Irish American journalism includes newspapers, magazines, and the newer media, with coverage of the reporters, editors, commentators, producers and other key personnel.

Beginnings

The first Catholic newspaper in the United States was ''The United States Catholic Miscellany'' of Charleston, South Carolina. It was founded in 1822 by Bishop John England (1786–1842), who had experience as an editor in Ireland. It was renamed ''Charleston Catholic Miscellany'' when South Carolina seceded; it ceased publication in 1861 during the Civil War.

Civil War

John Mitchel John Mitchel ( ga, Seán Mistéal; 3 November 1815 – 20 March 1875) was an Irish nationalist activist, author, and political journalist. In the Great Famine (Ireland), Famine years of the 1840s he was a leading writer for The Nation (Irish n ...

(1815–1875), a Protestant fighter for Irish independence who had been imprisoned by the British, escaped, came to the U.S. and became the editor of a leading Confederate newspaper in Richmond during the Civil War. James McMaster, editor of ''Freeman's Journal'' in New York, was a cautious moderate Democrat before the Civil War started. Once the shooting began, he turned strongly against the Lincoln administration, and became an angry leader of the antiwar Copperhead movement.

Boston

John Boyle O'Reilly John Boyle O'Reilly (28 June 1844 – 10 August 1890) was an Irish poet, journalist, author and activist. As a youth in Ireland, he was a member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, or Fenians, for which he was transported to Western Australi ...

, (1844–1890) was the editor of ''

Boston Pilot ''The Pilot'' is the official newspaper of the Archdiocese of Boston and claims the title of "America's Oldest Catholic Newspaper", having been in continuous publication since its first issue on September 5, 1829. Although the first Catholic new ...

''. Other editors included

Thomas D'Arcy McGee Thomas D'Arcy McGee (13 April 18257 April 1868) was an Irish-Canadian politician, Catholic spokesman, journalist, poet, and a Father of Canadian Confederation. The young McGee was an Irish Catholic who opposed British rule in Ireland, and w ...

(1825–1868) and

James Jeffrey Roche James Jeffrey Roche (May 31, 1847April 3, 1908) was an Irish-American poet, journalist and diplomat. Roche emigrated as a young child, and grew up in Prince Edward Island, Canada. He came to Boston in 1866, and joined the staff of the Irish new ...

(1847–1908). Roche joined the staff in 1866, and in 1890 became editor and the leading spokesman for Catholic intellectuals in New England. He was an active liberal Democrat who gave support to labor unions. His ''Pilot'' was one of the few newspapers to support

William Jennings Bryan William Jennings Bryan (March 19, 1860 – July 26, 1925) was an American lawyer, orator and politician. Beginning in 1896, he emerged as a dominant force in the History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, running ...

in 1896 and 1900. As the political and intellectual center of Irish America, Boston produced numerous journalists for the secular press, especially the tabloids that attracted an Irish readership. By the 1890s the city's major newspaper, the ''Boston Globe'' had become a stronghold, with an editorial staff dominated by Irish Catholics.

New York and Brooklyn

Patrick Ford, (1837–1913) founded the ''Irish World'' in New York.; Austin E. Ford (1857–1896) was editor of the ''

New York Freeman The ''New York Freeman'' (1849–1918) was an American Catholic weekly newspaper in New York City. History The ''Weekly Register and Catholic Diary'' was started on October 5, 1833, by Fathers Schneller and Levins. It lasted three years, and was ...

'';

John Devoy John Devoy ( ga, Seán Ó Dubhuí, ; 3 September 1842 – 29 September 1928) was an Irish republican rebel and journalist who owned and edited '' The Gaelic American'', a New York weekly newspaper, from 1903 to 1928. Devoy dedicated over ...

(1842–1928) was editor of the Gaelic American 1903–1928. James McMaster (1820–1886), was editor of ''Freeman's Journal''. The son of a Scots-Irish Presbyterian minister, he converted to Catholicism in 1845 and became a journalist. In 1848 he purchased the ''Freeman's Journal and Catholic Register.'' He edited it until his death, giving it a national audience and influence. He quarreled endlessly with other Catholic leaders. As an anti-war

Copperhead Copperhead may refer to: Snakes * ''Agkistrodon contortrix'', or copperhead, a venomous pit viper species found in parts of North America * '' Austrelaps'', or Australian copperhead, a genus of venomous elapids found in southern Australia and Ta ...

he was most famous for his arrest in 1861 on treason charges, as his newspaper was suppressed by the federal government for supporting the Confederacy. He was briefly in prison, but allowed to resume publication in 1862. He was a strong supporter of parochial schools and the papacy. Pat Scanlan (1894–1983) was the managing editor (1917–1968) of the ''Brooklyn Tablet'', the official paper of the Brooklyn diocese. He was a leader in the fight against the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...

