By the time the American colonies were founded, the world had already been transformed by the printing press. So it didn’t take long after the Pilgrims arrived for the first print shop to open. Stephen Daye, Matthew Daye, and Samuel Green owned and operated America’s first printing press, starting in 1638. The first book printed on this christened machine in Massachusetts Bay was the Bay Psalm Book, a collection of psalms printed for use in Puritan churches. The opening of this first American press was a turning point for American liberty, as colonists no longer had to rely on England to obtain books and other printed materials.
By the dawn of the 18th century, print shops had opened in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Virginia, printing Bibles, religious books, government documents, almanacs, and pamphlets. Then, once printing had become an established tradition, printers in Boston struck out on the daring adventure to pursue a bold new medium: a newspaper. The idea was to recount the most important and relevant recent events, both foreign and domestic, and place them into the hands of literate colonists. Initially, newspapers were suppressed by colonial authorities. But by 1719, Boston boasted two regularly-printed rival newspapers: The Boston News-Letter and The Boston Gazette. Benjamin Franklin helped found The Pennsylvania Gazette in 1728, and before long nearly every colony had its own Gazette and a smattering of other competing newspapers. By the time of the American Revolution, papers had not only become common; they had become essential to the free spread of revolutionary ideas.
After the Revolution, Thomas Jefferson mused over the essential role that newspapers played in securing American liberty and the crucial role they must continue to play if we hope to keep it. “Were it left to me to decide,” Jefferson said, “whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.” Newspapers grew in number, prominence, and availability as steam-engine presses and cheap, thin paper drove prices down to “a penny a pape” in most American cities. Newspaper barons like Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst revolutionized papers by making them entertaining and eye-catching, not just informative.
But even from the beginning, journalists often sacrificed the truth to sell papers. “Yellow journalism” became the norm, and some began to wonder if newspaper-readers were more or less informed than non-readers.
In 2016, the phrase “fake news” was popularized to describe slanted or fabricated stories that played fast and loose with the facts. But news-consumers have had to battle the confusion of trying to discern fact from fiction in the media for centuries. This is why it’s vital for journalists, be they newspaper reporters, television anchors, or social media influencers, to hold themselves to a high moral standard. Because while we rightly have a free press in America, a free press is only a bulwark against tyranny if it’s truthful.
In 1961, in a speech to the American Society of Newspaper Editors, John F. Kennedy said, “The President of a great democracy such as ours and the editors of great newspapers such as yours owe a common obligation to the people: an obligation to present the facts, to present them with candor, and to present them in perspective.” Two decades later, Ronald Reagan echoed this sentiment by saying the media, like the government, has the responsibility of “defending America’s liberties and passing them on to the next generation.”
In today’s world of instant news-breaks and countless screens, the perceived value of printed newspapers is at an all-time low. According to Pew Research, 57% of American adults get their news from digital devices, 33% from television, and only 6% get their news from print publications, which includes both newspapers and magazines. But print still has enormous value. Sure, newspapers are no longer the first sources to break news, but they’re often the sources with some of the best analysis of it. Additionally, in our video-based world of screaming, outraged commentators who yell and curse to get clicks, newspapers provide a quiet platform where what is said matters, not how loud one says it. And finally, newspapers are still some of the best sources of local news, covering small stories of hometown heroes, upcoming local events, obituaries, and other material that isn’t flashy enough for the dopamine-chasing digital media markets.
So, like thoughtful Americans have done for 300 years, I encourage you to pick up a paper today, and find a story worth sharing.
Jonathan Kettler is a history teacher at Brandon High School.
