A Broken Business (2011)

Undergraduates: Jessica Hayes, Caitie Forde-Smith, Jeremy Gerlach, Rachel Lewis, Christina Serrano, Kate Sievers

Faculty Advisor: Frank Fee
Department: Political Science

---

The business of newspapering was already a rough and tumble one, but the divisional conflict known as the American Civil War only doubled the industry’s former problems. Each new issue off the Southern presses was a stretch in patience and public opinion. America’s bloodiest war would change the practice and products of journalism forever. Nearly every aspect of publication was affected: the relationship between editors and their readers, regional competition, supply shortages, newsworthy content, advertisements and attribution. But, newspapers and editors, like the North Carolina Weekly Standard and its lone leader William Woods Holden, survived. As a result, so did the business.