"There is a terrific disadvantage in not having the abrasive quality of the press applied to you daily. Even though we never like it, and even though we wish they didn't write it, and even though we disapprove, there isn't any doubt that we could not do the job at all in a free society without a very, very active press."          — John F. Kennedy

America: Strong Words, Strong Convictions

The First Amendment in the U.S. Constitution's Bill of Rights says, in part, "Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press..."   

It was the firm conviction of our Founding Fathers that every American citizen has the right to be informed, and to inform.  Freedom of speech and of the press was and is considered central to every other freedom in our society. 

George Washington said in 1788, "For my part I entertain a high idea of the utility of periodical publications; insomuch as I could heartily desire that copies of ... magazines, as well as common Gazettes, might be spread through every city, town, and village in the United States.  I consider such vehicles of knowledge more happily calculated than any other to preserve the liberty, stimulate the industry, and ameliorate the morals of a free and enlightened people.

Only a year earlier Thomas Jefferson had written a letter to Colonel Edward Carrington, saying, "Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter."

It's on this generally accepted American conviction, as well as our Constitutional rights, that every newspaper in the United States stands.  But we mustn't think that news reporting or even newspapers started with a nation so young and (as yet) inexperienced as the United States. 

History of the News

News stories and especially newspaper stories are not new.  According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, as early as 59 B.C., Rome had a kind of daily gazette, called the Acta Diurna (Daily Events) that was posted in prominent places around the city and throughout the provinces.  This publication featured news and tidbits of interest to the people of the day.

Scribes and town criers were the main sources of news in Europe after the Roman Empire dissolved.  Even after Gutenberg's press introduced modern printing (with cast metal moveable type) in the mid 1400s, nothing like a modern newspaper was published right away.  The closest thing was the newsbook, pamphlets of various sizes printed on various topics of interest. 

There were also newsletter, which were real letters sent between political leaders, merchant families, and others who had specific interests in the unfolding of events in certain regions.  Traders' newsletters would include information on the price and availability of products, and would also sometimes include other bits of news or gossip thought to be of interest to the recipients.    In time, some of these letters gained popularity and importance beyond the immediate recipients.

It's believed that some of these popular commercial newsletters actually evolved into primitive newspapers, at about the beginning of the 17th century.  Soon Germany, England, France and Denmark were publishing newspapers, with international news often being carried first on the continent by the Dutch.  Sweden passed the first law, in 1766, that guaranteed freedom of the press.

“Publick Occurrences, Both Foreign and Domestick”, the first newspaper published in America, was printed by Richard Pierce and edited by Benjamin Harris in Boston on September 25, 1690. It filled only 3 six by ten inch pages of a folded sheet of paper. The journalist stated in his his first (and only) issue that he would issue the newspaper "once a month, or, if any Glut of Occurrences happen, oftener." 

America's first continuously-published newspaper, the Boston News-Letter, published its first issue in 1704. John Campbell, a bookseller and postmaster of Boston, was the first editor. It originally appeared on a single page, printed on both sides and issued weekly. 

By the 1820s about 25 daily newspapers and some 400 weeklies were being published across the United States.  And from there newspaper publishing has continued to grow, reaching into every corner of the civilized (and nearly civilized) nation.  Newspaper wars in various cities and regions have at times reduced the number of independent papers in America.  But new publishers and new papers soon fill the void.