<P> Ben Franklin, journalist (Benjamin Franklin) saw the printing press as a device to instruct colonial Americans in moral virtue . Frasca argues he saw this as a service to God, because he understood moral virtue in terms of actions, thus, doing good provides a service to God . Despite his own moral lapses, Franklin saw himself as uniquely qualified to instruct Americans in morality . He tried to influence American moral life through the construction of a printing network based on a chain of partnerships from the Carolinas to New England . Franklin thereby invented the first newspaper chain, It was more than a business venture, for like many publishers since, he believed that the press had a public - service duty . </P> <P> When Franklin established himself in Philadelphia, shortly before 1730, the town boasted three "wretched little" news sheets, Andrew Bradford's American Mercury, and Samuel Keimer's Universal Instructor in all Arts and Sciences and Pennsylvania Gazette . This instruction in all arts and sciences consisted of weekly extracts from Chambers's Universal Dictionary . Franklin quickly did away with all this when he took over the Instructor, and made it The Pennsylvania Gazette . The Gazette soon became Franklin's characteristic organ, which he freely used for satire, for the play of his wit, even for sheer excess of mischief or of fun . From the first he had a way of adapting his models to his own uses . The series of essays called "The Busy - Body," which he wrote for Bradford's American Mercury in 1729, followed the general Addisonian form, already modified to suit homelier conditions . The thrifty Patience, in her busy little shop, complaining of the useless visitors who waste her valuable time, is related to the ladies who address Mr. Spectator . The Busy - Body himself is a true Censor Morum, as Isaac Bickerstaff had been in the Tatler . And a number of the fictitious characters, Ridentius, Eugenius, Cato, and Cretico, represent traditional 18th - century classicism . Even this Franklin could use for contemporary satire, since Cretico, the "sowre Philosopher", is evidently a portrait of Franklin's rival, Samuel Keimer . </P> <P> As time went on, Franklin depended less on his literary conventions, and more on his own native humor . In this there is a new spirit--not suggested to him by the fine breeding of Addison, or the bitter irony of Swift, or the stinging completeness of Pope . The brilliant little pieces Franklin wrote for his Pennsylvania Gazette have an imperishable place in American literature . </P> <P> The Pennsylvania Gazette, like most other newspapers of the period was often poorly printed . Franklin was busy with a hundred matters outside of his printing office, and never seriously attempted to raise the mechanical standards of his trade . Nor did he ever properly edit or collate the chance medley of stale items that passed for news in the Gazette . His influence on the practical side of journalism was minimal . On the other hand, his advertisements of books show his very great interest in popularizing secular literature . Undoubtedly his paper contributed to the broader culture that distinguished Pennsylvania from her neighbors before the Revolution . Like many publishers, Franklin built up a book shop in his printing office; he took the opportunity to read new books before selling them . </P>

Probably the most important american event in the late 1700s affecting freedom of the press was