The Boston News-Letter: America's First Successful Newspaper


The first issue of the Boston News-Letter, published April 24, 1704, prominently displaying 'Published by Authority' at the masthead—indicating royal governor approval of its content.
The first issue of the Boston News-Letter, published April 24, 1704, prominently displaying 'Published by Authority' at the masthead.


On April 24, 1704, Boston postmaster John Campbell launched a modest single-sheet newspaper that would survive for 72 years and establish the foundation for American journalism. The Boston News-Letter wasn't flashy, independent, or particularly controversial, but it was something more important: it was sustainable.

A Postmaster's Safe Bet

The Boston News-Letter's modest format: a single sheet measuring 8 by 12 inches, printed on both sides.
According to journalist, Isaiah Thomas (1749-1831), Campbell had been writing handwritten newsletters to colonial governors since 1700, but printing them required a different approach. Every issue prominently displayed "Published by Authority," modeled on London's official Gazette. The royal governor pre-approved each issue; this wasn't independent journalism by any means, but it was sustainable. Printed by Bartholomew Green, the News-Letter was a single sheet measuring 8 by 12 inches. Circulation rarely exceeded 300 copies initially but was able to sustain. By 1775, the paper had annual subscriptions that costed around eight shillings, while advertisements ranged from twelve pence to five shillings, Charles E. Clark notes in his research on colonial printing.

Content for Colonial Merchants

What did readers get? Primarily news from London journals like English politics and European wars, often months old. Colonial merchants needed this information to understand markets and political developments. Campbell gradually added domestic coverage: ship arrivals, proclamations, Indian conflicts, and trade reports. The paper also covered events like Blackbeard's death in 1718. Campbell's postmaster role gave him a competitive advantage. Post offices were "a nexus for news" where foreign newspapers arrived and locals gathered, as Clark describes in his research.

Seventy-Two Years of Evolution

The News-Letter's statement following the death of Mr. Draper 
The News-Letter became a family business spanning three generations. When Campbell lost his postmaster position in 1719, his replacement William Brooker immediately started a rival paper called the Boston Gazette, Clarence Brigham documents in his bibliography of early American newspapers. Campbell transferred the News-Letter to his printer Bartholomew Green in 1722, who focused more on domestic events. Green's son-in-law John Draper took over in 1732 and expanded the paper to four pages with broader colonial coverage. 

The paper's final chapter reflected the political tensions of its time. After passing through Richard Draper to his widow Margaret Green Draper, the News-Letter maintained its loyalist stance throughout the Revolutionary period. When British forces evacuated Boston on March 17, 1776, Margaret Draper departed with them, and the newspaper ceased publication after 72 years, as detailed in Clark's research. The British government later granted her a life pension for her loyalty.

A Complicated Legacy

The Boston News-Letter proved newspaper publishing could be viable in colonial America. Its success encouraged competition; James Franklin's New-England Courant (1721) operated without government approval, representing an alternative model. By the 1730s, Boston supported multiple newspapers. The News-Letter wasn't America's first free press, but it was its first successful press. Campbell's cautious, government-approved journalism created the infrastructure that allowed later publishers to take greater risks.

James Franklin's independent New-England Courant (1721), which notably omitted 'Published by Authority.

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