Review: Infamous Scribblers by Eric Burns
I am always amazed by the reliance that biographers and historians place on newspaper accounts to help flesh out the stories they tell. Without those microfiched or hermetically sealed copies of newsprint, where would we turn to learn tales of the past and better understand the motivations of those who have come before us? It was from this perspective that I chose to read Eric Burns’ Infamous Scribblers - the Founding Fathers and the Rowdy Beginnings of American Journalism.
What I found was a thoroughly researched and uniquely written book that tells the story of the inextricably linked practice of early national politics and the progression of American printing industry. Without the political upheaval of American politics (immediately prior to the Revolutionary War and through to the Jefferson administration), it is entirely likely that those printers would have looked elsewhere to occupy their time and work. In fact Burns talks about the financial reliance that many of the early papers had upon politically motivated benefactors (Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, and James Monroe to name a few). If not for the link between early American politics and the press it is entirely conceivable that the prevalence of newspapers in the United States could have been slowed by another 20 - 30 years. Whatever the cause and effect, Burns makes a good case that the two professions - politics and the printing of stories and editorials related to it - have gone hand in hand from this country’s earliest of days.
Make no mistake, while Infamous Scribblers is very readable, it required a committed investment on the part of this reader. If not for my love of history and politics, I probably would have put it down. It’s subject matter requires a knowledge of American history that must be more than just passing for the reader to gain a full appreciation for the story told. If you don’t understand that the Revolutionary War was as much an unintended consequence of political discourse by our early patriots as it was driven by unabashed revolutionaries - you’re likely to have difficulty grasping the story threads upon which this book was written.
Having said that though, there are two things that stuck out with me as I read this book. The first is that Infamous Scribblers juxtaposes the use of newspapers to understand history. Burns actually turns the tables and uses history to better tell the story of early American journalism. This uncommon nuance made the book all the more interesting for me. Second was the realization that American journalism was founded under the auspices of very biased newspapers that balanced one another through dueling philosophies - while Benjamin Franklin Bache’s (Benjamin Franklin’s grandson) Aurora was stoutly Republican in its content, the Gazette of the United States (published by John Fenno and purported to be underwritten by Alexander Hamilton) extolled the Federalist opinion.
It is this second point that left me most satisfied upon finishing the book. The result of these partisan publication duels was that the ultimate arbiter of the information (the public) could decide for themselves what was right and what was wrong. Compare that to what we see today with newspapers (and the rest of the MSM) striving to maintain their “fair and balanced” coverage so as to appear unswayed by a particular political faction. Accused of leaning left or right (dependent upon the accuser) today’s news outlets struggle in the mediocrity of passionless reporting. Contrast that with the decided partisan bents assumed by online bloggers and its easy to see why more and more people are turning to online providers for their information. It demonstrates that people are more apt to get their news from someone who gives a damn about what they’re saying rather than denying that they have a particular point of view. In the end the 
online writer can be trusted because they are making no attempt at hiding what they believe - and such was the case with the early journalism of our forefathers.
Infamous Scribblers was an enjoyable read. I would recommend that my fellow bloggers consider reading it - it’ll make you feel a kinship with our country’s foundation. Just be prepared for the history lesson that you’ll receive.
Eric Burns is the host of Fox News Channel’s “Fox News Watch.” A former NBC News correspondent, he was named one of the best writers in the history of broadcast journalism by the Washington Journalism Review, and was awarded an Emmy for media criticism. Infamous Scribblers was published by PublicAffairs which is an imprint of Perseus Books Group. Infamous Scribblers is available at fine booksellers and online here. For another opinion on Infamous Scribblers, see Roger Mellen’s review at H-Net online.
