History of Early Journalism in America
Dating back to 1690, the Publick Occurrences1 was the first multi-page newspaper published in colonial America. Published on September 25 in Boston, this paper covered current events taking place in the towns, and any gossip they found important. Four days after publishing, the paper was suspended permanently, due to the sensitive content surrounding the crown. Stated in the paper2 General Fitz-John Winthrop is criticized for his inhumane treatment of French prisoners of war (POW) during the French and Indian war. It also included gossip all the way from Great Britain, claiming that the king of France, Louis XI was sleeping with his son's wife. These topics, covering sensitive matters, were controversial and shut down by the authorities in Boston as they were spreading "fake news."
After the paper was suspended, no newspapers were published until the early 1700s, and even the earliest ones weren't able to fully voice their opinion until around the 1760s. After the expeditious decision to cancel the first newspaper, colonial printers made sure to refrain from writing any material that seemed libelous, and it was not until the late 18th century that they were able to voice their opinions, which eventually led to propaganda in support of the Revolutionary War. These newspapers and pamphlets dating back almost three hundred years ago reveal an exclusive look at the rationale behind the war and allow us to see a unique perspective from everyday colonists instead of the perspective painted by historians throughout the years.
In 1704, the Boston Newsletter3 was published, consisting of news from the homeland, England. Published weekly, this paper had no competition until 1719, when other major cities, including Philadelphia and New York City created their own weekly papers. Most papers before the 1760s were used for farming ads, runaway reports, and news back “home” in England. As tension heated up between the colonists and British soldiers, newspapers and pamphlets slowly became biased, and between 1763 and 1775, sales doubled, and newspapers became more politically polarized. The printing press had reformed itself to a more politically polarized print, with events like the Stamp Act and the Boston Massacre creating a division between the colonies and Britain. Propaganda was in full swing during that time, causing confusion through the colonies and bias in the papers. As the colonies split between the Federalist and Democratic-Republican parties, the press began to reflect this division, highlighting and reinforcing the growing political differences of the time.
These early papers show us exactly how much power the crown still had on the opinion of the colonists. Even though they were "free" in new America, their voice was still silenced. When colonists realized they had the right to voice their own opinions in the newspapers, they flourished as more and more papers were being created. It was propaganda from newspapers that played a big part in leading up to the revolutionary war.
1 Publick Occurrences, Both Foreign and Domestick | newspaper.” n.d. Britannica. Accessed September 25, 2024. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Publick-Occurrences-Both-Foreign-and-Domestick.
2 Addington, Isaac. 1690. By the Governour and Council. Boston. Accessed October 31, 2024 https://www.masshist.org/database/viewer.php?item_id=187
3 The Boston Gazette, Or, Country Journal Boston Mass. -1793.