magazine under the pseudonym "the hypochondriac." He wrote about the town's happenings and gossip. This idea has been brought to life through the wildly popular Netflix series Bridgerton. I am not sure if I would categorize this as celebrity journalism since it was more local news, but still such an interesting concept. 

The first "celebrity magazine" started in England in 1893. The Sketch was filled with gossip and news all about some of the most well-known "celebrities" in the country: the royal family. Celebrity gossip magazines didn't reach the States until Photoplay in 1911. This was America's first taste of the "inside" lives of those in the spotlight. 

Here in 2023, there is now a world where the whereabouts of celebrities can be found at all times of the day, we can sometimes forget that celebrities are just people, who deserve peace and privacy. Although the media may idolize them and most reporting on the lives of the famous is done out of admiration, there is a line that is beginning to fade due to social media, which is something I think everyone could benefit from keeping in mind. 

Throw Objectivity Out the Window: The History of Gonzo Journalism and the Man who Created it

What is Gonzo Journalism? I had surely never heard of it before. When I heard the word Gonzo all I could think about was the little blue muppet (but I did find out that the term “gonzo journalism” predated the muppet).

Traditional journalism values objectivity. Writers and reporters that stay true to traditional journalism write based on fact and present their findings in a clear, unbiased fashion. Gonzo journalism is the complete opposite of that. Journalists who practice this form of writing use first-person accounts without any attempt to keep their personal views, observations, or experiences off the page. 

As part of the new journalism movement of the 1970s, gonzo journalism uses sarcasm, dark humor, exaggeration, and even profanity. It was a part of the counterculture movement, going against everything deemed “traditional.” Pure gonzo journalism is quite rare today, but attributes of it can still be seen in a wide range of publications like Rolling Stone and VICE. 

This type of writing even has its own symbol: the gonzo fist. A hand with two thumbs and four fingers holding a peyote button, which is a type of small cactus. The symbol was originally part of Hunter S. Thompson’s 1970 campaign for sheriff of Pitkin County.

Now, who is Hunter S. Thompson, one might ask? He is seen as the father of gonzo journalism. The term was first ever used by the editor of The Boston Globe, Bill Cardoso. He used it to describe Thompson's article of June 1970 entitled “The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved.” 

Cardoso claimed that the word gonzo comes from South Boston Irish slang for the last man standing after an all-night drinking marathon. Although it is also assumed that the term was inspired by the 1960 song “Gonzo” by a Rhythm and Blues pianist by the name of James Booker. Thompson himself claimed that the name was influenced by the song in an oral biography released in 2007. So, the origin of the name is very up in the air, and may never be known. 

Hunter S. Thompson is best known for his book which started as a piece written for Rolling Stone Magazine. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is a detailed recounting of his personal trip to Las Vegas for the Mint 400 motorcycle race. It is a somewhat fictionalized account that included dark humor, drug use, hallucinations, and sarcasm that grew popular enough to be published as a hardcover book by Random House. It was later adapted into a movie starring Johnny Depp as the Thompson character. 

It is rumored that Johnny Depp grew so close to Thompson that upon his death in 2005, Depp spent $3 million to build a cannon in the shape of the gonzo fist to shoot Thompson’s ashes out of it. 

Some popular modern examples that display attributes of gonzo journalism include the VICE story “My Wedding Feast Gave All my Loved Ones Salmonella” by Katinka Oppeck and “Up All Night with Amy Winehouse” by Claire Hoffman. 

Thompson’s legacy is honored and kept alive by the online publication called GonzoToday. They provide a mission statement that reads: “GonzoToday is a collective of writers and artists dedicated to promoting self-expression and freedom of speech and provides a platform for truth and artistic creation… We condemn censorship of speech or ideas; the exploitation of the planet’s resources or inhabitants; and bigotry, discrimination, or oppression against any person, group, or worldview.”

