Swedish Intelligencer – 1633

In England, a 1586 Star Chamber decree from the Elizabethan era required all news publications to be licensed and censored. “Hence printed publications of domestic news tended to be restricted to sensation, disasters, crimes, proclamations and the monarch’s speeches. Foreign political news could usually be reported in detail. Domestic political commentary was avoided,” according to Pamphlets and Pamphleteering in Early Modern Britain (Raymond 2003). With strict control of the press, these earliest forms of printed news were almost exclusively comprised of foreign news, such as the Swedish Intelligencer, the fourth part, printed in 1633 by Nathaniel Butter and Nicholas Bourne. Nathaniel Butter is recognized for having published the first English language news bulletin, Corante, in 1621. While Butter and Bourne dominated early news publishing, the popularity of newsbooks became quickly apparent and publishers soon began dating and numbering each issue.