In 1738, following the death of her publisher husband, Elizabeth Timothy became the first female newspaper publisher and editor in America . Timothy operated the South Carolina Gazette in partnership with founding father Benjamin Franklin, who had owned that press. She ran the periodical under the name of her 13-year-old son, Peter, who would later succeed her. Upon Peter's death, his wife Ann assumed the role of publisher and editor.

Timothy contributed to the aesthetic appeal of the Gazette , introducing woodcuts for illustration and advertisements. In her inaugural issue of the Gazette, Timothy addressed her readership with a strategically sentimental message, appealing for continued patronage.

Franklin praised Timothy's shrewd business skills, commenting in his autobiography that she operated the Printing House with “Regularity and Exactitude…and manag'd the Business with such Success that she not only brought up reputably a Family of Children, but at the Expiration of her Term was able to purchase of me the Printing House and establish her Son to it.” Franklin also noted that he preferred her business style to that of her husband.