Zenger, John Peter

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Zenger, John Peter (1697–1746) US printer and journalist, b. Germany. Editor of the New York Weekly Journal (1733), he attacked Governor William Cosby and was jailed for libel in 1734. He was later tried by a jury and acquitted. His case established truth as a defence for libel and made Zenger a symbol of the freedom of the press. He was public printer of New York (1737) and New Jersey (1738).

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