History of Canadian newspapers

There were five important periods in the history of Canadian newspapers' responsible for the eventual development of the modern newspaper. These are the "Transplant Period" from 1750–1800, when printing and newspapers initially came to Canada as publications of government news and proclamations; followed by the "Partisan Period from 1800–1850," when individual printers and editors played a growing role in politics. The "Nation Building Period from 1850–1900," when Canadian editors began the work of establishing a common nationalistic view of Canadian society. The "Modern period" from 1900 to 1980s saw the professionalization of the industry and the growth of chains. "Current history" since the 1990s saw outside interests take over the chains, as they faced new competition from the Internet.

There was no printing press, and no newspaper of any kind, under the French regime. All the newspapers in the British colonies had been transplanted from the 13 American colonies.

The press in Canada was born as a tool of the government To print official government. "The discovery of such unrealized potential frightened the powers that be, who commenced a centuries-long period of harassment and intimidation in order to check what today is called the power of the press". Information that was hostile to the government was definitely not welcome especially after the end of the American Revolution in 1783 brought a wave of United Empire Loyalists.

Eventually, the Canadian printers began the process of printing more than just government news and proclamations. Many of the early editors and printers were large personalities who used their newspapers as instruments of their own political beliefs and suffered great hardships at the hands of the government because of it. There was little local news printed, and little news from other Canadian places, since there was no system of exchanging newspapers among editors. The first advertising started to appear in the 1780s. The Quebec Gazette of 12 July 1787 had a classified ad:

This was the period that introduced print culture to British North America and began fostering a reading public. All newspapers but The Upper Canada Gazette were started by Americans. This is partly because the British-American colonies settled earlier than British-Canadian colonies. In 1783, some 60,000 Loyalists migrated after the American Revolution, with around 30,000 moving to Canada- bringing printing presses with them. All of the first newspapers started life as official government organs. They were all dependent on government patronage and printed solely information condoned by the government. In every province, there was a weekly "Gazette" (named after The London Gazette, the English governmental organ since 1665) that carried the many notices colonial administrators wanted to circulate.

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