Abstract：Although the concept of the freedom of the press was born in Europe, it developed most successfully in the United States. When despotism came back and swept the old continent of Europe in the mid-19th century, freedom was flourishing in America. It is the Europeans who introduced freedom to the world. But it is the Americans who brought the best out of it. The purpose of writing this paper is firstly, to identify the features of the freedom of the press in the United States, and secondly to trace the factors that once shaped it and hence to explain why the concept of the freedom of the press developed so successfully in the United States of America. By examining the environment in which the freedom of the press in the United States was born and shaped, this paper tries to answer the following three questions: 1) how was the concept of free press originated in Europe; 2) how did the freedom of the press grow in its early life in the United States of America; 3) how did the other features of American press promote the freedom in its infancy? This essay proves that township in the United States plays an indispensable and paramount role in creating the social environment and practical necessities of the freedom of the press. And it also proves that with the heritage of the concept from Europe, the freedom of the press in America managed to develop with the aid of the other two characteristics of the press: dissemination and commercialization. The dissemination of the press helps promote the freedom of the press by creating a free marketplace of ideas, which is made as freely accessible as possible to each individual’s opinion. The commercialization of the press enables it to be independent of the influence of political powers. Although the press becomes less free in front of popular opinions, it at least imposes a strong check on the work of the government.

Identifiers: the freedom of the press, self-government, township in America, dissemination of press, commercialized press

中文摘要：尽管言论自由这个概念产生于欧洲，但它却成功地在美国发展了起来。19世纪中叶当专制主义在欧洲大陆卷土重来，自由的观念却在美国迅速繁荣壮大。欧洲人把自由带到了世界上，但是美国人把这个概念发扬光大。这篇论文的目的是:1研究美国新闻自由的特点；2探寻当初影响美国新闻自由的种种因素并且解释为什么新闻自由能在美国获得成功。通过考察新闻自由萌芽和发展所处的环境，这篇论文旨在回答三个问题：1新闻自由是怎样产生的；2新闻自由观念在初期是怎样发展的；3美国新闻业在初期的几个特征是怎样促进新闻自由的。这篇论文证明了乡镇营造了新闻自由的社会环境和现实需要,在促进美国新闻自由事业中起到了不可或缺的作用。论文还证明了新闻自由观念起源于欧洲。在美国，新闻业的分散性和商业化促进了新闻自由的发展。新闻业的分散性使得观点的自由市场得以形成，在这个市场里所有人都可以相对自由地发表观点。新闻业的商业化让新闻业可以摆脱政治势力的影响。虽然大众的观点越来越限制着新闻自由，但起码商业化促使新闻业可以对政府施加强有力的监控。

关键词：新闻自由、自治、美国的乡镇制度、新闻业的分散性、新闻业的商业化