Horace Greeley

Horace Greeley is known as the “eccentric editor” because of his work on the New York Tribune. He was famous for dressing and acting unconventionally, and he was known to defend his ideals despite their unpopularity. Greeley served as editor for the weekly New-Yorker and he opened his own printing shop. His reform ideas and dedication to journalism make him a trailblazer in journalism. He used his paper as a political platform and to help him spread his ideas to the lower classes. Greeley felt responsibility for spurring on the Civil War because of a published headline encouraging the troops to move on to Richmond.

His contribution to the journalism field included making print news common among all people. During his time as an editor and owner of various publications in New York, he increased circulation of his daily paper to 65,000 and the Weekly Tribune to 250,000. He served on Congress and tried to continue political work. He lacked much education, and mostly taught himself, but he became the most influential editor of his time period. His desire to use his paper to spread his reformative ideas set the stage for a future of yellow journalism. Magazines and other published opinions were largely influenced by Greeley’s desire to print his opinions despite their obvious unpopularity.

Greeley’s work as an editor and journalist changed how the public perceived journalism, and his work is inspirational in his desire to spread his opinions and make journalism more popular. Circulation of his paper was huge. Greeley fought for his opinions despite how everyone else perceived them. He was inspirational in his hard work and dedication to his field. His legacy as the most famous editor lives on, as well as his erraticism and political agenda that criticized and changed the course of history during the civil war.