Newspapers Of Colonial America example essay topic

The Birth of the American Newspaper It has been said that the true newspaper must meet these qualifications: (1) it must be published at least once a week; (2) it must be produced by mechanical means (to distinguish it from handwritten 'news letters'); (3) it must be available to anyone willing to pay the price, regardless of class or special interest; (4) it must print anything of interest to a general public, as contrasted with some of the religious and business publications; (5) it must have an appeal to a public of ordinary literary skill; (6) it must be timely, or at least relatively so, in the light of technical development; and (7) it must have stability, as contrasted to the fly-by-night publications of more primitive times. -Emery and Smith, 1954 Before the printing press or printing plates hand written pamphlets were the means for communicating anything over a distance of land or sea. Documentation, for those who were literate, played major roles in politics long before today's modern Sunday Advertisers. In 1566, the Venetian Magistracy ordered accounts of the war in Dalmatia to be read and posted in public places. Persons interested in this news paid a small coin, called a gazette, for the privilege of obtaining it. As far back as 69 BC, news sheets known as Acta Diurnal were posted in public places in Rome (Emery and Smith, 1954).

' It might be said that the newspaper was the most significant contribution of the printing press. Johann Gutenberg introduced movable type around 1440. Not until it had been perfected was it possible to produce literature and printed reports cheap enough to reach the masses. The revolution was not as much in the medium as in the audience. With publication of this type, there was some incentive for gathering and processing information of interest to the general public- news (Emery and Smith, 1954).

News became a commodity, like food and merchandise, produced for profit to meet a demand. Newspapers didn't create news; news created newspapers (Emery and Smith, 1954). David Copeland claims that the American newspaper was 'quietly' born on September 25, 1690. On this day, 'Publick Occurrence Both Foreign and Domestic' was printed in Boston by Benjamin Harris. The young nation's first newspaper promised to provide 'an account of such considerable things as have arrived unto our Notion (Copeland, 1997).

Needless to say, the young paper did not make a second edition due to the fact that the governor found the pamphlet contained "reflections of a very high nature" and ordered its suppression" (Lee, 1924). America's next chance at a newspaper was started by John Campbell. The Boston News-Letter began on April 24, 1704, 84 years after the establishment of the first colony in that area. One of its main reasons for success was the fact that Campbell printed his newspaper 'with Authority of the Massachusetts government" (Copeland, 1997). Before he began printing, Campbell, Boston's postmaster, sent handwritten letters to the governors of each colony. Campbell having secured the governments approval made his paper a success when he began mass distribution.

Once his printing got underway, the News-Letter was printed on both sides of a sheet; slightly larger than a sheet of typewriter paper. Campbell never had enough subscribers to make his venture profitable. His circulation seldom exceeded three hundred (Emery and Smith, 1954). The Boston News-Letter printed until 1776. From 1704 until December 1719, the News-Letter was the only colonial newspaper (Copeland, 1997). On December 21, James Franklin printed the first Boston Gazette.

The next day, Andrew Bradford began the American Weekly Mercury in Philadelphia. Andrew was the local postmaster and son of William Bradford, who was to be the publisher of the first newspaper in New York. The elder Bradford started The New York Gazette on November 8, 1725 (Lee, 1923). Within a decade, five other newspapers were initiated in the colonies. The newspapers of colonial America were an outgrowth of London newspapers and there predecessors, the newsletters. The content of the colonial newspapers were obtained from English newspapers and magazines brought to America.

Ships arrived after weeks at sea, and printers sought out captains, crew members, and passengers for the latest 'advices' from Europe (Copeland, 1997). The news printed in the colonial newspapers were not original in content. The "news" was not new at all. In fact, it was several months behind the current events in Europe. The papers also largely had nothing to with the "news" of the colonies. People where still hanging on to the events of Europe that had no direct affect on them in the new nation.

Eventually the colonist came to the realization they needed to be aware of situations in their surroundings and not abroad. Benjamin Franklin was the first to begin to print news and information about the colonies themselves and not exclusively in Europe. If one was to ask who set the palette for today's newspapers, the answer would definitely be Benjamin Franklin.

Bibliography

Copeland, David. Colonial American Newspapers. University Of Delaware Press, Inc. Newark, Delaware. 1997.
Emery, Edwin, and Henry Ladd Smith. The Press and America. Prentice Hall, Inc. New York, New York. 1954.
Lee, James Melvin. History of American Journalism. The Garden City Publishing Co., Inc. Garden City, New York. 1923.