America's first newspaper. The Boston News-Letter, thought to be America's first continuing newspaper, is pictured on page 364 of the book.



It was first published by John Campbell in 1704. William David Sloan, a professor of journalism at the University of Alabama and one of America's distinguished journalism historians, has put together an extensive history of this newspaper for the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.



Franklin in vogue. If anyone was the father of American journalism, it was Ben Franklin. But he was also the father of the American post office, the volunteer fire department and many other societal innovations that have lasted far longer than his life. A number of good biographies examining all aspects of Franklin's life have been published.

A couple of good web sites where you can find out much more about the life of Franklin are the companion web site for a Public Broadcasting System special on Franklin and the U.S. History.org web site, which contains a whole section on Franklin.

Key terms and concepts

• Individuals and groups have always needed to communicate new information, the latest news, to each other; consequently, journalism is a part of any society, ancient or modern.

• Journalism in any age depends on the technology available to gather and disseminate information.

• Writing makes information easier to convey than simply speaking; writing also creates a permanent record, something that establishes a history and a basis for a society.

• Acta Diurna – a daily publication of political and society news begun during the reign of Julius Caesar in 59 B.C.

• Moveable type – individual pieces of type that can be reused for different printing jobs. The concept of moveable type was the key to the invention of the printing press around 1450. JOHANNES GUTENBERG.

• Printing was only one of the factors that brought Western civilization out of the Dark Ages. Other factors included an increase in literacy and easier means of dissemination (such as the development of safer travel routes).

• Censorship – prevention by governmental or religious authorities of dissemination of information they believed threatening to their position.

• Benjamin Franklin was the great journalistic innovator of the 18th century; he pioneered the development of newspapers throughout the American colonies by investing in start-up papers, creating news services among newspapers, and promoting a light and entertaining style of writing.

• Modern journalism, with its emphasis on fair and accurate presentation of information, did not exist during the 1790s, the first decade of the American Constitutional republic. Instead, it was the age of partisanship when newspapers presented political points of view rather than information.