Reader,

My most recent birthday was one of those “big ones.” Two dials advanced!

I was reflecting on my careers and on the changing world in which we live. That took me back a bunch of years to my very first real job – delivering the Chicago Daily News on my bicycle.

That, in turn, got me thinking about the big picture of newspapers and “the news.”

“Back in the day” Chicago had four daily newspapers. In the morning you could read the Chicago Tribune or the Chicago Sun Times. In the late afternoon or evening, you could grab the Chicago Daily News or the Chicago American if you wanted to catch-up on the latest happenings.

And that pondering got me thinking about the role of newspapers and how the world has changed, but not as much as we think. Fundamentally, “the news” has been used to influence people.

It was true of William Randolph Hearst at the beginning of the 20^th century and it’s true of Mark Zuckerberg today. The medium has changed, but the quest to influence others is part of the “human condition.” The proverbial bottom line is that whoever controls attention often gains outsized influence over politics, culture, markets, and public opinion. Hearst did it a century ago and Zuckerberg does it today.

Let’s think across time for a quick review of three eras: newspapers, radio, and social media.

Mass circulation newspapers

Hearst, Pulitzer, and McCormick were considered newspaper “barons” in the early years of the 20^th century.

They built vertically integrated businesses: reporters, presses, trucks, vendors, and city-wide distribution. Their power came from scarcity because a few newspapers could reach millions of citizens. They were the gatekeepers of public information. They had a strong editorial voice which was often openly partisan.

They were able to shape wars, elections, and reform movements because they were essentially news monopolies in major cities.

Radio broadcasting

David Sarnoff began as a wireless telegraph operator and rose through the ranks at Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of America. His early exposure to point-to-point communication shaped his key insight that radio didn’t have to be just communication - it could be mass distribution.

In 1915, Sarnoff wrote a now-famous internal memo proposing that radio could become a household utility. It could become a “radio music box” delivering news, music, and events into homes.

In 1919 he became a leader at Radio Corporation of America (RCA), which was formed with backing from General Electric and others.

IN 1926he helped create the National Broadcast corporation (NBC), the first major U.S. radio network. Instead of isolated local stations, NBC connected stations into a national network.

Advertisers could reach coast-to-coast audiences, and a shared national culture began to emerge. This was the true industrialization of broadcasting.

Radio enabled one-to-many communication and could support strong emotional persuasion through voice and sound.

Social media

Zucherberg, Mask, and others rarely “publish” content themselves, but their algorithms rank attention. They own systems that decide what billions of people see.

Social media democratized publishing but allows disinformation at scale. There are no editors. And whereas editors once decided headlines, “recommendation systems” optimize engagement.

Newspapers reset every day and, theoretically, gave you time to think and decide. Social media never sleeps and floods your mind every time you access it. Thinking time has been shoved into a corner.

And so …..

Newspapers influenced people in a city; radio affected the nation; social media is intercontinental.

The medium is interesting but not the issue. The issue is the struggle over who shapes perception at scale.

Will AI become the next news baron?