[[Newspaper]]s became party weapons. [[John Fenno]] began publishing his ''Gazette of the United States'' in April 1789 hoping it would become the official paper of the new government; soon Hamilton was encouraging and subsidizing him. Jefferson and Madison persuaded [[Philip M. Freneau]], a brilliant poet, to found the ''National Gazette'' in Philadelphia in October 1791. The ''National Gazette'' at first served as a successful political tool for the Jeffersonians as it defined arguments against Hamilton's policies while rebutting Fenno's editorials. The ''National Gazette'' collapsed in 1793 due to weak circulation and the political fallout over Jefferson and Madison's financial involvement in founding the paper. | [[Newspaper]]s became party weapons. [[John Fenno]] began publishing his ''Gazette of the United States'' in April 1789 hoping it would become the official paper of the new government; soon Hamilton was encouraging and subsidizing him. Jefferson and Madison persuaded [[Philip M. Freneau]], a brilliant poet, to found the ''National Gazette'' in Philadelphia in October 1791. The ''National Gazette'' at first served as a successful political tool for the Jeffersonians as it defined arguments against Hamilton's policies while rebutting Fenno's editorials. The ''National Gazette'' collapsed in 1793 due to weak circulation and the political fallout over Jefferson and Madison's financial involvement in founding the paper. |