Publications such as Rolling Stone Magazine regard Thompson as a legend and a journalism hero. In a 2010 article for the Michigan Online News, writer Jennifer Marinelli argues “Hunter S. Thompson didn’t just create a new form of journalism. He created a new way of thinking that is still important in today’s society…It is doubtful that many members of the Digital Age partake in the hard gonzo lifestyle of drugs and alcohol that Thompson symbolizes. However, it is hard to ignore the similarities between Thompson’s gonzo journalism and today’s growing popularity of citizen journalism through new media like blogs and Twitter.” 

On the other hand, any writers and publications do not even consider Thompson a journalist, but a disgrace. He is a somewhat controversial individual in the journalism field as there are so many mixed emotions that are brought about by his name and the type of journalism he created.

Who Run the World (of Journalism)? Girls!!!!: My Reflection on Learning About Girl Reporters

The first presentation given during our second EOTO really caught my attention. From the pop of the Barbie pink background to the empowering topic of girl reporters, I soaked it all in. I have always been passionate about the role of women in pop culture and the media in general, but I didn’t know much about how they have historically contributed to the world of journalism.

They completely redefined what being a woman embodied through stunt journalism. They were brave, resilient, and intelligent, accomplishing massive feats to simply get the story. They did all of this while being “unapologetically female” in the face of naysayers namely old white men at the time who couldn’t imagine a woman outside of the kitchen.

They completely turned the world of journalism upside down as they introduced a new way of writing by tackling serious subjects they had first-hand experience with such as abortion and harassment. They wrote with color and raw emotion that some will argue is all yellow journalism, but it resonated with the readers and it is the reason I am able to learn about them as a young female journalism student in 2023. 

The presenters then went into a little bit of detail about some of the first girl reporters and even mentioned one of the writers I studied which was a nice little crossover. When talking about girl reporters or stunt journalism Nellie Bly comes to mind, so it was only fitting that the next group of presenters solely focused on her life and career. I didn’t know much about the journalist before seeing these presentations, so this was my first opportunity to be able to learn just how impactful the woman was.

Her biggest stunt journalism piece was when she got herself committed to the Blackwell Insane Asylum and wrote her exposition "Behind Asylum Bars" about the horrendously poor environment and treatment of those living there. I had heard a little bit about this whole story, but what I found even more interesting was that she inspired a season of one of my favorite television series.

The creator of American Horror Story, Ryan Murphy, admits that he based season two of the show titled Asylum on the expose along with other retellings of insane asylums of the time. Sarah Paulson portrays a character named Lana Winters who the audience comes to find is a stunt journalist trying to get a story about the true treatment of patients, just like Nellie Bly. There were, of course, some supernatural elements in the show and a storyline about conversion therapy because they also made the reporter a lesbian, but the foundation of Winters was heavily influenced by Bly.

Nearing the end of her career Bly became the face of women's suffrage as that's what she focused on writing about as the fight for the 19th Amendment grew stronger. I believe she is one of the first feminists in the field of journalism, which is so inspiring. I am so grateful to the age of girl reporters that has allowed me to follow my passion all these years later. 

Life as a Journalist Sure Can be (Winifred) Sweet: A Deep Dive into an Impactful Woman of Print Journalism

Winifred Sweet Black Bonfils was born on October 14th, 1863 in Chilton Wisconsin, the fourth of five children. She was the child of a politically ambitious military general named Benjamin Sweet who brought many notable political figures into their home. Sweet liked to listen in to her father's conversations, sparking her first interest in local and international political affairs. 

The family moved to Chicago in 1867 where Sweet attended private school and her father became the United States pension agent for the city. Throughout her younger years, Sweet was intrigued by one of her father's political friends. A friend her father once predicted would become president someday. Her father's prediction became reality in the election of 1880 when James A. Garfield became president. This election was Sweet's first participation in a newsworthy event and the first taste of her later career. 

In 1882, the stunning "blue-eyed redhead with a seventeen-inch waist," had graduated high school. She pursued acting as her first career and traveled with a small theater company throughout Canada, New York, and the South. She came to find out that life as an actress just starting out was nowhere near what she imagined. She received only a few small roles and grew extremely bored with the career path quite quickly. 

