Routledge Sensationalism: Murder, Mayhem, Mudslinging, Scandals, and Disasters in 19th-Century Reporting (Journalism Series)

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. Review -Concise but engaging overviews that would work well for undergraduate readings in American journalism history. . . . This book complements overview history texts by offering deeper explorations of the lively and colorful individuals, events, and subjects that distinguished yellow journalism in all of its notorious glory.- --Paula Hunt, American Journalism -Sensationalism is appealing because it plays on emotions--and it is disdained for the same reason. . . . The first of the book's 21 essays looks at 'yellow journalism, ' considering how that pejorative was entwined with the personality of William Randolph Hearst--though it was not just the business impulse of the press baron that accounted for sensationalism. Another strong chapter looks at the rise of illustration, perhaps the key facet of present-day sensationalism, as a component of 19th-century practice. Several contributions touch on the morality play that often constitutes sensational coverage; Les Sillars argues that the judgmental lessons embedded in that style of reporting were rooted in sermonizing. This book offers much food for thought, and it succeeds because of sensationalism's inherent allure. . . . Recommended.- --J. K. Chakars, Choice -Serious scholarship shouldn't be this much fun. Americans of the twenty-first century bemoaning the 'Foxification' of television news will find useful historical perspective from this engaging collection of essays on the nineteenth-century press. As with today's traditional media and new media, paradigm-breaking nineteenth-century technological change--steam powered presses, railroads, and the telegraph--led to exponentially faster news delivery. Readers wanted news and entertainment, and the press delivered sensationalism galore. Some of the fare was a moving freak show after P. T. Barnum's heart, but sensational exposEs of tainted 'swill' milk and dangerous machinery served society well. . . . David B. Sachsman, a distinguished social scientist who once was a copy boy at the New York Daily News, and David W. Bulla, a rising star in communication history, serve the past--and the present--well with this thoughtfully edited volume featuring the work of top historians of the media.- --Dwight L. Teeter, Jr., University of Tennessee, Knoxville -Why is it that we are so attracted to sensationalism in the press? We are not even sure how to define sensationalism except, like obscenity, we know it when we see it. Apparently it is part of our journalistic DNA, and--it turns out--it can be traced back for a long time. These major journalism historians have dissected sensationalism from coverage of murders in our early national history to somber scenes on Civil War battlefields and in more recent news coverage as well