ABSTRACT
Zenger, a German immigrant with a limited education and a tradesman's understanding of the English language, probably understood little of the politically oriented screed that he printed. Nevertheless, the New York Weekly Journal became the first truly free press in the American colonies. It stood out from the usual fare delivered up by colonial newspapers, which were timid publications that reprinted news and stories from England and published government notices and official records, announcements of the arrivals and departures
of merchant ships and their cargoes, and merchant's advertising.
