Does economic development stimulates media freedom? Do higher advertising revenues make media outlets more willing to be independent from external political groups of inuence? I use data on 19th century American newspapers to show that in places with higher potential advertising revenues newspapers were more likely to be independent from political parties. I \u85nd similar results when local advertising rates are instrumented by regulations of outdoor advertising and of newspaper distribution. I also show that newly created newspapers were more likely to enter the market as indpendents in places with higher advertising rates. Finally, I present evidence that economic development alone cannot explain the observed growth of independent newspapers, and some political factors also played the role
