Rowley wrote:
Way Back Jack wrote:

On Sat, 07 Mar 2009 20:51:28 -0600, Rowley
wrote:

snippage

In 1960, there were 950,000 souls living in that city. I don't know
how many murders were committed but for the entire State of 4.2
million, there were 105 murders.


Reported murders? I seem to remember reading a book on journalism from
around the 40's/50's - think the book mentioned that some things were
"news" and other were not.....


Went looking to see if I had the book that I remember reading.... found
one (not sure it is the same book, still browsing it to see if I can
find the passage...)

The book is a bit "older" than 50 years - the copy I have was printed
in 1936 and the original publication was 1932... (which is one of the
reasons I think it might have been another book I read as I seem to
remember it was from the early 50s...)

"A College Course in Reporting for Beginners", By Curtis D. MacDougall,
published New York, by The Macmillan Company....

It's a pretty thick book - 550 pages or so...

Chapter XX (20) covers "Crime"

It opens with this... (page 333)

"American newspapers print more news about crime than do their European
counterparts because, within the last few decades, this nation has
become the most lawless in the world."....

In the back of the book there is an Appendix (F) which has reprints of
the front pages of the final editions of newspapers all around the US
for the day of Saturday, March 14th, 1931 (so 78 years next saturday on
the nose.... a bit more than 50 I know.... 50% more)

The papers are;

The Boston Daily Globe (2 cents)
The New York Times (2 cents)
New York Herald Tribune (2 cents)
The Atlanta Constitution (8 cents - I think, the print is small)
The Cincinnati Enquirer (3 cents)
Chicago Daily Tribune (2 cents)
Milwaukee Sentinel (3 cents)
Arkansas Gazette (3 cents)
Seattle Post Intelligencer (5 cents)
Morning Oregonian (5 cents)


A lot of news seemed to have been crammed onto the front pages back then
- much more dense than today's front pages...

Some news from the time (since these are all from the same day, a lot of
the national articles are of the same events...)...

"Burglars Get $750,000 Gems at Palm Beach" (Arkansas Gazette says it was
$650,000...)

"Two Women Attacked by Kentucky Negros; Posse is Hunting Pair"

"Massachusetts Declares War Upon Dry Law"

"Drunken Policeman Fires on Passing Autos; Shot by Officers Who Are Sent
to Investigate"

Lots of kidnappings.... murders, burglaries, some hit and runs,
bootleggers, a mother drowned her two kids and then herself... gasoline
went down a penny to 13 cents (16.5 cents in Portland Or, but with a few
stations selling it for 11 cents...... usual stories on politics and
corruption... someone bombed some gambler's home....

And interesting headline...

"Progressives' Conference is Twitted By Coolidge" (they had Twitter back
then? Who knew)....


Ah, the good old old days....

Martin


snippage