The Press responsible for GSG as well ?

[moonbegger]

Greetings all ,

I was just watching a documentary regarding the authorship of the Dear Boss letter , and it seems like they nailed it fairly conclusively upon the shoulders of Star journalist Frederick Best with the aid and support of his Editor TP O'Conner, which goes to show just how far the brand new publication ( launched in 1888 ) was willing to go , in order to entice readers and sell newspapers . Frederick Best married a Whitechapel lass who's family were firmly embedded , in , and around the Rippers territory . He was a scene of crime journalist and it would not have been unusual for him to have been present, on the spot of any latest murder , along with many other eager beaver reporters , from many rival tabloids .

If it was indeed Best , who penned and sent in that infamous Jack the Ripper letter to the central news agency on the 25th , although not yet in the public domain , it was fully acknowledged by all in the press core by the evening of the double event .. and maybe even a few of them had their own suspicions as to the authorship of the letter .

So , what if the press battle which was already raging out of control became more of a hands on fight , in regards to creating their own story's ..
for example a piece of Eddows apron was either found, or removed from Mitre square or the morgue ( where her cloths lay in a pile ) by a journalist wishing to raise the steaks .. and once in a fairly secluded spot ( Goulston st ) removed his chalk from his pocket and in a "round schoolboy hand" proceeded to raise them steaks a little higher still .

And in the legendary style of Colombo " just one more thing "

The GSG itself " The Juwes are the men that will not be blamed for nothing "
How's this for a little journo rebuttal " Who sent the fright letter , Blame new tabloid man , He No Ju "

Just a thought ..

Cheers ,

moonbegger

[lynn cates]

narrator

Hello MB. Interesting idea for a thread.

I am astonished that a documentary would plump for Best as the DB author. Whom was the narrator?

Cheers.
LC

[crberger]

Here's a link for the video...

Jack The Ripper: The Whitechapel Murderer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXlCnlYtNEg

[moonbegger]

Hello Lynn & crberger

crberger is correct Lynn , this is indeed the Doc .

moonbegger

[Simon Wood]

Hi All,

A JtR documentary featuring Kelvin "Freddie Starr Ate My Hamster" MacKenzie?

Oh puhleeze!

Regards,

Simon

[lynn cates]

thanks

Hello CRB & MB. Thanks.

Must give it a go.

Cheers.
LC

[lynn cates]

warning

Hello Simon. Indeed. Already been warned.

Cheers.
LC

[Stephen Thomas]

A JtR documentary featuring Kelvin "Freddie Starr Ate My Hamster" MacKenzie?

Oh puhleeze!

Hello Simon

Who better to describe how tabloid newspapers operate?

Horses for courses.

[curious4]

Journalists

I was going to say wouldn't the spelling and grammar be better if it was written by a journalist, but just heard a Sky News reporter say "The legend is based on the story of a shepherd girl who was flocking her sheep", so now I'm not so sure. I think she said "flocking", could have been "flogging".

Cheers,
C4

[Wickerman]

Jack The Ripper: The Whitechapel Murderer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXlCnlYtNEg

The fact The Star would never let the truth get in the way of a good story was readily acknowledged by its contemporaries.

The birth of tabloid journalism..

[moonbegger]

" The Juwes are the men that will not be blamed for nothing "
How's this for a little journo rebuttal " Who sent the fright letter , Blame new tabloid man , He No Ju "

moonbegger .

[crberger]

I hope you won't hold it against me, but...

I liked the documentary. As far as showing how "new" journalism functioned and keeps functioning to keep JtR news, it was excellent.
MacKenzie made no pretext of hiding what he was and seemed to be quite clear to state how little we should rely on the newspaper for the facts. It was also excellent in making certain the audience knew HOW journalists got their information and from whom.

[pinkmoon]

Like I said before how hard would it have been for the author of this letter to enclose some thing like a piece of victims clothing to make sure it was genuine after all why write any letter at all if it is not for the publicity.Also why not stick it in the post addressed to a well know news paper like the Times the simply adress of "the Times newspaper London " would have got it there also who would have known about news agency except for some one in the trade like a journalist.

[pinkmoon]

I would love this letter to be genuine because we then have the killers hand writing but in reality no I don't think it is I will concede who ever wrote the letter came up with a cracking name for the killer ten out of ten for that

[Wickerman]

I liked the documentary. As far as showing how "new" journalism functioned and keeps functioning to keep JtR news, it was excellent.
MacKenzie made no pretext of hiding what he was and seemed to be quite clear to state how little we should rely on the newspaper for the facts. It was also excellent in making certain the audience knew HOW journalists got their information and from whom.

The role of the press throughout these murders has always been an interest of mine. So this video was not a surprise content wise. We do need to pay more attention to what we read in newspapers of the day, not just accept what they report, but neither dismiss the reports out of hand.

When the press are constantly complaining that the police will tell them nothing, then to believe an article which occasionally appears carefully worded to give the impression the paper has gained some inside knowledge, is foolish.
These articles are always vague, never sourced, and actually don't tell the reader much at all.

On the other hand, witness statements given to the press may be taken more seriously than, by comparison, any purported 'official inside knowledge' mentioned above. Although a degree of embellishment in any witness statement may be expected, but the whole thing is less likely to have been invented.

Then the real treasure within the pages of these newspapers are the comments and observations concerning the every-day life and surroundings of these inhabitants of Whitechapel. Including descriptions of the murder scene's, the backstreets, the atmosphere and personalities of the locals doss-house dwellers.

So it really depends on what articles are being read as to whether it is advisable to take the report with a pinch of salt, regard it as trustworthy, or is it somewhere in between.
And this especially applies to The Star. - caveat emptor!