In 1886 Sweet was twenty-three and found herself among those of New York's literary circle when she was invited to stay with Mary Mapes Dodge, the editor of the children's magazine St. Nicholas. She fell in love with the life of Dodge's literary friends and was commonly found eavesdropping on her their conversations about current political and social issues. These were the moments when Sweet started to consider journalism as a career. 

In 1889 Sweet arrived in San Francisco to visit her brother-in-law after his wife and her sister suddenly passed away. She made the decision right when she got there that this was the city for her and she never wanted to live anywhere else. When she got a spare moment, she marched into the offices of William Randolph Hearst's San Francisco Examiner on Montgomery Street.

The fiery young woman introduced herself as a woman with broad newspaper experience and exclaimed she was pretty much overqualified for the job. It is believed that this was probably one of her best acting jobs. The managing editor fell for her performance and hired her on the spot. 
In January of 1890, only a few months after being hired at the Examiner, Sweet showed she was game to do anything for the sake of getting a story. Heavily inspired by Nellie Bly, she wrote under the pseudonym "Annie Laurie." Sweet looked towards the world of stunt journalism that was sweeping across the demographic of girl reporters at the time. 

Sweet's first stunt was to get herself admitted to the San Francisco Receiving Hospital, where it had been rumored that the medical staff was negligent and even sometimes abusive in its patient care. Her acting background came in handy after a few falls and stumbles and a dramatic faint on a crowded street corner. She managed to get herself picked up by an ambulance and taken to the hospital, where she took mental notes on how the staff and doctors treated her. 

An accusatory exposé titled "A City's Disgrace" appeared on the front page of the Examiner on January 19th, 1890. As a result of the exposé, city officials worked to improve healthcare services and called for a makeover of the ambulance service for San Francisco. She was making people listen to her writing. She was changing her city for the better. Her investigative news story not only helped improve hospital visits for citizens but became her initiation into the world of "yellow journalism." 

The undercover story soon became "a Hearst trademark," with Sweet taking charge of a series of fascinating assignments. She went on to write about the "lepers on the Hawaiian island of Molokai, polygamy among the Mormons in Utah, and an investigation of the juvenile court system in Chicago." She also became the first woman to report a prize fight and the second to interview a president. 

Nearly blind and barely able to move due to diabetes, she continued to work into her '70s. She died in 1936 but was lovingly remembered by the Examiner and the city of San Francisco as a whole. Stories about her were run on the front page days after her death. In her final interview, for Time magazine, Black expressed her love of the newspaper and those she worked with. "I'm proud of being, in a very humble way, a member of the good old newspaper gang—the kindest-hearted, quickest-witted, clearest-eyed, most courageous assemblage of people I have ever had the honor and the good fortune to know."

From Heard to Hale: Trial by Media in 1937 and Today

As the 1937 film, They Won't Forget, opened with shots of the Lincoln Memorial and a quote from Robert E. Lee, I wasn't really what the movie was even going to be about. I was even more confused as I saw these old men in what looked to be military uniforms marching. 

The pieces began to fall into place as it is established that it is the Memorial Day celebration and the film begins to introduce the main characters like the newcomer young teacher Mr. Hale, the beautifully innocent pupil Mary Clay, and the district attorney Andy Griffin. 

Although it was an older movie, I was entertained by the plot the entire time. I can honestly say I did not see the story taking a turn when the young girl, Mary Clay, is found murdered in the school building, turning the small southern town on its head.

And so begins the witch hunt for the perpetrator who killed the poor teen. The finger is first pointed at the African American janitor, which is somewhat now cliche due to the time period the movie takes place. The blame is then transferred to the victim's boyfriend, Joseph Turner, but the boy has an alibi as he wasn’t allowed in the school where the murder took place because it was closed. 

The district attorney then lands on the dreamy professor from the north, Robert Hale with the help of one of the reporters, William Brock. We begin to see the repercussions of a trial by media and the negative way this film chose to portray journalists and the press in general. 

After Hale is locked up for further questioning due to the orders of the district attorney, the press barges their way into Hale's home, where they find a frazzled and distraught Mrs. Hale. 

