''The New York Weekly Journal'' was a weekly journal, printed by John Peter Zenger, from November 5, 1733 to March 18, 1751. It was the second journal in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and the only one that criticized New York Royal governor

William Cosby Brigadier-General William Cosby (1690–1736) was an Irish soldier who served as the British colonial governor of New York from 1732 to 1736. During his short term, Cosby was portrayed as one of the most oppressive governors in the Thirteen Co ...

, for which reason the journal was burned in its first year and John Zenger was put in prison. Zenger was released without charges, this being one of the earliest cases where a fight for the freedom of press led to a victory in America.

History

In 1733, the only newspaper in New York was the ''

New-York Gazette The ''New-York Gazette'' (1725–1744) was the first newspaper published by William Bradford in the Province of New York. History The paper was founded by printer William Bradford in 1725. Though it was first, it was not distinguished. Hist ...

'', and its printer, William Bradford, was a supporter of then New York Governor,

. The Popular Party wanted to attack Governor Cosby, and the only other printer in New York was John Peter Zenger, who had come from Germany to America in 1697, went to New York in 1711, and worked with Bradford for eight years prior he started his own print business on Smith Street.

First publication

Its first publications started on November 5, 1733. It has contributions made anonymously by James Alexander, William Smith, and Lewis Morris. The journal targeted the new royal governor of New York,

, and his conduct. The journal was freely published for two months.

Burning of ''New York Weekly Journal''

On January 15, 1734, Cosby ordered public burning of the newspaper on Wall Street, close to

City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

, and also offered fifty pounds as reward for whom revealed the names of the ''Journal's'' authors.

John Peter Zenger arrest

On November 17 John Peter Zenger was arrested under a warrant of the Council for printing seditious libels in his ''Journal''. Zenger was placed in the City Jail then located in the attic of

New York City Hall New York City Hall is the Government of New York City, seat of New York City government, located at the center of City Hall Park in the Civic Center, Manhattan, Civic Center area of Lower Manhattan, between Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway, Park R ...

. On October 15, 1734, Chief Justice James De Lancey delivered a charge to the Grand Jury accusing the ''New York Weekly Journal'' of breaking the law of seditious libel in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, but the

Grand Jury A grand jury is a jury—a group of citizens—empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings, investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may subpoena physical evidence or a pe ...

returned with no indictments. Zenger's lawyers, Andrew Hamilton and William Smith, Sr., successfully argued that truth is a

defense Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense industr ...

against charges of

libel Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...

. Afterwards, De Lancey tried to convince the nineteen members of the Grand Jury that "just by reading the articles, one could tell that they were libels", but the Grand Jury returned no indictment again.

Freedom of press in United States

Zenger's victory became the seminal American case for freedom of the press. In defending Zenger in this landmark case, Hamilton and Smith attempted to establish the precedent that a statement, even if defamatory, is not libelous if it can be proved, thus affirming

freedom of the press Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic News media, media, especially publication, published materials, should be conside ...

in America. However, general distaste for Cosby was the main reason why Zenger was found not guilty, and succeeding Royal Governors clamped down on Freedom of the Press up until the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

. This case is the groundwork of the aforementioned freedom, not the legal precedent. However, if they succeeded in convincing the jury, they failed in establishing the legal precedent. As late as 1804, the journalist

Harry Croswell Harry Croswell (June 16, 1778 – March 13, 1858) was a crusading political journalist, a publisher, author, and an Episcopal Church clergyman. Though largely self-educated, he received an honorary degree of A. M. from Yale College in 1817, ...

was prosecuted in a series of trials that led to the famous ''

People v. Croswell ''The People of the State of New York v. Harry Croswell'' (3 Johns. Cas. 337 N.Y. 1804), commonly known and cited as ''People v. Croswell'', is an important case in the evolution of United States defamation law. It was a criminal libel case brough ...

''. The courts repeatedly rejected the argument that truth was a defense against libel. It was only the next year that the assembly, reacting to this verdict, passed a law that allowed truth as a defense against a charge of libel.

References