It appears to be hard to believe that Benjamin Harris stated his normative values of journalism already in 1690. However, with his promises to correct errors, to allay false rumors and replace them with substantive information he led the way to reporting news with accuracy, objectivity and completeness. With his goals he set a high level for those who followed.
What made Publick Occurences so revelatory related to his design and content? Unlike previous publications or broadsheets, the paper had a title and "a general assortment of news features" (Berkin & Imbarrato, 2008). It was printed legibly and neatly and also the writing could be described as original and lively (Clark, 1991, p. 373-374). Actual news was not separated by headlines like very common today but after all by blank spaces and indentations. Another novelty lay partly in its intended periodical nature which however could not be fulfilled.…show more content… Evidently, unlike his different followers the emphasis of his news has been the local surroundings and American colonies (Clark, 1991, p.374). Therefore, with these news items many writers identified Harris as a first example of investigative reporting.
Moreover, the Publick Occurrences can be seen as America’s very first instance of a news blog. The fourth page was left blank for people to write their own comments or news before they passes them on to other readers. In 2006, Eric Burns in his book Infamous Scribblers concludes, "This made Publick Occurrences a source of interactive journalism a full three centuries before the internet" (p.29). Indeed, it may be argued that this was a first attempt at