The reporters begin to bombard the woman with questions about her husband and his past. One of them even goes as far as to steal one of the photos kept in their home. The journalists are the ones to break the news to her that her husband is in jail. She faints and instead of seeing if she is alright, they take photographs of her knocked out. 

There is one female reporter in the group who seems to have Hale’s best interest in mind. She tries to relate to the upset woman once she has regained conscientiousness, but in reality, she is just trying to get the dirt on their relationship. She assures Mrs. Hale that the reporters won’t run any of the personal information shared with them, but the next day, it’s all over the front page of the newspapers. 

Almost one hundred years ago, journalists were already portrayed in a negative light, and to be fair that negativity is somewhat deserved. Journalists and reporters today will do whatever it takes to get the story. While it is their job it seems that all ethical ways of obtaining information have been thrown out the window. Unfortunately, trial by media hasn’t changed that much since the film was released. 

The recently famous trial that was completely overtaken by the media was Depp v. Heard featuring the star-studded former couple Johnny Depp and Amber Heard. The case became somewhat controversial as the trial was streamed and used for audience entertainment but it was discussing the serious topics of domestic abuse and defamation. This case weighed heavily on my mind while watching the film as it was sad to see how both the press and the media distort trials involving serious topics such as murder or abuse for views, subscribers, or money. 

The Actress to Journalist Pipeline: Why I Chose Journalism

 

As a little girl, there was only one place I wanted to be when I grew up: Broadway

I did it all. I took voice lessons, dance lessons, and acting boot camps. There was nothing that made me happier than live theater (there still isn’t). I performed every chance I got from nursing homes to talent shows; all I wanted to do was tell stories through songs and acting. 

Once I got a little older, I faced a harsh reality, the theater world is cutthroat and I probably didn’t have the skills to make it. Being good in New Bern, North Carolina is a whole different ball game than being good in New York City. I didn’t have the look, I didn’t have the credentials, and I didn’t have the confidence. 

All throughout high school I still considered pursuing acting professionally, it wasn’t until my senior year that I considered journalism at all. 

“You’re a writer,” said my high school English teacher, “and a good one.”

I had written some short stories and a couple poems in my free time, but I had never considered it as a career path. However, my parents were thrilled to know I was somewhat interested in pursuing a field other than acting. 

I started to look into what journalists even do. I was able to take part in a journalism summer intensive where I learned that multiple of the guest speakers had some sort of theatrical background because actors and journalists have one very important thing in common: storytelling.

I have always known I wanted to be a storyteller, I just thought I would be telling stories on stage rather than on paper.

I came to college as a shy journalism major that barely knew what the word meant. I wasn’t even sure if journalists wrote about anything other than politics.

I have found many other journalism majors also interested in theatre with backstories similar to mine. Many do not realize the commonalities between the two. While I am now a proud journalism major, I am also a musical theater minor. I am able to keep that passion alive throughout my time here at High Point and use it as I explore the possibilities of arts and entertainment journalism. 

Minus a few mid-semester breakdowns where I considered completely changing fields, I am beginning to become equipped with the tools needed to become a twenty-first-century journalist through this class and many others required for the major. I am slowly but surely finding my voice.

A Brief History of Journalism Institutions: What I Learned from EOTO 1

In past classes, I have always loved learning from my classmates when we do presentations. For this first EOTO, I was really impressed by how effectively each group presented the information on their topic and how organized their visuals were. 

One of the first pairs presented on Frederick Douglass and his paper The North Star. This presentation tied into my own topic so I was interested in hearing more in-depth about Frederick Douglass as I researched him only a small amount. I enjoyed getting to see both sides of the story concerning Douglass and Garrison and their papers’ attributes, similarities, and differences.

Not only did I learn about historic institutions and how Americans got their news hundreds of years ago, I learned a lot of backstory to a publication that is present in my day-to-day life here in 2023.

