Join us for the continuation of the series honoring The McLean Contributionship’s long-standing commitment to the field of journalism and supporting access to our Philadelphia Evening Bulletin Collection. This year's McLean lecture features Pulitzer Prize winning architecture critic for the Philadelphia Inquirer. 

Philadelphia, like other big American cities, was once home to dozens of print newspapers. These papers exhibited a strong pack mentality (much like journalists themselves) and set up their offices in close proximity to one another, often on the same block, forming distinct media enclaves or newspaper rows. Newspapers frequently used their buildings as a form of advertising and constructed ever grander works of architecture in an effort to distinguish themselves and attract readers. They also turned their buildings in semi-public places where people gathered to celebrate, protest and exchange information. But as local newspapers have died off, many of these buildings have been lost. Like so many products we consume, we have no idea any longer where our news originates, and that’s one reason it has become increasingly difficult to separate the real from the fake. The research for this talk comes from a forthcoming history of American newspaper buildings provisionally titled, Building the News.

The McLean Contributionship Philadelphia Evening Bulletin Endowed Lecture Series is generously supported by The McLean Contributionship.