Pennsylvania Gazette

I have read through a few articles from the Gazette, and what struck me most was the variety of things published in the newspaper.   I noticed the abundant amount of advertisements, which ranged from goods to "wanted" ads. Perhaps this was the way the newspaper was funded.  One of the advertisements was for a missing man who had stolen a horse.  Another was selling his musket.  It seems like all sorts of people used the paper.  I imagine that the newspapers were the only form of mass media for the public.  It seems like it was printed quite often, so this was probably the best way to spread information.  These presses are operated by hand, so it must have been a lot of work to print just one issue.  The physical copies of the issues were sloppy, but the volume of things published was impressive.
The other thing that caught my interest was the poem on the January 10, 1749 issue. All forms of writing came together in a newspaper.  It wasn't limited to just articles or advertisements. The author of the poem is not published, but I'm guessing it was written by Franklin. The poem has a different tone from the Puritan ones we've seen.  A few lines of the poem read "yet weather all the storms that blow;/To lead me to the peaceful shore,/ My God and guide still before!"(Divine Presence) These lines summarize the rest of the poem. Basically, the poet is saying the God will always be there to guide people through troubles.  In contrast to Bradstreet, this poem doesn't talk about troubles or afflictions as God's love.  It seems as though the view of affliction has shifted from 100 years earlier. Franklin believed in Deism rather than affliction, which said that God created the world and left the people to their own devices.  This line of reasoning seems to fit with Franklin's love of science as well as his belief in God.
I tried going all the way to the last issues, and it seems like the Pennsylvania Gazette had name changes or didn't publish through the revolution.  I found one article about about the battle of Lexington and Concord.  These kinds of articles were meant to rile up the revolutionists, which I think might have worked.  I'm impressed with the power of the media to change people's opinions and spread information.  Even in the 1700's, it was still a powerful force.