Guest Author - Pamela Blackmon

The word newsletter* is defined as a “a small publication (as a leaflet or newspaper) containing news of interest chiefly to a special group.” Today, that publication could be a monthly employee communication, a quarterly trade association communiqué or a family flyer sent only at Christmas. Ezines and e-newsletters add even more variety to the mix with countless topics packaged in either plain text or HTML for free or or for a fee with subscribers from all over the world.


The Boston News-Letter
Back in 1704, however, the purpose of the first newsletter published in the United States was much simpler: to recount the news printed in London journals about English politics and Europeans. The Boston News-Letter also chronicled ship arrivals, deaths, political appointments, accidents, fires, and sermons. Postmaster John Campbell started the publication, which is said to have been heavily supported by the British.


In 1722, Campbell handed the News-Letter off to Bartholomew Green, a local printer. Green added more local events to the publication. When he died 10 years later, his son John Draper increased the number of pages to four and expanded its coverage beyond Boston to include news from all over the colonies and abroad.The Boston News-Letter eventually became a newspaper, like many of the newsletters which followed, a trend which saw a decline in the number of newsletters published in the 1800s.


The Growth of Newsletters
Newsletters resurfaced in the early 1900s when such publications as Babson’s Report appeared in 1904. Then, in 1918, The Whaley-Eaton American Letter appeared, winning wide acclaim and netting millionaire dollar profits for its founders. The Kiplinger Letter followed in 1923, enjoying a popularity which continues today. Corporate and business newsletters emerged the 1930s, yielding such publications as 1934’s Telecommunications Reports. Other newsletters specializing in a wide range of topics cropped up as well. In 1964, The Newsletter on Newsletters was born, a publication which still exists today.


The Advent of Desktop Publishing
When personal computers hit the scene in the 1980s, newsletters became easier and more economical to print. This innovation granted the power to publish to anyone with a computer and a printer, generating countless publications with varying degrees of quality.


Ezines and E-Newsletters
The advent of the Internet added still another dimension to the world of newsletters, adding electronic publication to the mix with clickable links and almost instant access to any subscriber with an email address.


*Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 11th Edition