Sensationalism: Murder, Mayhem, Mudslinging, Scandals, and Disasters in 19th-Century Reporting

• Published in: Journalism & mass communication quarterly 2014, Vol.91 (3), p.604-607
• Main Author: Whitt, Jan
• Format: Review
• Language: English
• Subjects: 19th century; American Civil War; American history; Cleveland, Grover (1837-1908); Editing; Essays; Greeley, Horace (1811-72); Hoaxes; Journalism; Journalism schools; Literary Genres; Murders & murder attempts; Popular culture; Press; Scandals; Sensation; United States History; War; Writers
• ISSN: 1077-6990; 2161-430X
• DOI: 10.1177/1077699014541786e

Other especially notable essays are "'What H.G. Knows About . . .': Cartoonist Thomas Nast's 1872 Crusade Against Presidential Candidate Horace Greeley" by Jennifer E. Moore, William E. Huntzicker, and Hazel Dicken-Garcia; two singleauthored essays by Huntzicker, "Sex, Sin, and Sensation: Two Major Crime Stories in Antebellum New York" and "Pushing the Boundaries of Propriety: The Rise of the Penny Press, Flash Papers, and Illustrated Newspapers"; two essays by Paulette D. Kilmer, "New York Times Accident Stories: Sensational Coverage Warns of Consequences" and "19th-Century Ship Captains in Reality and Mythos: The Role of Disaster Stories in Defining Seafaring Heroes"; and an essay by Debra Reddin van Tuyll, "Marches, Massacres, and Mayhem in the Civil War Period: Did Sensational News Always Lead to Sensationalized Reporting?" In addition to two of the essays noted previously, "The Many Faces of Sensationalism" features "'Alarming Intelligence': Sensationalism in Newspapers after the Raids at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, and St. Albans, Vermont" (Brian Gabrial); "Publishing Violence as Art and News: Sensational Prints and Pictures in the 19th- Century Press" (Gregory A. Borchard, Stephen Bates, and Lawrence J. Mullen); and "Sensational Journalism in the Mid-19th Century" (David W. Bulla and Heather R. Haley).