Compare impact of telegraph with impact of Internet

This being the 150th anniversary of Civil War, it is a good time compare the impact of the telegraph in the 1860s with the impact of the Internet today on newspapering.

By the time the Civil War started, many newspapers, including the Register, had been using the telegraph for nearly 15 years to gather news. But the war greatly expanded its use. The war also marked the first time military leaders used electrical communication.

The Register organized one of the Confederacy’s best systems of special correspondence by both telegraph and mail, as well as a special express for news outside the Confederacy. The Register sent correspondents called “specials” to every major field of battle. The specials usually transmitted their stories by telegraph.

Without a doubt the telegraph helped the Register gather the increasing amount of news about the war. For example, the front page of the Register before the war had been reserved for advertising, but war news began to push all other matter aside.

But the telegraph, unlike the Internet, didn’t do anything to help newspapers distribute the news. Newspapers couldn’t deliver their news to their readers over the telegraph.

Many journalism historians hold that the telegraph inspired a telegraphic news style. The heavy expense of telegraph tolls, the traditional view says, forced reporters to be concise and led to the rise of the summary news lead.

But a new book by David Hochfelder, The Telegraph in America, 1832-1920, says there was no telegraphic news style. He points out that most newspaper editors rewrote the copy reporters telegraphed to them into longer and more detailed stories.

What about the Internet’s impact on writing? Is there an Internet news style?