, and in favor of the work of the

National Legion of Decency The National Legion of Decency, also known as the Catholic Legion of Decency, was a Catholic group founded in 1934 by Archbishop of Cincinnati, John T. McNicholas, as an organization dedicated to identifying objectionable content in motion pictu ...

in minimizing sexuality in Hollywood films. Historian Richard Powers says Scanlan emerged in the 1920s: :as the leading spokesman for an especially pugnacious brand of militant Catholic anti-communism, that of Irish-Americans who, after suffering from 100 years of anti-Catholic prejudice in America, reacted to any criticism of the Church as a bigoted attack on their own hard-won status in American society... He combined a vivid writing style filled with Menckenesque invective, with an unbridled love of controversy. Under Scanlan, the ''Tablet'' became the national voice of Irish Catholic anti-communism – and a thorn in the side of New York's Protestants and Jews.

Chicago

James W. Sheahan made the '' Chicago Times'' the voice of the Democratic Party in Chicago. It was funded by Senator

Stephen A. Douglas Stephen Arnold Douglas (April 23, 1813 – June 3, 1861) was an American politician and lawyer from Illinois. A senator, he was one of two nominees of the badly split Democratic Party for president in the 1860 presidential election, which wa ...

, who needed a press after the main Chicago papers deserted him in 1854. Sheahan sold the paper after Douglas died in 1861.

Joseph Medill Joseph Medill (April 6, 1823March 16, 1899) was a Canadian-American newspaper editor, publisher, and Republican Party politician. He was co-owner and managing editor of the ''Chicago Tribune'', and he was Mayor of Chicago from after the Great Chi ...

(1823–1899), born to a Scots-Irish family in Canada, was the co-owner and managing editor of the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

''. A Republican politician, he was elected

Mayor of Chicago The mayor of Chicago is the chief executive of city government in Chicago, Illinois, the third-largest city in the United States. The mayor is responsible for the administration and management of various city departments, submits proposals and r ...

after the great fire of 1871, which destroyed the entire business district, including the ''Tribune'' building. Margaret Buchanan Sullivan (1847–1903), working for the Democratic newspaper, ''Chicago Times'', was Chicago's best-known reporter in the 1870s and 1880s. She was an activist for woman suffrage and for Irish nationalism, as well as an articulate opponent of anti-Catholicism.

James Keeley James Keeley (October 14, 1867 – June 7, 1934) was an American newspaper editor and publisher. He served as managing editor of the ''Chicago Tribune'' from 1898 to 1914.(8 June 1934)James Keeley, Editor, dies ''Gettysburg Times'' (Associat ...

(1867–1934), a poor Irish Catholic boy in London, emigrated alone in 1883, and worked in numerous newspapers. He was the powerful managing editor of the ''Chicago Tribune'' from 1898 to 1914. From 1911 he simultaneously served as founding dean of the school of journalism at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

, in South Bend, Indiana.

Diocesan newspapers

Practically all dioceses distribute weekly newspapers; Irish editors are common. Founded in 1912 by Father John F. Noll, the weekly newspaper '' Our Sunday Visitor'' is widely distributed at many parishes as a supplement or in coordination with the local paper., It soon became the most popular Catholic newsweekly. It publishes numerous books and the annual '' Catholic Almanac''. The oldest is the ''Pittsburgh Catholic,'' in published continuously since 1844. In Boston the ''Pilot'' was purchased by the archdiocese in 1905 and became its official outlet. The weekly ''Brooklyn Tablet'' became the official newspaper of the diocese of Brooklyn in 1908. Now an archdiocese, Brooklyn has always been independent of the archdiocese of New York.

Magazines

America

''America'' is a national weekly magazine published by the Jesuits since 1909. It features news and opinion about Catholicism, and how it relates to American politics and cultural life. Under editor

Thomas J. Reese Thomas J. Reese, (born 1945) is an American Catholic Jesuit priest, author, and journalist. He is a senior analyst at Religion News Service, a former columnist at National Catholic Reporter, and a former editor-in-chief of the weekly Catholic magaz ...

from 1998 to 2005, the magazine published articles and opinion pieces taking positions contrary to official

Catholic social teaching Catholic social teaching, commonly abbreviated CST, is an area of Catholic doctrine concerning matters of human dignity and the common good in society. The ideas address oppression, the role of the state (polity), state, subsidiarity, social o ...

on matters such as homosexuality,

clerical celibacy Clerical celibacy is the requirement in certain religions that some or all members of the clergy be unmarried. Clerical celibacy also requires abstention from deliberately indulging in sexual thoughts and behavior outside of marriage, because the ...

HIV/AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ...

, and the roles of women. Reese was forced to resign in May 2005 under orders from conservative theologian Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger—the later

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...

—whose Vatican agency had been monitoring ''America'' for years.

