Week 5: Foundation of Free Press

What is this?

first known news poster from Rome 59 BCE, meant “Daily Events” in Latin

chiseled on stone or metal tablet and posted in public

What was the eventual history of Rome?

Barbarians invaded Rome in 400s, Rome fell in 476

romans had perfected book publishing

after the fall of the Roman Empire, monks mostly took over the role of book publishers

moveable type

created by Bi Sheng

used baked clay to create separate characters, more flexibility in creating pages

Wang Zhen (Yuan Dynasty official) credited for introduction of wooden movable type, more durable option in 1297

how did books and ideas reach readers up to 1200?

news got out through people crying out “criers”

religious figures, especially monks took over teaching people how to read

books were hand copied by monks until 1200s

Gutenberg version of the Bible— mid 1400s

printed by Johann Gutenberg, upper class resident of Mainz, Germany

created another movable type- individual cast-metal letters

letters could be moved around and set in place with thin strips of lead

one set of metal letters could make infinite pages, roll ink on the letters and then press it against paper

King Henry VII of England

became king in 1509

required press to be licensed and censored from 1538 onward

first king to place press under state control, continued into 1600s

Henry VII died in 1547

first newspapers in Europe

earliest surviving issues of weekly news papers were the Strabourg Relation (France) and in Wolfenbuttel Germany

by 1623 newspapers were not only printed across German speaking Europe but also in Low countries (netherlands, luxembourg, belgium)

Diurnal Occurences

began in 1641 after English parliament abolished star chamber, secret court where decisions were made

diurnal occurences came out daily

wrote of what went on in parliament

1960 American newspaper

Benjamin Harris published Publick Occurences

shut down and banned after one issue, too blunt for English govt

royal govenor of Massachusetts exerted power to censor press

What did Benjamin Harris write about King Louis XVI

wrote that he was having sex with his daughter-in-law: “Called the Iroquois Indians “those miserable Salvages, in whom we have too much confided.”

First American Newspaper to publish more than once

the Boston News-Letter by John Campbell

conventional paper, “published by authority” (of British)

aimed towards businessmen

1719: second paper in Boston

New England Courant by James Franklin

Ben Franklin was printer’s apprentice to his brother

in 1722, Franklin started writing under pen names

What were the “rules'“ for the New-England courant?

• “… be very tender of the Religion of the Country.
• “... Do not cast injurious Reflections on the Reverend and Faithful
Ministers of the Gospel….
• “By no means cast any Reflections on the Civil Government….
• “… and when you condemn any Vice, do not point out particular
Persons.”

timeline of Ben Franklin’s journalistic journey

• 1729 Ben Franklin bought part interest in a Philadelphia newspaper,
  The Pennsylvania Gazette
  • 1731 Franklin wrote “one of the bedrock statements” of journalism
  philosophy, “Apology for Printers,” in the Pennsylvania Gazette.
  • Franklin published first issue of Poor Richard’s Almanack. Advice, wise
  sayings.
  • 1735 Recent immigrant printer John Peter Zenger was jailed for
  “seditious libel” for criticizing the (British-appointed) New York
  governor.

What was the Apology for Printers?

famous 1731 essay written and published by Benjamin Franklin in The Pennsylvania Gazette

defended freedom of the press after he faced backlash for printing a controversial ad

argued that printers are merely neutral gatekeepers who shouldn't be blamed for the opinions they publish

asserted that the press must serve as an open forum for all ideas, believing that truth will always defeat error when given fair play.

What was seditious libel?

Lying in print
• Doing so as “a challenge to authority and, ultimately, to the social
order itself.”
Zenger’s lawyer, Andrew Hamilton, argued that Zenger had printed
the truth. A jury acquitted him

How were papers published during the colonial time?

by printers- the mechanical work of printing and the brain work of reporting and writing were often done by the same person

printed religious books, psalm books, sermons, almanacs for farmers

they published any news they could find, including old news from abroad

Stories about oddities ”such as lightning strikes, baby goats born with
two heads, meteor showers, and the like.”

Ben Franklin’s legacy to journalism

business that presents controversial views

believed printers and journalists should present as many sides of the story as possible

newspapers should be a marketplace of ideas a neutral repository

individual journalism could hold strong views

the Great Awakening

1730s and 1740s

protestant christian ministers believed people had gotten away from faith—either because of protestant reformation or in response to enlightenment

Reverand George Whitefield

visited america preaching conversion on his traveling sermons around colonies

audiences in tens and thousands

emotional public services called revivals changed the religious landscape in America and Europe

What is this picture?

cartoon poking fun at religious revivals

george whitefield (evangelist) is preaching, he had an eye problem hence “Dr. Squintum”

devil is raking in money below podium, showing how Whitefield might be in it for the money

Whitefield’s followers are busy propositioning a prostitute

Jonathan Edwards

apart of the Great Awakening

yale divinity school graduate

widely known in his own time

gave a sermon called “sinners in the hands of an angry god” in enfield ct

portrayed people as loathesome insects hanging above their doom

1741: Franklin and Andrew Bradford raced to get
out the first monthly magazine in the colonies

Benjamin Franklin’s General
Magazine: It was
planned first and included news,
opinion pieces, analysis, poetry,
and extracts from new books

Andrew Bradford’s American
Magazine.
• It was published first (three days
ahead of Franklin’s.) It reprinted
other sources like pamphlets
and books

16 years later, bradford’s nephew william published a new American magazine

What does this picture represent

made by Ben Franklin

Each piece has letters representing the British colonies

wanted to push the colonies to unite against the French and their Native American allies during the French and Indian War

Hartford Courant

• October 29, 1764
• By a printer named Thomas Green
• Oldest continually publishing paper in the
country

Editors abandoned the principle of an “open press” and began to take sides

• Turned away from Ben Franklin’s old approach of printing a
bunch of different views and letting readers decide.
• Instead:
• Editors decided what their stance was on such things as
breaking away from England. And printed articles that
matched their views.

Anonymous pamphlet writers took risks

• “The pamphleteers amounted to the nation’s first version of an
underground press, a guerrilla counterpart to the established
newspapers.” (Christopher Daly book, 37)
• Printers tried to remain neutral. But they found that readers would
perceive which view dominated a newspaper, and those who felt
outnumbered would stop subscribing.
• “The printer followed his readers into overt partisanship rather than
leading them there.” (Daly, 38

Thomas Paine’s difficult life

• Born in 1737 in England
• Lost his job and separated from his wife in 1774 (age 37)
• Immigrated to Philadelphia and met Ben Franklin, who took Paine
under his wing
• Wrote article against slavery that inspired a meeting of abolitionists

Common Sense

25 editions

read by or to almost every literate person in the colonies

paine wrote for the ordinary person

his writing came alive with memorable phrases and examples

Paine’s main points in common sense

english govt is corrupt

americans can’t reconcile with such a system

america should become its own nation

Legacy of Thomas Paine and others like Paine

• Political writers with the goal of
stirring the public’s thinking
• Wrote for all classes of people
• Short sentences, vivid phrases
• Advocated for his cause
• Took big risks (criticized the
English monarchy itself)