Journalism

NBC News' 1988 electoral map marked states won by Republican George H.W. Bush in blue and states won by Democrat Michael Dukakis in red.

When Republicans Became 'Red' and Democrats Became 'Blue'

The 2000 presidential election cemented the color-coded nature of political parties. Prior to that race, the colors were often reversed on electoral maps

Kate Winslet as Lee Miller in Lee, a new film directed by Ellen Kuras

The Real Story Behind the 'Lee' Movie and Lee Miller, the Legendary Surrealist Photographer and World War II Journalist Who Inspired It

In a new biopic starring Kate Winslet, Miller's many lives—as an artist, model, muse, cook and war correspondent—need little embellishment

Publick Occurrences Both Forreign and Domestick so angered authorities that they shut it down after just four days.

Why the Debut Issue of America's First Newspaper Was Also the Publication's Last

On this day in 1690, "Publick Occurrences Both Forreign and Domestick" attracted colonial officials' ire by repeating a scandalous rumor and condemning a British alliance with the Mohawk

An 1860 photo of New-York Tribune editor Horace Greeley, who challenged President Ulysses S. Grant in the 1872 election

This Defeated Presidential Candidate, Once the 'Best-Known Man in America,' Died in a Sanatorium Less Than a Month After Losing the Election

Newspaper editor Horace Greeley unsuccessfully ran against incumbent Ulysses S. Grant in November 1872. Twenty-four days later, he died of unknown causes at a private mental health facility

In "Lady in the Lake," Natalie Portman plays a fictional journalist who investigates a pair of mysterious deaths. The cases are inspired by the real-life disappearances of Esther Lebowitz and Shirley Lee Parker.

The Real Story Behind the Baltimore Deaths That Inspired 'Lady in the Lake'

A new mini-series offers a fictionalized take on two unrelated 1969 cases: the mysterious disappearance of bartender Shirley Lee Parker and the murder of 11-year-old Esther Lebowitz

A woman named Evelyn Thaw dodges a camera, 1909

How the Rise of the Camera Launched a Fight to Protect Gilded Age Americans' Privacy

Early photographers sold their snapshots to advertisers, who reused the individuals' likenesses without their permission

Richard Loeb (left) and Nathan Leopold (right) sought to plan "the perfect crime."

'The Crime of the Century,' a Century Later

In the summer of 1924, the Leopold and Loeb murder case triggered a media frenzy and a debate over whether anyone can truly know what’s inside the mind of a cold-blooded killer

Edythe Eyde started writing under the pen name Lisa Ben after an editor rejected her first choice, Ima Spinster.

Who Was 'Lisa Ben,' the Woman Behind the U.S.'s First Lesbian Magazine?

Edythe Eyde published nine issues of "Vice Versa" between June 1947 and February 1948. She later adopted a pen name that doubled as an anagram for "lesbian"

War correspondent Martha Gellhorn (left) and her first husband, Ernest Hemingway, in 1940

Martha Gellhorn Was The Only Woman to Report on the D-Day Landings From the Ground

In June 1944, the veteran journalist hid on a hospital ship so she could report firsthand as Allied soldiers fought their way onto the beaches of Normandy

The 1892 People's Grocery murders are “what opened my eyes to what lynching really was,” Ida B. Wells later wrote.

How the Murder of a Black Grocery Store Owner and His Colleagues Galvanized Ida B. Wells' Anti-Lynching Crusade

The saga of People's Grocery stands as a powerful reminder of the centrality of Black radicalism to the food justice movement

On May 21, 1924, Nathan Leopold Jr. (left) and Richard Loeb (right) murdered 14-year-old Bobby Franks. Leopold later described the pair's motive as “a sort of pure love of excitement, or the imaginary love of thrills, doing something different.”

Why Leopold and Loeb Committed Cold-Blooded Murder in the 'Crime of the Century'

A century ago, two Chicago teenagers killed an acquaintance named Bobby Franks for the thrill of it. The case captivated the nation and continues to fascinate the public today

USS South Dakota (BB-57) anchored in Hvalfjordur

This 12-Year-Old Boy Fought on a World War II Battleship and Became the Nation's Youngest Decorated War Hero

In 1942, young Calvin Graham was decorated for valor in battle, before his worried mother learned of his whereabouts and revealed his secret to the Navy

Not everyone was a fan of rumor clinics. Some critics faulted them for helping hearsay reach an even larger audience.

World War II 'Rumor Clinics' Helped America Battle Wild Gossip

Newspapers and magazines across the United States published weekly columns debunking lurid claims that were detrimental to the war effort

On a June morning in 1864, Meade expelled Edward Crapsey from camp, ordering his men to seat the reporter backward on a mule, with a sign around his neck that read “Libeler of the Press.”

After Winning the Battle of Gettysburg, George Meade Fought With—and Lost to—the Press

The Civil War general's reputation was shaped by partisan politics, editorial whims and his own personal failings

Thomas Edison told journalists they would each receive a brief, private demonstration of the new light bulb’s capacities. They could marvel at what he had achieved before he swiftly ushered them away, ensuring they’d be out of the room long before the bulb burned out.

How Thomas Edison Tricked the Press Into Believing He'd Invented the Light Bulb

A year before he developed a working bulb, the "Wizard of Menlo Park" created the illusion that his prototype burned for more than a few minutes at a time

Lewis Wickes Hine's 1909 photograph of a young spinner in a Georgia cotton mill

The Photographer Who Forced the U.S. to Confront Its Child Labor Problem

Lewis Hine's early 20th-century "photo stories" sparked meaningful legislative reform

The only meeting between Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X occured on March 26, 1964, at the U.S. Senate.

Martin Luther King Jr. Never Said Famous Quote Criticizing Malcolm X

One journalist's archival discovery is changing historians' understanding of the two civil rights leaders

In 1935, Josephine Herbst was, in the words of biographer Elinor Langer, “a leading lady” of the country’s radical left.

How Josephine Herbst, 'Leading Lady' of the Left, Chronicled the Rise of Fascism

During the interwar years, the American journalist reported on political unrest in Cuba, Germany and Spain

Carrie Coon (left) as Jean Cole and Keira Knightley (right) as Loretta McLaughlin in the Boston Strangler movie

The Tenacious Women Reporters Who Helped Expose the Boston Strangler

A new film explores Loretta McLaughlin and Jean Cole's efforts to unmask a serial killer believed to have murdered 13 women between 1962 and 1964

The New York Public Library has acquired the papers of the late literary couple Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne.

New York Public Library Acquires Joan Didion's Letters, Drafts and Notes

The archive includes 240 linear feet of papers from Didion and her husband, John Gregory Dunne

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