Catholic World

Commonweal

20th century

William F. Buckley, Jr.

Shortly after graduating Yale, the young Bill Buckley in 1955 founded the political magazine ''

National Review ''National Review'' is an American conservative editorial magazine, focusing on news and commentary pieces on political, social, and cultural affairs. The magazine was founded by the author William F. Buckley Jr. in 1955. Its editor-in-chief i ...

''. It not only provided weekly intellectual substance for the

Conservatism in the United States Conservatism in the United States is a political and social philosophy based on a belief in limited government, individualism, traditionalism, republicanism, and limited federal governmental power in relation to U.S. states. Conservative ...

, it defined the standards and central issues of a major political movement that finally triumphed in the election of

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

in 1980. Besides Numerous novels, Buckley wrote essays and columns that were widely distributed and hosted 1,429 episodes of the television show '' Firing Line'' (1966–1999) where he became known for his

transatlantic accent The Mid-Atlantic accent, or Transatlantic accent, is a consciously learned accent of English, fashionably used by the late 19th-century and early 20th-century American upper class and entertainment industry, which blended together features rega ...

and sesquipedalian vocabulary. Historian

George H. Nash George H. Nash (born April 1, 1945) is an American historian and interpreter of American conservatism. He is a biographer of Herbert Hoover. He is best known for ''The Conservative Intellectual Movement in America Since 1945'', which first appeare ...

said Buckley was "arguably the most important public intellectual in the United States in the past half century... For an entire generation, he was the preeminent voice of American conservatism and its first great ecumenical figure."

Radio and television

Charles Coughlin

Charles Coughlin Charles Edward Coughlin ( ; October 25, 1891 – October 27, 1979), commonly known as Father Coughlin, was a Canadian-American Catholic priest based in the United States near Detroit. He was the founding priest of the National Shrine of the ...

was a highly controversial Roman Catholic priest based near Detroit. He Started broadcasting has sermons to a national audience, turning increasingly to political topics. He was the first political commentator to use radio to reach a mass audience, as up to thirty million listeners tuned to his weekly broadcasts during the 1930s. Originally a liberal supporter of Democrat

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

, by 1934 he became a harsh critic of Roosevelt as too friendly to bankers. In 1934 he announced a new political organization called the

National Union for Social Justice The National Union for Social Justice (NUSJ) was a United States political movement formed in 1934 by Charles Coughlin, a Catholic priest and radio host. It heavily criticized communism, capitalism, and the administration of Franklin D. Roosevel ...

. He wrote a platform calling for monetary reforms, the nationalization of major industries and railroads, and protection of the rights of labor. The membership ran into the millions, but it was not well-organized at the local level. By the late 1930s, Coughlin's program, while still quite popular, focused increasingly on evil bankers and Jews. In 1939 the Roosevelt administration finally forced the cancellation of his radio program and forbade the dissemination through the mail of his newspaper, ''

Social Justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has often referred to the process of ensuring that individuals fu ...

''.

Talk radio

Mary Margaret McBride and Eleanor Rooseveltedited

One of the first and most popular of the radio talk show hosts from the 1934 to 1950 was

Mary Margaret McBride Mary Margaret McBride (November 16, 1899 – April 7, 1976) was an American radio interview host and writer. Her popular radio shows spanned more than 40 years. In the 1940s the daily audience for her housewife-oriented program numbered from si ...

(1899–1976). From an early career in newspaper and magazine writing she moved to WOR radio in New York in 1934. Her daily woman's-advice show presented a kind and witty grandmother figure with a Missouri-drawl. In 1937, she launched on the national CBS radio network a similar and highly successful show. As Mary Margaret McBride, she interviewed figures well known in the world of arts, entertainment, and politics for 45 minutes, using a style recognized as original to herself. In the 1940s the daily audience for her housewife-oriented program numbered from six to eight million listeners.

21st century

Talk show hosts

Ed Sullivan Edward Vincent Sullivan (September 28, 1901 – October 13, 1974) was an American television personality, impresario, sports and entertainment reporter, and syndicated columnist for the ''New York Daily News'' and the Chicago Tribune New Yor ...

was one of the most prominent television personalities of the 1950s and 1960s. Chris Matthews is best known for his nightly hour-long talk show, ''Hardball with Chris Matthews'', which is televised on the cable television channel MSNBC.

Notes

External links

U.S. Diocesan Newspapers

of the ''Catholic World'' from April 1865 – March 1901 at the

Making of America Making of America (MoA) is a collaborative effort by Cornell University and the University of Michigan to digitize and make available a collection of primary sources relating to the development of U.S infrastructure. The Making of America collection ...

website
Full-text transcriptions of ''The Catholic World''
Irish American American journalism American journalists by ethnic or national origin History of mass media in the United States Catholicism in the United States Irish-American press