If you pay attention to the press today, you might be familiar with a charge news outlets are constantly throwing at each other: of being biased, partisan, unfair, and unbalanced. And often, these accusations are accompanied by lots of angry finger-pointing.

What you may not know is that this is an old, old story. As old as America itself, actually. When America was first getting started, the press was pretty much as partisan as you can get—and proud of it. So, although today's reporters and pundits may not agree, our press is a lot less partisan than it used to be.

The first newspaper promised to provide its readers with the news, "both foreign and domestic."

Today, we expect our newspapers to do the same, but our definition of what constitutes the news has expanded considerably over the centuries. We would now consider the religious commentary and sermons that filled many of the first American newspapers to be totally out of place—just as they would surely deem inappropriate the attention we pay to crime, scandal, sports, and entertainment in today's papers.

Plus, we even have to decide what's fake news these days. 

So, while the American press has experienced a lot of changes over the past two centuries, some gradual and some more abrupt, all of 'em have been accompanied by some growing pains. 

No one said growing up was easy.

Ah, the internet. So full of wonderful things. (Like us.) So equally full of complete junk. 

Today, more and more people are turning to the internet for the information they once searched for in the newspaper. Everything from hard news to horoscopes, from political commentary to celebrity gossip, is quickly making its way from the printed page to the computer screen. 

• So, how did the newspaper become such a critical part of Americans' lives?
• How did it transition from a narrowly circulated organ of religious doctrine to the widely read guide to politics, crime, entertainment, and sports that it became by the late-20th century?
• How did it become the primary forum in which we could find cars, vacuum cleaners, clothes, jobs, and even relationships?

It's now hard to imagine navigating our world without the internet—but just 20 years ago people couldn't imagine getting along without a newspaper. 

So, even if you haven't picked up a paper in years, journalism is everywhere. It’s on your doorstep, on your television, in your car radio, on your computer and laptop and tablet and phone and, hey—maybe beamed directly into your brain. 

(It'll get there. Trust us.)