US newspaper types, the newsroom, and the division of labor, 1750–2000

This article develops our argument in The Form of News, which explored the development of the press as a repository of material and imagined relationships, by focusing on newswork and the emergence of the newsroom. Our aim is to sketch elements of a history of newswork within the broader context of a history of newspapers. After summarizing a series of newspaper types in US history, we locate the development of modern newsrooms and newswork within a period of industrialization and professionalization. We conclude by remarking on current developments in the space of newswork and speculating on future trends in a context of the convergence of different media.