<P> Conditions were hardly more favorable to newspapers than during the recent conflict . The sources of news were much the same; the means of communication and the postal system were little improved . Newspapers were not carried in the mails but by favor of the postmen, and the money of one state was of dubious value in another . Consequently, circulations were small, rarely reaching a thousand; subscribers were slow in paying; and advertisements were not plentiful . Newspapers remained subject to provincial laws of libel, in accordance with the old common law, and were, as in Massachusetts for a short time in 1785, subject to special state taxes on paper or on advertisements . But public sentiment was growing strongly against all legal restrictions, and in general the papers practiced freedom, not to say license, of utterance . </P> <P> With independence had come the consciousness of a great destiny . The collective spirit aroused by the war, though clouded by conflicting local difficulties, was intense, and the principal interest of the newspapers was to create a nation out of the loose confederation . Business and commerce were their next care; but in an effort to be all things to all men, the small page included a little of whatever might "interest, instruct, or amuse ." Political intelligence occupied first place; news, in the modern sense, was subordinated . A new idea, quite as much as a fire, a murder, or a prodigy, was a matter of news moment . There were always a few items of local interest, usually placed with paragraphs of editorial miscellany . Correspondents, in return for the paper, sent items; private letters, often no doubt written with a view to such use, were a fruitful source of news; but the chief resource was the newspapers that every office received as exchanges, carried in the post free of charge, and the newspapers from abroad . </P> <P> Newspapers became a form of public property after 1800 . Americans believed that as republican citizens they had a right to the information contained in newspapers without paying anything . To gain access readers subverted the subscription system by refusing to pay, borrowing, or stealing . Editors, however, tolerated these tactics because they wanted longer subscription lists . First, the more people read the newspaper, more attractive it would be to advertisers, who would purchase more ads and pay higher rates . A second advantage was that greater depth of coverage translated into political influence for partisan newspapers . Newspapers also became part of the public sphere when they became freely available at reading rooms, barbershops, taverns, hotels and coffeehouses . </P> <P> The editor, usually reflecting the sentiment of a group or a faction, began to emerge as a distinct power . He closely followed the drift of events and expressed vigorous opinions . But as yet the principal discussions were contributed not by the editors but by "the master minds of the country ." The growing importance of the newspaper was shown in the discussions preceding the Federal Convention, and notably in the countrywide debate on the adoption of the Constitution, in which the newspaper largely displaced the pamphlet . When Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay united to produce the Federalist Essays, they chose to publish them in The Independent Journal and The Daily Advertiser, from which they were copied by practically every paper in America long before they were made into a book . </P>

Which of the following is a characteristic of early newspapers in the united states