Sensationalism

David B. Sachsman and David W. Bulla have gathered a colourful collection of essays exploring sensationalism in nineteenth-century newspaper reporting. The contributors analyse the role of sensationalism and tell the story of both the rise of the penny press in the 1830s and the careers of specific editors and reporters dedicated to this particular journalistic style.

Divided into four sections, the first, titled "The Many Faces of Sensationalism," provides an eloquent Defense of yellow journalism, analyses the place of sensational pictures, and provides a detailed examination of the changes in reporting over a twenty-year span. The second part, "Mudslinging, Muckraking, Scandals, and Yellow Journalism," focuses on sensationalism and the American presidency as well as why journalistic muckraking came to fruition in the Progressive Era.

The third section, "Murder, Mayhem, Stunts, Hoaxes, and Disasters," features a ground-breaking discussion of the place of religion and death in nineteenth-century newspapers. The final section explains the connection between sensationalism and hatred. This is a must-read book for any historian, journalist, or person interested in American culture.

Inhalt

Preface David B. Sachsman Acknowledgments David B. Sachsman Introduction David W. Bulla and David B. Sachsman I The Many Faces of Sensationalism 1 Yellow Journalism: Why So Maligned and Misunderstood? W. Joseph Campbell 2 Alarming Intelligence: Sensationalism in Newspapers after the Raids at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, and St. Albans, Vermont Brian Gabrial 3 What H. G. Knows About . . .: Cartoonist Thomas Nast's 1872 Crusade against Presidential Candidate Horace Greeley Jennifer E. Moore, William E. Huntzicker, and Hazel Dicken-Garcia 4 Publishing Violence as Art and News: Sensational Prints and Pictures in the 19th-Century Press Gregory A. Borchard, Stephen Bates, and Lawrence J. Mullen 5 Sensational Journalism in the Mid-19th Century David W. Bulla and Heather R. Haley II Mudslinging, Muckraking, Scandals, and Yellow Journalism 6 Despicable Journalism: Sensationalism and the American Presidency in the 19th Century Crompton Burton 7 Naughty Seeds of Sensationalism: Gossip and Celebrity in 19th-Century Reporting Jack Breslin 8 Ours Has Been No Pleasing Task: Sensationalism in Frank Leslie's Campaign against Swill Milk Jennifer E. Moore 9 Anglophobia as Art: Free Trade and Protection in Grover Cleveland Political Cartoons Harlen Makemson 10 Cuba's Hot Little Rebel and Spain's Criminal Fugitive: The Prison Escape of Evangelina Cisneros in 1897 Carol Wilcox 11 Inheritors of a Sentimental Mantle: The 19th-Century Roots of Progressive Era Muckraking Jessica Dorman III Murder, Mayhem, Stunts, Hoaxes, and Disasters 12 Still Another Horror!: Religion and Death in 19th-Century American Newspapers Les Sillars 13 Sex, Sin, and Sensation: Two Major Crime Stories in Antebellum New York William E. Huntzicker 14 In Defense of Vespertilio-homo: Finding the Truth in the 1835 Moon Hoax James Eric Black 15 Pushing the Boundaries of Propriety: The Rise of the Penny Press, Flash Papers, and Illustrated Newspapers William E. Huntzicker 16 New York Times Accident Stories: Sensational Coverage Warns of Consequences Paulette D. Kilmer 17 Nellie Bly: Flying in the Face of Tradition Dianne Bragg 18 19th-Century Ship Captains in Reality and Mythos: The Role of Disaster Stories in Defining Seafaring Heroes Paulette D. Kilmer IV Hatred 19 The Making of a Scoundrel: Brigham Young and the Sensationalist Press, 1855-1860 Katrina J. Quinn 20 Marches, Massacres, and Mayhem in the Civil War Period: Did Sensational News Always Lead to Sensationalized Reporting? Debra Reddin van Tuyll 21 Lawless Louisiana: New Orleans Newspapers, Race, and the Battle of Liberty Place Nancy McKenzie Dupont About the Editors List of Contributors Index