Home > Rough Draft > Archives > 2008 > September > 30 > Entry
The Sun sets in New York today
The most recent incarnation of The New York Sun publishes its final issue today after a seven-year run whose history stretches way back to the era of the penny press.
Benjamin Day in 1833 brought newspaper to the masses when he priced copies of his New York Sun for only a penny — a fraction of what other papers charged.
With the tagline of “It shines for all,” the Sun had true populist appeal. Newspapers, subsidized by advertising, were suddenly something everyone could afford, and everyone had in common.
The penny press era dovetailed with other factors that contributed to increased newspaper readership: the Industrial Revolution, in which people had regular income and regular hours working in factories, and became increasingly urbanized as they moved off farms and to cities; and compulsory education, resulting in increased literacy.
Day changed the fundamental business model of newspapers, and broadened their appeal to a mass audience, changing also the kinds of stories journalists wrote. No longer were they only about the rich and for the rich. They were about everyone in the community.
The Sun of today has been losing money and unable to reach an agreement for a sale. In remarks to staff announcing the paper’s closure, Editor Seth Lipsky spoke about the Sun’s financial backers’ belief in the “ideal of the scoop,” a touching tribute to the idealism that drives journalism.
“They invested in the ideal of the scoop, the notion that news is the spirit of democracy, and in the principles for which we have stood in our editorial pages — limited and honest government, equality under our Constitution and the law, free markets, sound money, and a strong foreign policy in support of freedom and democracy. They liked the way the Sun reflected the dynamism of our city and spoke for its interests in the national debate.
They invested, too, in the joy with which you illuminated the cultural life of New York, in our willingness to spring to the defense of so many who are not always defended, in the thrill of our sports coverage, the verve and warmth of our society coverage, and in our efforts to bring together a community and give it voice.”
Comments