This assertion is highly contested, and the Hartford Courant is generally understood to be the nation's oldest newspaper when considering scholarly articles, standard journalism, and historical texts.

Before the Stamp Act of 1765 was to take effect on November 1 of that year The New Hampshire Gazette featured an edition with black borders about its edges and columns, protesting the tax it was about to place on paper and advertising.

[3][4][5] During the American Revolution it published a eulogy, dated Epsom, July 1775, to Andrew McClary, who died during the Battle of Bunker Hill.

It read: "The Major discovered great intrepidity and presence of mind in the action, and his noble soul glowed with ardor and the love of his country .

[7] The Hartford Courant, founded as a weekly in 1764,[8] calls itself the nation's oldest continuously published newspaper, and is cited as such in scholarly articles, standard journalism, and historical texts.

In recent years the paper has cemented its self-imposed mission as an independent voice railing against corporate media and conservative political control.

Other regular features include "Hate Mail, Mash Notes, & Other Correspondence" (the letters page), the "Northcountry Chronicle", an editorial by William Marvel, "Free the Media Press" (stories culled from the New Hampshire Indymedia Collective), and a reprinting of "Vintage News" from past issues of the Gazette usually dating to the mid-19th century.

[10] For many years, the website for the Gazette had many resources in relation to its history, including a 19th-century reproduction of its first issue, a timeline and explanation of its position as oldest newspaper, and much more.