With one very brief exception in Boston in 1690 no New World colonies were allowed to have newspapers because the European nations were all afraid of dissension in the papers. After 1700 British officials felt more secure and allowed the press. The first paper appeared in Boston in 1704 and by 1739 there were thirteen newspapers in seven colonies/. However almost all of the news in these newspapers was about the happenings in London with very little local news

(Book – American Colonies:The Settling of North America – Alan Taylor)