Newspapers of New Spain

La Gaceta de México, founded in 1722 by Juan Ignacio de Castorena y Ursúa, was the first newspaper of New Spain. It published the colony’s official, religious and commercial news.

During the War of Independence political newspapers appeared, such as the insurgents’ El Despertador Americano (1810). In 1812, taking advantage of the freedom of the press granted by the Constitution of Cádiz, José Joaquín Fernández de Lizardi founded El Pensador Mexicano, which criticized the viceregal government; Lizardi also wrote the novel El Periquillo Sarniento.