Ford is a distinguished professor in the Bellisario College of Communications at Penn State University. Ashley is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication at Saint Louis University. The two recently published the book How America Gets the News: A History of US Journalism (Rowman & Littlefield, 2024).

1. What is the primary focus or central question (s) of your history research? Explain. 

While our individual research is focused on two separate subjects—Ford examines Civil War era journalism and Ashley researches women’s media history—we are both broadly concerned with questions surrounding media production and media consumption.  

Our coauthored book, How America Get the News: A History of U.S. Journalism, is a concise history of American journalism—including newspapers, magazines, radio, television, and digital—and introduces readers to the news media from the first colonial newspapers to today’s news conglomerates and the rise of the digital media. 

2. How did you come across this subject? Why did it interest you?  

This work is part of a Rowman & Littlefield book series titled “American Ways.” The series started because librarians told the publisher that readers are craving short, concise American histories. The series includes histories on basketball, war, food, and cultural eras. Ford was approached by the series editor to write an historical text on U.S. journalism. He brought Ashley into the project while she was working as his research assistant at Penn State. We were excited to join the series because of its focus on accessible history meant to inform present day lives.  

3. What archives or research materials did you use? Please share strategies or tips and tricks. 

We examined historical trends, including advocacy journalism, yellow journalism, investigative journalism, tabloid journalism, and digital journalism. We discuss significant individuals, from Benjamin Franklin and Joseph Pulitzer to Ida Wells and Nellie Bly, and noteworthy news organizations, from the New York Times and Life to CBS and Fox News. We also discuss the role of new technologies, developing professional standards, and the impact of corporate business practices. 

4. What’s your organizational strategy when working on a project? Any advice or recommendations? 

Co-authoring a text this size was new to both of us, and we sent many, many different Word documents back and forth to each other.  

First, we settled on seven chapters covering different eras in journalism. Then we broke each chapter down into sub-sections. Outlining is always key. After writing an initial draft, we revisited the text to “fill in the gaps.” We noticed a few areas that needed strengthen, and a few sections that needed to be added. We divided the work based on our strengths and expertise.  

To keep our documents organized, we always titled the documents by date. This ensured that we were always using the most up-to-date document. Also, we set realistic deadlines. Juggling two schedules can be hard, but it also means you have more hands writing and more eyes editing.  

5. How does your research relate to journalism history? How is it relevant to the present?  

We bridge the history of news consumption and production from the nation’s first newspaper to today’s digital news journalism. At a time when many doubt the trustworthiness of the media, we aim to provide a historical perspective that will be of interest to all consumers of news, not just media historians. For general interest readers less familiar with U.S. journalism, we hope readers find this work especially timely.  

6. What advice do you have for other historians working on projects related to your topic?  

For other historians writing general interest texts, we recommend letting yourself write broadly. Academic writing, rightly so, is narrow and detailed. But general interest readers might lose interest if a book is too meticulous and too long. A book this broad could have been 500 pages. But for readers who are dipping their toes into a topic, it’s vital to make it accessible and broad.  

7. What would be your six-word pitch about your research if you met a book editor or grant funder in an elevator?  

 The past informs the present.