The Sun (Volume 1, Number 1)

Title: The Sun (Volume 1, Number 1)

Maker Credits: Benjamin H. Day

Date: September 3, 1833

Format: 4- page newspaper, about 8 x 11.25 inches, printed on standard rag paper, used a Hand-powered flatbed press for printing

Location of Production: New York City, U.S. 

Annotation: 

The Sun, or the New York Sun, was created by Benjamin H. Day in 1833, and the publication continues to post articles to this day. In the early 1800s, newspapers were quite expensive, mostly because of the printing process. A lot of printing was hand-powered before steam-powered printing was invented and adopted. Hand-powered printing, like the one pictured, was able to produce 125 papers per hour, but steam-powered printing allowed 18,000 papers to be made per hour. That is why Benjamin H. Day adopted steam-powered printing soon after the first few issues were published. Benjamin H. Day’s goal was to create a newspaper for the public, not just the elite. That is why he made the paper cost only a single penny. Other daily newspapers at the time cost six pennies, which was above what the middle and lower class could afford. Having the paper be affordable to everyone allowed more connectivity and spread of information (Marzouk, 2016). 

The use of steam-powered printing was not the only way Benjamin H. Day was able to sell the paper so cheaply. Other design alterations were made to ensure the public could have daily access to the news at an affordable price. The first design choice was to make the issues only a few pages. The rag paper that was used at the time was quite expensive, so limiting the number of pages ensured that the production cost would be lower. The same can be said for the size, as these newspapers were around the same size as a modern letter-size paper. Having a newspaper this small was uncommon, as most papers in this era were almost four times as large. Another huge contributor was the inclusion of ads, which helped fund the publication. Other papers that were more expensive did not have to rely on ads, as the revenue they made was sufficient. These papers, however, excluded the lower and middle class and only catered to the elite. The Sun, on the other hand, made including advertisements much more popular, so that they could make a profit while still keeping the price of each issue cheap for their consumers (Osei-Hwere & Osei-Hwere, n.d.).

The content itself also changed to appeal to the new mass consumer audience. The content went from being mostly about partisan politics and philosophical essays to human-interest stories and police reports. Benjamin H. Day wanted to report on news that everyone could enjoy and be interested in, which had a lot to do with what the people around them were doing. The Sun was also one of the first newspapers to distribute its issues through newsboys, since the price was low for their labor. Newsboys were yet another invention to lower production and distribution costs, which ultimately led to the success of penny papers like The Sun ("The Sun," 2026).

Penny papers such as The New York Sun set a new precedent for what news could look like. Instead of long essays about politics and philosophy, penny papers included more fast-paced, engaging stories about local happenings. The inclusion of ads was also monumental, and reflects even modern-day media. The first issue of the New York Sun, as seen above, is very important because it marks the beginning of designing with the lower and middle class in mind. Earlier designs were specifically for the elite, but as technology advanced, designers like Benjamin H. Day were able to spread news to everyone in the public.