If there is nothing as fragile as news, the fragility of newspapers themselves runs a close second. Hundreds of newspapers have begun with great ambition, only to merge with others or fold from bankruptcy.With that knowledge, William Parks might be the most astonished person of all to learn that his Virginia Gazette survives intact nearly 270 years after he published the first fourpage edition on Aug. 6, 1736.The Gazette encountered its own hard times and ceased publication several times, notably during the 1800s, and the number of years of publication totals closer to 210. But in 1986 the Gazette marked its 250th birthday as the oldest newspaper in America published on a nondaily basis. Until it expanded to twiceaweek publication in June 1984, the moniker was simpler: America’s oldest weekly.Newspapers were a long time coming to colonial Virginia. English law precluded any printing by the colonists for years after Jamestown was founded in 1607. The royal governors did not allow any printing until 1690, and even then printers were governed by royal instructions which required a license and the governor’s permission.

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