How Newspapers Grew Into Major Institutions in 19th Century America

On September 18, 1851, New York Times started publishing. From the article:

"The Rise of City Newspapers, 1830s–1850s
In the 1830s newspapers transformed into publications devoted more to news of current events than outright partisanship. As printing technology allowed faster printing, newspapers could expand beyond the traditional four-page folio. And to fill the newer eight-page newspapers, content expanded beyond letters from travelers and political essays to more reporting (and the hiring of writers whose job was to go about the city and report on the news).

A major innovation of the 1830s was simply lowering the price of a newspaper: when most daily newspapers cost a few cents, working people and especially new immigrants tended not to buy them. But an enterprising New York City printer, Benjamin Day, began publishing a newspaper, The Sun, for a penny. Suddenly anyone could afford a newspaper, and reading the paper every morning became a routine in many parts of America.

And the newspaper industry got a huge boost from technology when the telegraph began to be used in the mid-1840s."