That same year he went into the printing business himself with the purchase of the "Nova Scotian", a Halifax newspaper. Howe acted as its editor until 1841, turning the paper into the most influential in the province. Not only did he personally report the legislative assembly debates in its columns, he also published provincial literature and his own travel writings, using the paper as a means for educating the people of Nova Scotia, and himself. "His name ranks as perhaps the greatest in Canadian journalism."