A long time before cable networks, social media and the 24-hour news cycle colonial journalists presented news to the public in the pre-Revolutionary War era. On Tuesday, author and historian J.L. Bell will be at the Loring-Greenough House discussing how America's early news outlets worked in that volatile era and how it may relate to today's modern media landscape.
Before the Revolutionary War there were numerous media outlets: The Boston Gazette and The Massachusetts Spy were to the left, The Boston News-Letter, The Boston Chronicle and Boston Weekly Post-Boy were to the right, and The Boston Evening-Post was a centrist newspaper. Back in those days the newspaper business got nasty through competitive rivalries and even got violence.
The topic of America's Revolutionary is right in Bell's wheelhouse, as he specializes in "history, analysis, and unabashed gossip about the start of the American Revolution in Massachusetts." Bell's book "The Road to Concord: How Four Stolen Cannon Ignited the Revolutionary War" will be available for purchase.
This event is taking place on Dec. 4 from 7 to 9 pm at the Loring-Greenough House. Click here to learn more and to purchase tickets.