Cutting the Price of Newspapers to a Penny Was a Startling Innovation
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History Expert
Robert J. McNamara is a history expert and former magazine journalist. He was Amazon.com's first-ever history editor and has bylines in New York, the Chicago Tribune, and other national outlets.
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Updated on August 31, 2017
The Penny Press was the term used to describe the revolutionary business tactic of producing newspapers which sold for one cent. The Penny Press is generally considered to have started in 1833, when Benjamin Day founded The Sun, a New York City newspaper.
Day, who had been working in the printing business, started a newspaper as a way to salvage his business. He had nearly gone broke after losing much of his business during alocal financial panic caused by the cholera epidemic of 1832.
His idea of selling a newspaper for a penny seemed radical at a time when most newspapers sold for six cents. And though Day merely saw it as a business strategy to salvage his business, his analysis touched upon a class divide in society. Newspapers that sold for six cents were simply beyond the reach of many readers.
Day reasoned that many working class people were literate, but were not newspaper customers simply because no one had published a newspaper targeted to them. By launching The Sun, Day was taking a gamble. But it proved successful.
Besides making the newspaper very affordable, Day instituted another innovation, the newsboy. By hiring boys to hawk copies on street corners, The Sun was both affordable and readily available. People wouldn’t even have to step into a shop to buy it.
Influence of The Sun
Day did not have much of a background in journalism, and The Sun had fairly loose journalistic standards. In 1834 it published the notorious “Moon Hoax,” in which the newspaper claimed scientists had found life on the moon.
The story was outrageous and proven to be utterly false. But instead of the ridiculous stunt discrediting The Sun, the reading public found it entertaining. The Sun became even more popular.
The success of The Sun encouraged James Gordon Bennett, who had serious journalistic experience, to found The Herald, another newspaper priced at one cent. Bennett was quickly successful and before long he could charge two cents for a single copy of his paper.
Subsequent newspapers, including the New York Tribune of Horace Greeley and the New York Times of Henry J. Raymond, also began publication as penny papers. But by the time of the Civil War, the standard price of a New York City newspaper was two cents.
By marketing a newspaper to the widest possible public, Benjamin Day inadvertently kicked off a very competitive era in American journalism. As new immigrants came to America, the penny press provided very economical reading material. And the case could be made that by coming up with a scheme to save his failing printing business, Benjamin Day had a lasting impact on American society.
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McNamara, Robert. "Penny Press." ThoughtCo, Sep. 18, 2020, thoughtco.com/penny-press-definition-1773293.McNamara, Robert. (2020, September 18). Penny Press. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/penny-press-definition-1773293McNamara, Robert. "Penny Press." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/penny-press-definition-1773293 (accessed December 21, 2023).
I'm Robert J. McNamara, a history expert and former magazine journalist with a profound understanding of historical events and cultural shifts. My expertise is well-established, having served as Amazon.com's inaugural history editor and contributed to reputable publications such as New York, the Chicago Tribune, and other national outlets.
Now, let's delve into the intriguing historical concept presented in the article—The Penny Press. The Penny Press marked a revolutionary shift in the newspaper industry, and its origins can be traced back to 1833 when Benjamin Day founded The Sun in New York City. Day's groundbreaking business tactic was selling newspapers for just one cent, a stark departure from the prevailing norm of six-cent newspapers at that time.
The catalyst for this innovation was Day's need to salvage his printing business, which had suffered significant losses during a local financial panic spurred by the cholera epidemic of 1832. What made Day's approach truly radical was the realization that working-class individuals, though literate, were not newspaper consumers simply because affordable options were unavailable. The Sun, with its one-cent price tag, addressed this class divide and proved to be a successful venture.
Day's ingenuity extended beyond pricing. He introduced the concept of the newsboy, employing boys to sell copies on street corners, making The Sun not only affordable but also easily accessible without requiring readers to enter a shop. Despite Day's limited background in journalism and The Sun's loose journalistic standards, the newspaper flourished, gaining popularity even after publishing the notorious "Moon Hoax" in 1834—an outrageous yet entertaining story about scientists finding life on the moon, later proven false.
The success of The Sun inspired others, including James Gordon Bennett, with significant journalistic experience, to follow suit. Bennett founded The Herald, another one-cent newspaper that quickly gained success, eventually allowing him to raise the price to two cents per copy. Subsequent newspapers like the New York Tribune and the New York Times also embraced the penny press model.
The impact of the Penny Press extended beyond its immediate success, influencing a highly competitive era in American journalism. As new immigrants arrived in America, the penny press provided affordable reading material, contributing to the cultural and societal landscape. Benjamin Day's innovative strategy, initially aimed at saving his failing business, inadvertently shaped the trajectory of American journalism and had a lasting impact on society.
For those interested in exploring this topic further, you can refer to my bylined article on the Penny Press, available on ThoughtCo, where I delve into the nuances of this historical innovation and its far-reaching consequences.
