Loyola University Maryland - Evergreen / Green and Gray Yearbook (Baltimore, MD)

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THE LOYOLA ANNUAL 5 otherwise had such a promising beginning. Such was the fate of America’s first newspaper. The historians of journalism have usually overlooked this unique and rather ludicrous origin of the newspaper in Amer- ica, and have conferred the honor of the father of American newspapers on John Campbell, the Boston Postmaster, who published his paper, “ The Boston Letter News,” as it was called, for the first time on April 24th, 1704. From such simple beginnings, the newspaper began to spread rapidly, and in 1747 there were eleven newspapers in the Eng- lish colonies. Soon almost every city of any considerable size had one or more newspapers, but no attempt was made in the country to publish a daily nevv spaper until 1784, and even in 1800 daily newspapers were printed only in a few of the largest cities. The years immediately preceding and following the out- break of the Revolution marked a change in the nev spaper, and in this change we see tv o of the greatest causes of the development of the American newspaper, namely the increased interest which the people took in the newspaper and its con- nection with politics and it was in response to these require- ments that the editors of the paper did all in their power to collect tlie news and to further the growth of the newspaper. Hitherto the unwarranted restrictions put on the liberty of the press had severely checked the efforts of the editors in the further development of their newspapers. Up to this time, in the face of this great opposition, the newspapers had grown gradually, but steadily, but now they seem stirred with the breath of a new life. They were breathing with a growing power and prosperity. The light of a grander day was falling fair on their faces. This marked the great commencement of the American newspaper. After the Revolution the newspapers became the organs of the different political bodies. They were practically subsidized

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4 THE LOYOLA ANNUAL ing vv ar in Italy. In England the first newspaper appeared in 1622 under the title of the “ English Mercury,” and in 1631 France published its first paper, known as “ La Gazette de France.” Similarly newspapers began to spring up in almost every nation in Europe. With the coming of the American settlers came the newspapers. Every vessel that crossed the ocean brought with it the papers of Europe, acquainting the pioneers of America with the news of the land of their child- hood. For years the colonists were so few and were scat- tered over such a broad area that they were unable to pub- lish a paper for themselves. But as they increased in num- bers, and as the country began to grow more and more rapidly, an opportunity was offered for the publication of a news- paper. It was in the town of Boston, on the 25th of September, 1690, that the first newspaper in America was printed. Richard Pierce, its editor, was possessed of a rare sense of humour and originality, which would have done credit to the shrewdest, wittiest and most philosophical editor of our day. He was evi- dently a true business man, for he did not wait for opportu- nities to come to him, but he made his own opportunities. He was aware of the fact that mankind is naturally curious and also that people were often wont to exaggerate and to turn and twist facts until there was not the least semblance of truth remaining in them. In short, he knew that there were many gossipers in the city. Accordingly and in his very first issue, he stated that if his readers would acquaint him with the names of the people who were circulating false rumors about the town he would expose their names to the public in the subsequent issues of his papers. In brief, he proposed to advertise in his papers all the liars of the city. But, fortunately or unfortunately, as the case may be, after the first issue the authorities suppressed the paper, which

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6 THE LOYOLA ANNUAL by the politicians and spoke only for that side whom they represented. The fact that so few papers were published in the early his- tory of America was due largely to the many difficulties which were encountered in printing the newspaper. Even in the early part of the nineteenth century newspapers were printed with very crude machinery and involved so much time and hard labor that the production of a large number of copies was out of the question. Later some iron presses were imported from England, and in 1822 the first power press was invented by Daniel Treadwell, of Boston, the power being furnished by a team of mules. None of these presses were well adapted to newspaper work, but in 1847 Richard M. Hoe, one of the great mechanical geniuses of this country, invented a cylinder press by which the mechanical ability of producing papers was almost immediately doubled, and which was in time destined to revolutionize the newspaper of America. Early in the nineteenth century the editor ceased to be the hired servant of the political bodies, and began to express his own views on different subjects. The editor now became the real writer of the paper and spoke to the people directly through the editorial columns of his paper. The newspaper became now a real medium of knowledge and not a mere presentation of news. This was the day of great editors, of which Horace Greely, the editor of the New York Tribune, was worthy of special mention. Their papers were made up for the most part of editorials, the aim of which was to convince and to educate, not to inform the public. The editor at this period was greater than his newspaper, and as a means of educating and elevating the people of the United States this era of newspapers was unparalleled in the history of journalism. The newspaper, as one of the great institutions of our gov-