Sentence Meaning:
During the initial years after the country became a republic, newspapers were mostly biased. So people didn't expect the press to be fair.
The semicolon is used to join two independent clauses.
Clause 1: During the first one hundred fifty years of the existence of this republic, no one expected the press was fair
Clause 2: newspapers were mostly shrill, scurrilous, and partisan.

In other ways, we can read the sentence as -
During the first one hundred fifty years of the existence of this republic, no one expected the press was fair, for the newspapers were mostly shrill, scurrilous, and partisan.

Answer choice analysis:
no one expected the press was fair
Here, no one is the subject and expected is the verb. So we don't need another verb "was". Also past tense with expected is incorrect. Options C, D and E can be eliminated as well. The correct answer is B.

I chose B ,thinking that the sentence is trying to convey that no one expected press to be fair as it was perceived as deceiving and not fair in its reporting or may be biased on the other hand newspapers were considered as vitriolic (fact).
Please correct me if i am wrong.

During the first one hundred fifty years of the existence of this republic, no one expected the press was fair; newspapers were mostly shrill, scurrilous, and partisan.

A) was

B) to be

C) of being

D) should be

E) had to be

I think you need to put yourself in the same timeline. "expected" is past tense, so you would use "was" or "had to be" if you're talking in the present about the past. Not talking about the past while in the same past timeline. (A), (E) are out.

"being" and "should" are almost always wrong on GMAT so eliminate (C), (D)

(B) is the best, expect ... to be
Ans: (B)

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION
• The idiomatic form of the expression is either
expected that X would be Y
or
expect X to be Y

Thus B, which follows the latter form, is the best answer.

• Each of the other options produces an unidiomatic statement.

COMMENTS
somya29verma , belated welcome to GMAT Club!
(If I've welcomed you before, ignore my dementia.)

The OE?

Hmm. What happens if the idiom is unfamiliar?

Well, then we rely on any and all of the analyses posted.

somya29verma wisely places herself in the time frame the sentence requires.
"Vitriolic" is a great word!

Prateekj05 does a masterful job of explaining the issues.

lary301254M7 also wisely goes back in time, and gives excellent reasons to
eliminate two choices.

The use of "being" and "should" on the GMAT is a controversial subject
that I will leave alone for now.

I can't improve these answers. Taken together, they are superb.

Taken separately, I give Prateekj05 "best answer," AND
I really like the sensibility and analysis offered by the authors of all three posts.

Nice work, all!
I will let "smiley face" mean "I like this answer."
Smiley faces to somya29verma and lary301254M7

Best answer gets straight kudos . . . to Prateekj05 (really excellent work)
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