Boston was Home to the First Newspaper in America with Multiple Issues
The Boston News-Letter lasted for 72 years.
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.
The Boston News-Letter.
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.
