Here, There, and Everywhere: A Think Piece on The History of The Press

The Press and America

Johann Gutenberg’s introduction of the movable type printing press in Europe around 1440 and the printing of his famous Bible in the 1450’s can be considered phenomenal.  Though the first known use of the movable type was credited to a Chinese, it was when the device was perfected in Europe that the production of literature and newspapers cheap enough to reach the masses was made possible.  In fact, even the use of the word “news” was only observed after the invention of printing has made reports of current events available to a larger public. 

In his discussion of the heritage of the American press, Edwin Emery said a “true newspaper” should (1) be published at least once a week; (2) be produced mechanically; (3) be available to anyone who can afford it, regardless of class or special interest; (4) print anything of interest to a general public; (5) have an appeal to people of ordinary literary skill; (6) be relatively timely; and (7) have stability.

Given these characteristics, the Oxford Gazette, which was published first in 1665 and became the London Gazette after 24 issues, can be considered as “the first periodical to meet the qualifications of a true newspaper” in a strict sense.  However, the Oxford Gazette’s publication became possible only during the reign of King Charles–after two decades or so of campaigning for greater press freedom by journalistic heroes like John Milton.  Even more exasperating is the fact that Milton’s ideas in Areopagitica, the best known of the great pleas for press freedom, were picked up only a century later by many people around the world, especially those from America who wanted to enjoy more rights than what they already had at the time.

Even with the usher of the new era of Journalism during the reign of Charles, a few journalists were still punished.  One of these was Benjamin Harris, who was convicted in 1679 for possessing seditious literature and was supposed to be convicted a second time in 1686 had he not fled with his family to America.  Nevertheless,this escape to America led to the release on September 25, 1690 of Harris’ Publick Occurrences, Both Forreign and Domestick, which was held by some authorities as the first American newspaper.  It might have very well been had not Publick Occurrences been banned after the first issue.  All the same, its uniqueness was said to be notable as it looked like a newspaper, read like a newspaper, and was meant to to be permanent unlike the others.