The media in America has become more professional, objective, and empirical in the recent past, and it has helped American citizens become better informed with unbiased, accurate information. American media has also grown from having a small effect on the public to encompassing a large portion of public opinion through a variety of ways such as television and the internet. News media in America began in the 1760s, before independence was declared from Britain. In the beginning, Americans received most of their political news by word of mouth or by attending local meetings and rallies. Mass media took the form of an unapologetically partisan press operating mainly through newspapers or party pamphlets. There was no expectation of objectivity in the press, and most media was controlled by political parties. This time was called the Era of the Partisan Press, and it lasted until about 1850. After 1850, American Media changed. It started targeting mass audiences, and varied its focus from influencing public opinion to making money. To drive sales, coverage moved to more sensational stories such as sex, violence, and scandal. This type of news reporting is called yellow journalism. Most towns still had competing newspapers that openly supported one political party or another, but in general, media became a game of money making. People started to realize that there was power and money to be found in journalism, so they took advantage of it. Two men in particular were the leaders in this field; William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer. These men built some of the largest newspaper chains in America, becoming extremely wealthy and famous because of it. However, this era of commercial press did not last forever. Alongside the sensational press, a new breed of professional journalism began to rise in the late 19th century. They worked for nonpartisan newspapers like the New York Times and the Chicago Daily News and emphasized new codes of journalistic conduct that included a form of very objective reporting. By the mid twentieth century, openly biased reporting was frowned upon by many large and powerful media centers. This era, beginning in the 1920's, is referred to as the Era of the Professional Press. Political news began to develop and evolve, and it eventually became a forefront of media coverage. Along with this new type of coverage came a sense of objectivity and discretion in the media. It became less about making money and more about reporting the truth behind a story; getting to the bottom of it. Media also began to expand at an exponential rate. With the addition o