Fascinating insights into “country papers” and how Americans kept abreast of international and national news through reading this weeklies in their small and rural towns.
The US government WAIVED the postage delivery fee *between newspaper editors,* and most country newspaper editors — also functioning as owners, printers, typesetters and reporters, all in one — received dozens of big-city (and medium-city) newspapers each week!
Reprinting snippets of news (with attribution, of course) was both expected and desired, by the federal government and by the citizens.
Local news was barely included in local newspapers in the first half of the 19th c., though many local ads were included.
Many small towns with even just a couple-few hundred subscribers for their papers had two newspapers, one for each political party, and the newspaper editors made no pretenses at neutrality.
Such a fascinating bit of insight into THEN.
“… a new and consolatory proof that wherever the people are well informed they can be trusted with their own government; that whenever things get so far wrong as to attract their notice, they may be relied on to set them to rights.” ~ T. Jefferson, 1789
