Hard News, Heartfelt Opinions
Scott M. Bushnell, Indiana University Press, 2007

Hard News, Heartfelt Opinions, Scott M. Bushnell, Indiana University Press, 2007

       Anyone who thinks that biased journalism and opinionated media personalities are recent creations, brought on by the rise of Fox News and talk radio, should read Scott BushnellÕs Hard News, Heartfelt Opinions, a history of the newspaper business in Fort Wayne – most specifically the genealogy of the cityÕs most successful paper, the Journal Gazette. The city that Bushnell chronicles is a turbulent stew of racial tensions, corrupt politicians, backstabbing businessmen, natural disasters and economic hardships. Far from being a voice of reason in the midst of the turmoil, Fort WayneÕs newspapers, at least at the dawn of the medium, helped to stoke the fires of chaos with their muckraking, disingenuous political maneuvering, fear-mongering, and nonexistent ethics. If you think that the media play fast and loose with the facts these days, you donÕt know your history.

       Bushnell describes a time when newspapers werenÕt expected to be bastions of objective journalism. ÒFair and balancedÓ hadnÕt been invented yet; newspapers were founded with an explicit political affiliation, and their primary reason for existence was to promote a particular political agenda. Bushnell steps into that political/media environment near the middle of the 19th century, when the country was gearing up for civil war and cities and states were beginning to choose sides. Political alignments were many and varied – abolitionists, radical Republicans, Confederate sympathizers, Democrats, German immigrants and others – and every political group had its own newspaper ... or two, or three. The papers that grew out of the antebellum foment were the predecessors of the FWJG, and Bushnell traces the ideological development of the paper from that tumultuous time to the paper we know today.

       The Fort Wayne Bushnell depicts is a surprisingly bleak place. In the pre-Civil War period, the city harbored groups with divergent viewpoints, but all of them were, to a greater or lesser degree, racist; those who opposed the coming war felt that the Confederacy should be left alone, and those who supported action against the South did so out of concern for the nationÕs unity rather than because of any moral obligation to end slavery. Everyone, it seemed, was afraid that, should slavery be abolished, Fort Wayne would be overrun by free blacks – and the newspapers did much to bolster that fear. During the war, pro-Confederate sentiment was so strong in Fort Wayne that the Union government paid special attention to the city, fearing that it might trigger secession of a second confederacy.

       After the war, the bigotry and xenophobia of the citizenry was focused on immigrants, but by the beginning of the 20th century, racism had ramped up again. Fortunately, the Journal Gazette, in its new role as civic watchdog rather than as political attack dog, had begun to see the value of bucking popular opinion when necessary in order to promote what it saw as desirable civic attitudes. At a time when a third of Hoosier men were members of the Ku Klux Klan – and when the KKK controlled state politics – the FWJG was not afraid to speak out against racism and white supremacy fanatics.

       The persistent problems with racism, coupled with such dispiriting new stories as the floods of 1913 and 1982, the Aveline Hotel fire, the closing of the International Harvester plant, the attempted assassination of civil rights leader Vernon Jordan and the exodus of Lincoln National, make Fort Wayne seem like not such a great place to be. On the other hand, the cityÕs run of bad luck could make one grateful for a steadfast media outlet with a good conscience; the Journal Gazette, Bushnell points out, has been just that.

  BushnellÕs book, despite its own claims to an Òinformal toneÓ and Òsnappy style,Ó will probably appeal most to history buffs. Especially in the early going, the FWJGÕs lineage is twisted and confusing, and, although Bushnell does his best to sort it out, the paperÕs family tree is still bewildering (and the late-20th-century era of joint operating agreements and corporate buy-outs is no picnic, either). Bushnell tells the paperÕs story primarily through profiles of the men who made the paper tick – and I do mean men; until the 1980s, in BushnellÕs account at least, women were not a significant part of the newspaper game – and the steady parade of personalities over more than a century, too, can get a little overwhelming.

       Fort Wayne in pictures

       For those who like to see history as much as they like to read about it, Historic Photos of Fort Wayne (Turner Publishing, 2007) makes a nice companion to Hard News. This handsome volume of old pictures of the city illustrates many of the places and events that Bushnell describes in his narrative (Bushnell provided the text for the photo book, as well), and the photos do much to enliven what might otherwise read as dry history.

       A wealth of architectural photos makes the book a valuable record of the buildings that played important roles in the cityÕs development, and photos of landmark events – such as the 1913 flood and the Aveline Hotel fire – are evocative. Perhaps most charming, though, are a series of unassuming street photos, views of Calhoun Street in the 1890s. Here, the old, thriving city is alive, dirty yet vibrant, bustling and young. These are fascinating images, inviting close scrutiny, tempting one into a time-warp daydream.

       Taken together, the two books are a thorough timeline of the city as seen through the development of its newspapers. The picture is not always pleasant, but is sometimes surprising; after reading Hard News especially, youÕre likely to see Fort Wayne in a way youÕve not seen the city before.

       Evan Gillespie is a former Fort Wayne native living in South Bend.

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