A printing press is a machine that prints many copies of the same page, including newspapers. Printing was created in China before Gutenberg, who developed it further in Europe in the 15th century. Johannes Gutenberg began experimenting with printing in Strasbourg in 1440. By about 1450 he had built a printing machine in Mainz, Germany, that was ready to use. Long ago, before newspapers, a town crier rang a bell and called out the news in the street, because many people could not read. In some places illiteracy stayed high until the early 20th century, so people kept relying on town criers for news. In Boston in the 1600s, town criers were elected town officers, and by the 1700s town leaders appointed them. In 1605 a paper called Relation was printed in Strasbourg and is described as the first official newspaper, and newspapers then spread across Europe. They added to the growth of literacy, education and the spread of the same information to ordinary people.
The first newspaper in the American colonies lasted one issue. Publick Occurrences came out in Boston in 1690 and promised to print news once a month, or more often if enough happened. It was probably shut down for its mix of royal gossip and sharp criticism of an English military commander, though officials said it had no license. Its publisher, Benjamin Harris, had already been fined for sedition in England. A different kind of paper survived. The Boston News-Letter began on April 24, 1704, and it lasted for more than seventy years. It was approved and paid for in part by the British government, printed by Bartholomew Green and edited by John Campbell. The 1690 paper was the colonies' first newspaper. It said it would come out once a month, and it was gone within one issue, while the News-Letter outlasted it by decades.
Benjamin Franklin learned the trade in Boston, where he was apprenticed in 1718 in his older brother's print shop. At 16, he wrote essays in the newspaper his brother printed, using the made-up name Silence Dogood. In 1729 he became the owner and publisher of the Pennsylvania Gazette, which became the most widely read newspaper in the colonies. It was also one of the first colonial papers to make a profit. The First Amendment says Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech or of the press. Compare that sentence with Boston in 1690, where officials could say a paper had no license and stop it after one issue. Franklin's paper began in 1729, some forty years after Publick Occurrences was stopped.
Freedom does not settle what a good paper does with it. The Society of Professional Journalists code says ethical journalism should be accurate, fair and in context, and honest, diligent and courageous. The News Literacy Project lists the marks of quality journalism as truthfulness, independence, balance, fairness and accountability. Accountability means acknowledging errors and correcting them promptly, and the SPJ code tells journalists to acknowledge mistakes, correct them promptly and prominently, and explain corrections clearly. Independence takes some arrangements inside a newsroom. Editorial boards work separately from a publication's news staff, who are supposed to cover the news independently. The SPJ code says journalists should avoid conflicts of interest, real or perceived. They should refuse presents, favors, fees, free travel or special treatment aimed at unduly influencing coverage. It also says journalists should distinguish news from advertising and prominently label sponsored content.
The Associated Press, a news group that makes stories, photos and videos for others to use, has its own rules. As of November 2026, the AP says it must say so as soon as possible when it is wrong. It points out each correction to the editors who use its stories. It does not alter quotations, even to correct grammatical errors. NPR's ethics handbook, as of February 2019, names its core principles as honesty, integrity, independence, accuracy, contextual truth, transparency, respect and fairness. It says its primary allegiance is to the public. NPR's ethics handbook, as of February 2019, says its accuracy standard is that statements of fact must be correct and in context, and that verification is critical. The SPJ code says journalists should take responsibility for the accuracy of their work before releasing it.
In 1965 the Carnegie Corporation of New York, a nonprofit foundation, created a commission to study the problem that nonprofit local stations had small budgets. The Public Broadcasting Act, signed on November 7, 1967, created the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. It was meant to provide federal funds to promote programming involving creative risks the networks are unwilling to take. The Public Broadcasting Service was incorporated on November 3, 1969, and NPR on February 26, 1970. Sources are another matter. The SPJ code says anonymity for sources should be a last resort, for people who may face danger or harm. The AP, as of November 2026, allows material from an anonymous source only under three conditions. It must be information and not opinion, it must be vital to the report, and it must not be available any other way.
Hearing scary or sad news again and again, or seeing strong pictures of it, can upset children. Doctors say children need adults to help them make sense of news, so they advise talking about current events with them often. Grown-ups can limit how much kids watch about upsetting events online and on TV. It is okay to stop watching and talk to a grown-up, who can help. Some news is uplifting, such as children their age taking a stand on an issue. If a story seems scary, grown-ups can turn off the TV so the news is not playing all day. You can also ask whether a story is news, opinion or something paid for.
Words to know
- press: printing machine
- sedition: stirring up revolt
- apprenticed: training under master
- accountability: owning mistakes
- independence: not being controlled