I personally spend a lot of time reading articles from the New York Times and it is the source I get a majority of my news so I was really interested in hearing the history behind the publication. I honestly didn't know it was such an old and historic publication, nor did I know anything about the two men that started it and how it came to grow into the publication it is today. 

Henry Raymond and George Jones wanted to create a neutral news outlet and truly inform the people of America. Their legacy lives on as millions of people now subscribe to the outlet they created so many years ago. 

My perspective as a journalist was then expanded as I was taught about the power of pictures rather than always thinking about the power of words.

I had never really given much thought to cartooning or the political cartoons/comics that are in newspapers. I had never realized their significance, so I found this presentation enlightening and entertaining. I have seen Ben Franklin’s “Join, or Die” illustration for years but did not even realize that it was considered the first political cartoon and how the industry just flourished from there on out. 

This project not only expanded my views but even brought them close to home as a group of my classmates presented on a society that we have a chapter of right here at High Point University. 

I am not a member of the Society of Professional Journalists, but I learned a lot about it during this first EOTO presentation. I definitely want to look into joining now. I had never really known what they do as a society, but thanks to these presentations I have not only learned about their mission, I know about the history of the founding students’ dedication and passion to form the group. I really loved how the group also made a point to focus a bit of their presentation on the role of women in the society and when they were able to join as women’s rights is a topic very close to my heart. 

A Man Before His Time: The History of William Lloyd Garrison and The Liberator

Born in 1805 the son of a merchant sailor, William Lloyd Garrison came from humble beginnings as his family began to struggle for money when he was young due to the Embargo Act of 1807. He was forced to take up many apprenticeships as he grew older to provide for his family after his father left them. Garrison began work for The Newburyport Herald as a writer and editor in 1818, giving him the experience he needed to start his own paper.

Originally a supporter of colonization, as Garrison grew older he changed his views. At the age of 25, Garrison joined the abolition movement. He worked as the co-editor of an anti-slavery newspaper called The Genius of Universal Emancipation started by Benjamin Lundy. He went on to publish the first issue of his own newspaper on January 1st, 1831: The Liberator.

The Liberator is considered to be the most well-known and widely spread anti-slavery newspaper of the antebellum period and the Civil War.

Garrison published the paper in Boston, Massachusetts, where he voiced his opinion honestly and forcefully. He was criticized for his opinion pieces and even imprisoned for a short amount of time over what he wrote. No matter what he would not be silenced.

Garrison was even tied up and dragged through the town with the threat of being lynched and a reward of $4000 was placed on beheading him solely because of his views. His intense abolitionist arguments quickly gathered support and hate.

Garrison’s main goal was to shift the beliefs of those involved in purchasing and owning slaves.

His first issue of the paper included his own personal statement as follows: “I do not wish to think, or speak, or write, with moderation. . . . I am in earnest -- I will not equivocate -- I will not excuse -- I will not retreat a single inch -- AND I WILL BE HEARD.”

The Liberator would not have been as successful as it was if it had not been for the free African Americans who subscribed, making up over seventy-five percent of the paper’s readers. Garrison’s condemnation of the Constitution was incredibly controversial as he was decades ahead of most other northern white abolitionists due to the fact that he constantly demanded the immediate emancipation of all enslaved people and restoring the natural rights of all slaves.

In 1854, Garrison publicly burned a copy of the United States Constitution due to the belief that it promoted slavery. Garrison was actually the one to discover the young and newly escaped Frederick Douglass in 1841 and encouraged him to speak about his experiences.

The two parted ways and the friendship did not end amicably as Douglass began to change his views concerning the Constitution and Garrison's message.

The Liberator officially ended its run in 1865 with 1,820 issues when the Civil War ended. At the end of the paper’s run, Garrison stated, “my vocation as an abolitionist is ended.” 

William Lloyd Garrison lived long enough to see Abraham Lincoln issue the Emancipation Proclamation during the Civil War, and thirty-four years after the first issue of The Liberator, Garrison was able to experience the Thirteenth Amendment banning slavery. He then turned his attention to women’s suffrage, pacifism, and condemning the post-Reconstruction actions of southern states against African Americans.