https://youtu.be/T3r5ZBIWwt4

So Newspapers.....we sort of still use them, but they are mostly online now just as the News and from last time we talked about Yellow Press and how it caused a war, but anyways how were the first Newspapers like?, so I will be talking about Newspapers in Colonial America from the Thought and Culture section of story america cards.

(What are Newspapers?)

I guess I should get this one over with, what are newspapers?,We know what they are but this is what I need to do with the format I use. A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background.

Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports, art, and science. They often include materials such as opinion columns, weather forecasts, reviews of local services, obituaries, birth notices, crosswords, editorial cartoons, comic strips, and advice columns and that's it.

Now let's go back in time to 1690 and 1776.

(The Presses Begin to Roll)

The first newspaper printed in the American colonies appeared in 1690 and then, because it was not officially sanctioned, it promptly disappeared after its first issue. Thus, the history of early American newspapers dates officially from April 24th 1704, when the Boston News-Letter was first published.

The paper was founded by John Campbell, the postmaster at Boston, who was first among many postmasters to become printers in Colonial America.

Indeed, succeeding postmasters in Boston, and others throughout the colonies, began to believe that the privilege of publishings went with the office. It was however a natural marriage of interests.

The authorities were assured that the press remained in the hands of responsible citizens and the postmaster was in the best position possible to gather news as well as to market the paper. There were a few drawbacks, too.

When a rival publication appeared the postmaster could also delay its delivery thus making it extremely difficult for a competitor to survive.

Benjamin Franklin, certainly America's best known printer and publisher, did very well for himself as "Public Printer" and postmaster in Philadelphia. Except for certain official proceeding laws, decrees, and the like, colonial newspapers rarely carried local information.

Most news was foreign and arrived by ship months after the fact. Often British newspapers and journals that arrived in colonies were merely copied and reprinted.

Although laws against plagiarism were nonexistent, there were restrictions against libel and for editorializing against the established order.

Newspapers in colonial America were quite small, eight pages at most, more often four to six. Published weekly, they ran 300 copies. This proved sufficient because each copy was passed around among friends and often posted together with official notices near the meeting house, or on the commons.

Advertising was extremely important even then, for goods and services offered for sale were vital to the wellbeing of both advertiser and reader, School teachers, dancing and music masters, potters and silversmiths were among those advertised often.

As the provincial colonies changed to revolutionary colonies in the late 1760s and early 1770s, their newspapers began to change too, More information about politics in other colonies appeared as editors took sides over burning issues of the day.

(Ending)

And that was Newspapers in Colonial Times, I hope you liked it and so next in my history cards will be my last card for now in Thought and Culture for now with just Tiffney and a Card in the Wars aboard category which I'm sure you should know what happened December 7th 1941 there's your hint on that.

Anyways see ya later.