Benjamin Franklin's Impact on American Journalism

Benjamin Franklin is credited with many things. Franklin is known for his achievements in science, his brilliance with written composition, and his philosophical solutions to many of the colonial American problems. However, one thing he is not frequently recognized for is his history as a journalist. It is arguable that his journalistic proficiency made him the notable intellectual people now recognize him to be. Many of his postulations, experiments and societal analysis were first introduced to America through his Pennsylvania Gazette.

The New England Courant was one of the first periodicals who's purpose to was take a humorous perspective on current events and the people involved within them. Most other periodicals used their pages to rant about politics and to attempt to sway its audience toward a particular political standing. Owner and operator, James Franklin was encouraged by a group of respectable characters, dubbed the Hell-Fire Club, who were desirous of having a paper of a different cast from those then published. Franklin began the publication, at his own risk, and defined it as being different from the periodical's start. Instead of filling the first page of the Courant with the tedious conventionalities of governors' addresses to provincial legislatures, James Franklin's club wrote essays and satirical letters that mocked and pointed out the problems with religious leaders, politicians and their policies (Ward). Apprenticed by his brother,Benjamin Franklin found his roots and passion in journalism through the various tasks and responsibilities he endured at the Courant. Even though the Courant was intended to be, and was for the most part, different from other periodicals, it did express resentment toward religious and political order (Kobre 30). The Courant was different in how it went about stating political opinion. The Courant used satire and humor to mock the policies and philosophies of the townsmen and politicians in the area (Kobre 30). In an effort to practice satire and "Spectator" style writing, Benjamin Franklin would sit in on the discussions of the Hell-Fire Club. After one meeting, Benjamin Franklin sat down and wrote an essay that consisted of the satire and opinions he had formed while listening to their discussion. He signed the essay Silence Dogood and sent it to the Courant. His brother loved the essay and published it, and so Benjamin Franklin continued to write under the Silence Dogood pseudonym. His essays consisted of everything from theories of corruption at Harvard College to the evils of alcohol intoxication (Kobre 35). The overall sarcasm, ridicule, and discussion provoking content of the Courant are what made it such a success (Kobre 36).

One edition of the New England Courant consisted of satire and a direct attack on the Massachusetts Government. After its publication, James Franklin was arrested and imprisoned for its content. During his brother's imprisonment, Benjamin Franklin wrote a Silence Dogood letter that demanded free speech (Kobre 36). After some time, James Franklin began to realize that Silence Dogood was his brother Benjamin, and he and his brother began to argue. Their arguments and head-butting resulted in Benjamin Franklin leaving his brother and The Courant.

Taking his natural intellect and the knowledge he attainted working for his brother Benjamin Franklin bought Samuel Keimer's Universal Instruction in All Arts and Sciences; and Pennsylvania Gazette (Clark). After his purchase of the Gazette he abandoned many of the old owner's customs and made the paper his own. For example, Franklin shortened the name to The Pennsylvania Gazette. Also, the original owner used pages two and three for news, but Franklin, used them for advertisements (Clark). Franklin realized the profitability of advertising and so he sold a great deal of advertising space. In fact, his print order was advertisements first, news second (Clark).

It was not long before Franklin's newspaper became an important aspect to Pennsylvanian Society. Filled with advertisements, satire, wit, journals of his science experiments and propaganda, the Pennsylvania Gazette was a publication that a large amount of the population enjoyed reading. Using the skills he picked up from the Courant, Franklin wielded his paper as a tool for political and philosophical influence.

Franklin was beginning to see that England was going to reclaim the American Colonies unless the colonies collaborated their resistance efforts. He knew preaching this philosophy would not be enough and so he published the first form of American propaganda. An image of a snake, cut into eight pieces appeared in the Gazette on May 9, 1754 ("The Constitution: Issue 4."). Each piece of the snake had an abbreviation that represented one of the colonies, and above the snake was written the words "Join or Die." This message worked its way through society, receiving a plethora of positive responses. This propaganda stimulated the leaders of the American Colonies to meet in Albany for what is now known as the Albany Congress. It was at this congress that Franklin formally proposed his idea stating that unless the colonies unite against England, they did not stand a chance in winning their independence.

Franklin's snake was printed in several different periodicals after its original publication. Also Franklin's style of journalism, satire and criticisms of politics was mimicked by his competitors. Eventually, England made an effort to control this and the rest of the American Colonies by imposing a stamp act. The act consisted of a list of merchandise that must be marked for extra taxation. The statute required that anything on the list be printed with a date, masthead, imprint and government stamp. One of the items on the list was news publications.

Franklin led the fight against the stamp act by taking a stand on November 7, 1765. He printed an issue of the Gazette without a date, masthead, imprint or government stamp ("Today in History: January 17."). England penalized him for it, but other colonists followed Franklin's example, and after enough rebellion, England repealed the stamp act.

Benjamin Franklin was blessed with a natural intellect. Through his journalism, he shared his intellect with anyone he could. Leading by example, Franklin taught his competitors about advertising, writing to entertain, and the most interesting way to convey political opinion. His journalism opened colonists' eyes to his intellect and thusly earned him their trust. In having their trust he was instrumental in working out the Articles of Confederation, the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution, all of which were possible because of his vision of a unified nation.

Works Cited

Clark, Charles E. Charles Wetherell. "The Measure of Maturity: The Pennsylvania Gazette, 1728-1765." The William and Mary Quarterly Apr 1989. JStor. .

Kobre, Sidney. The Development of the Colonial Newspaper. Gloucester, Mass.: Peter Smith, 1960.

"The Constitution: Issue 4." Library of Congress. 26 Sep 2002. 20 Mar 2008

"Today in History: January 17." Library of Congress. 20 Mar 2008 .

Ward & Trent, et al. The Cambridge History of English and American Literature. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1907-21; New York: Bartleby.com, 2000 . 20 March 2008