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

-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, all based on detailed primary research. This book goes a long way in explaining why we publically scorn sensationalism while secretly sampling it. Apparently we always have. And the writing in the book, like the news stories studied, is so bright, it is almost . . . well, sensational.-

--Donald L. Shaw, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

-From Thomas Nast's dramatic cartoons to the daring Evangelina Cisneros rescue to the eye-opening escapades of Nellie Bly, Sensationalism readers are treated to a cavalcade of tales about both the famous and the infamous, as well as many unknown characters of mass media history. In the introduction, Bulla and Sachsman point out that sensationalism in the news is defined by three elements--topics, tone, and degree. Each chapter reminds us that these stories deftly blended vivid details with dramatic alliteration and heightened levels of rhetoric. The journalism of the nineteenth century marked the first time news was recognized as a commodity, and each newspaper or magazine struggled to adapt to its varied role of informing, entertaining, and often shocking its readers in what would become the early stages of a truly mass appeal medium. Sensationalism provides historians with an opportunity to examine not only why titillating topics first attracted thousands of readers to early news columns, but also how those same topics continue to entice and pique the interests of audiences in modern times.-

--Bernell Tripp, College of Journalism and Communications, University of Florida

-The essays in this volume present both a broad introduction to the sensationalism of nineteenth-century periodicals and probing analyses of a few specific cases that offer insight into the cultural function of sensationalism. . . . Those who read the volume cover to cover will emerge with just such a sense of what sensational reporting looked like (particularly the importance of the penny press, which arose in the 1830s) and a few ways that it functioned.-

--Andrea M. Holliger, American Periodicals

-The rollicking exploration of crimes, disasters, gore, the grotesque, hoaxes, and stunts in this well-edited collection will no doubt prompt readers to consider their own preconceptions about sensationalism and its prevalence in contemporary media.-

--Jan Whitt, Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly

-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, all based on detailed primary research. This book goes a long way in explaining why we publically scorn sensationalism while secretly sampling it. Apparently we always have. And the writing in the book, like the news stories studied, is so bright, it is almost . . . well, sensational.-

--Donald L. Shaw, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

-From Thomas Nast's dramatic cartoons to the daring Evangelina Cisneros rescue to the eye-opening escapades of Nellie Bly, Sensationalism readers are treated to a cavalcade of tales about both the famous and the infamous, as well as many unknown characters of mass media history. In the introduction, Bulla and Sachsman point out that sensationalism in the news is defined by three elements--topics, tone, and degree. Each chapter reminds us that these stories deftly blended vivid details with dramatic alliteration and heightened levels of rhetoric. The journalism of the nineteenth century marked the first time news was recognized as a commodity, and each newspaper or magazine struggled to adapt to its varied role of informing, entertaining, and often shocking its readers in what would become the early stages of a truly mass appeal medium. Sensationalism provides historians with an opportunity to examine not only why titillating topics first attracted thousands of readers to early news columns, but also how those same topics continue to entice and pique the interests of audiences in modern times.-

--Bernell Tripp, College of Journalism and Communications, University of Florida