How The First American Newspaper Was Adopted By The Colonists

The newspaper was a form of technology that was rejected by government multiple times but was favored in society. Diffusion Theory is the idea that something was pioneered and adopted by people over time. Once a newspaper was able to be published without the government getting involved, people all over the colonies wanted to read it and it was adopted by most colonists. 

Why did they want to read it? It was the only way they could read about politics, or information that society needed to know. Newspapers were invented years before the first American newspaper. However, the first ever American newspaper was shut down after the British Government claimed it violated their laws. The colonists had no way of obtaining information from a source. Everything was passed down through word of mouth, making it hard to receive political information on society issues.  

The late adopters of the newspaper where those who were still influence by the British Government. Many people either did not want to betray the British Government or did not want to get in trouble with the government. However, the colonists knew it was only right for them to be able to have their own newspaper to carry information from London and the colonies to communities. Other late adopters or non-adopters were those who were illiterate. Those who could not read often asked those who could read to tell them about the news from the paper. Even though they could not directly get their news from the paper, it still helped them learn about what is going on around them. 

Although the newspaper was highly controversial at first because the British Government kept shutting it down, it was altogether a good invention. It delivered useful and impactful information to the colonists. It let them learn about London politics and the colonies politics. Almost every person in the colonies read a newspaper by the mid 1700s. It was not only useful but it was practical.