Boston was Home to the First Newspaper in America with Multiple Issues
The Boston News-Letter wasn’t the first newspaper in America. One example of an earlier publication was “The Present State of the New-English Affairs” by Samuel Green in 1689. Another was “Publick Occurrences, Both Forreign and Domestick” by Benjamin Harris in 1690, but this was quickly shut down because the governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony wasn’t a fan of some of Harris’ views. Imagine that: a politician not liking the views and opinions of someone in the media.It wasn’t until April 24, 1704, when John Campbell published the first edition of The Boston News-Letter, a newspaper that would last would be published in America.The newspaper was a single page with two columns printed front and back. The paper began with headlines from “across the pond” in England and Europe. It also included brief bits of news from Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and other nearby areas.
John Campbell also began a common practice among newspapers still today when he used space at the bottom of the back page to urge readers to buy advertising space in the newspaper. At first, the British government subsidized the newspaper — but it needed to start making money if it was going to last. Campbell used a local printer named Batholomew Green to handle the printing of his paper. This allowed more papers to be printed, leading to a wider circulation. The Boston News-Letter had no competition in Boston until December 1719 and was published weekly until 1776. While the War for American Independence ended up being a good thing for America, it ended The Boston News-Letter.
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