Publick Occurrences

Publick Occurrences

September 25, 1690

-First newspaper published in America.
-Published by Benjamin Harris in Boston.
-Four-page paper.
-Full of stories lifted from English broadsides and overheard on the streets of Boston.
-Hardly considered quality journalism by modern standards
-Harris stated that he would publish the paper once a month, though would consider doing so more often "if any Glut of Occurrences happen."
-Three of its four pages were jammed with dense type. There were no headlines between stories, so one story would blend into another without a pause or segue. The fourth page, amazingly, was totally blank, the idea being that readers of the paper would jot down comments or contribute their own news, then pass it along to another reader.
-Printed a story about the King of France having an affair.
-Harris' innovative, but ethically flawed journal was doomed from the start. The colonial British authorities did not look kindly upon his newspaper. They were upset with him publishing what they considered diplomatically provocative hearsay; even worse, he never bothered paying for a publishing license. Soon after the first issue was published, they published their own document banning the newspaper.