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After 1640, Diario was commonly used as a title of news sheets, although La Relacion and Noticia appeared. For the most part, these news sheets from the Contreras's press consisted of four pages in small type. Diario was especially appropriate as the news was frequently printed in the form of a diary—day by day. After the press of de Contreras had suspended, there was a cessa tion of news sheets of regular publication. In 1744 there ap peared, however, a newspaper with a definite title with consecu tive numbers for successive issues. The first issue of this new paper bore the title Gaceta de Lima, desde primero de diciembre de 1743 hasta IR de enero de 1744. This first number is par ticularly interesting because it prints the traditional origin of the word "gazette" and mentions the names of contemporaneous news sheets in Europe.
The first printing office in Colombia, then Nueva Granada, was established at Bogota in 1737. At first it printed tracts on religious matters, but in 1785, when an earthquake occurred, it issued what is now considered the first attempt in that country to give the public a news sheet. This ill-printed and rudimentary gazette did not last, for its only aim was to spread abroad the news of the earthquake. In 1791 Don Manuel del Socorro Rodriguez, a Cuban, founded a news paper, in which he printed mainly his poetical and literary works, its other contents being advertisements for runaway slaves, bits of European news, and essays on morals and religion. This news paper, named Papel periodico de la ciudad de Santa Fe de Bogota appeared irregularly, but lasted for some years.
Another country where a gazette was the first newspaper was Venezuela. The honour of introducing printing into that country is ascribed to Madeo Gallagher and Jaime Lamb in 1808. Gaceta de Caracas had its first issue on Oct. 24, 1808. It appeared when Venezuela was in that period of its history known as the colonial age. The first newspaper of what is known historically as the period of independence was El Correo del Orinoco. Its first date of publication was June 27, 1818, in Angostura. These two papers marked the beginning of the newspaper press in Venezuela.
The same year that saw the beginning of journalism in Vene zuela marks also the beginning of journalism in Brazil. Obvi ously, the first printed newspaper in the latter country was in Portuguese but, like that of Venezuela, it was called a gazette.
The first newspapers, in the technical sense of that term, for the countries of Latin America may be listed as follows : Mexico, Gaceta de Mexico (1679) ; Guatemala, Gaceta de Guatemala (1729); Peru, Gaceta de Lima
Cuba, La Gaceta de la Habana (1764) ; Colombia, La Gaceta de Santa Fe (1785); Ecuador, La Gaceta (1785) ; Argentina, El Telegrafo Mercantil (18o1) ; Haiti, La Gaceta del Cabo (1804) ; Uruguay, La Estrella del Sur (1807) ; Brazil, Gazeta do Rio de Janeiro (1808); Vene zuela, La Gaceta de Caracas (18o8) ; Chile, La Aurora de Chile (1812) ; Panama, Miscekinea del Istmo (1822) ; Bolivia, El Con dor de Bolivia (1825); Paraguay, El Paraguay Independiente (1845).
The honour of being in 1928 the oldest newspaper in South America belongs to 0. Diario de Pernambuco which was established in 1825. The next newspaper in point of age, founded two years later, is Jornal do Commercio of Rio de Janeiro. The latter is an extremely conservative paper of limited circulation, while the most popular in that city is the evening paper A Noite established in 1910 and credited at the close of 1927 with a circulation of 85,00o. Possibly the most influential paper is 0 Estado (1876) of Sao Paulo. Fanfulla (1892), an Italian daily of the same city, wields considerable power through the State of Sao Paulo. Other influential morning papers are 0 Paiz (1884), A Patria (192o) and Correia de Manlier (1902), all of which are published in Rio de Janeiro. Newspapers in Bra zil are often the personal organs of owners to whom they are useful for political purposes. At the fall of the empire Brazilian journals numbered about 60o. In 1910 the total exceeded 1,o00, since then the increase has been about zoo to a decade.
The two leading newspapers, not only in Argentina, but also in South America, are La Prensa, founded on Oct. 18, 1869, by Dr. Jose C. Paz, and La Nacion, founded on Jan. 4, 1870 by Gen. Bartolome Mitre, of Buenos Aires. For 59 years (1929) both papers have remained in the families of their founders. Each compares favourably with any other newspaper in any country. Both specialize in printing for eign news; possibly La Nacion pays more for cable tolls than any other newspaper in the world. Classified advertisements are usually a safe index as to character of newspapers because they represent local opinion. Judged by such a yardstick, La Nacion resembles the New York Times and La Prensa the New York World. The editorial page of La Nacion is always dignified in subject-matter and serious in mode of treatment. Its Sunday sup plement contains contributions from the best writers, not only of Argentina but also of Spain. Much material later appears in book form. To campaign for civic righteousness seems to be the edi torial policy of La Prensa. Its evening competitor, La Razon (1905), once spoke of it as being a safe and serene guide in the difficult task of creating a public conscience. La Prensa widens its influence through syndicating to some 175 provincial papers a weekly feature supplement for Saturday or Sunday editions. La Prensa operates a free clinic, offers free legal advice to the poor, pays for a free industrial and agricultural bureau, opens its library to the public and awards i,000 pesos annually to the per son teaching the largest number of illiterates to read. The oldest evening paper in Buenos Aires is El Diario (1881). The oldest of all is the English paper, The Standard (1861), which com petes with The Herald (1876).