Newspapers began circulating in the 17th century. The first real newspaper in England was printed in 1665. The first successful daily newspaper in Britain was printed in 1702. The first American newspaper was printed in 1690. It was called Publick Occurrences Both Foreign and Domestick. The first newspaper in Canada was the Halifax Gazette in 1752. The first daily American newspaper was published in 1784. Newspapers became far more common in the late 19th century. They become an important source of information for the masses all over the world.

In 1947 when the British agreed to partition British India into the two self-governing countries of India and Pakistan, only four major Muslim-owned newspapers existed in the area now called Pakistan: Pakistan Times, Zamindar, Nawa-i-Waqt, and Civil and Military Gazette, all located in Lahore.

Unfortunately, the state actions against media houses show that our authorities are not noted for introspection and rather disapprove of it. At least, the abhorrence shown to media by the authorities and attempts to school media on showing “positive image” of the country suggest so.