Not as bad as the 1868 earthquake and tsunamis where 25,000 died, but still pretty serious. This is an example of how the God-fearing 19th century took on board a natural disaster without the handwringing cliché-ridden sentimentalism with which 24 hour news has sensitised the world. This June 30 1877 report is from a provincial paper in the… Continue reading Three paragraphs
Tag: journalism
No s***, Sherlock!
Sometimes the similarities of circumstance and reaction bring our ancestors very close to us — sometimes it’s as if they were alien beings. Here’s a report that shows — for good or bad — that we are nowadays less naive but maybe quicker to think the worst than this kindly reporter in San Francisco was. However, for… Continue reading No s***, Sherlock!
Did Dickens steal Sam Slick of Slickville?
It was not looking like a success. It was meant to be an amusing satiric picture postcard of a book about the exploits of lower middle class sportsmen who aped their betters. The writing was merely meant to wrap around a series of pictures — for the whole concept originated with an artist. To do… Continue reading Did Dickens steal Sam Slick of Slickville?
Local newspapers have a death wish
On British local newspapers, traditionally that time-honoured apprenticeship of newsgathering, ill-fitted Fleet Street tricks are being aped. You can see this for yourself in headline language used to “big up” a story. “Council boss hits out over bins horror”, “Attendance at village fete plunges”, “Pensioner anguish over dead squirrel”, “Government cuts threaten charity panto”; you… Continue reading Local newspapers have a death wish
Are we drowning in news?
If your street is the ever at the epicentre of a breaking news story, there you will find them — reporters with nothing to report. Lined up like fairground barkers, their arms flapping uncontrollably, as if playing an imaginary concertina to a Stockhausen refrain that sounds somewhere deep in their brain stem, they deliver fact-light,… Continue reading Are we drowning in news?
A tinker’s dam and history’s bunk
I guarantee that you have yet to read a history book which, no matter how well-researched, recorded and double-checked, does not contain error. That is the very nature of the sources of history and biography. The protagonists themselves get simple things like dates wrong, even when they record such details at the time. Reminiscence messes… Continue reading A tinker’s dam and history’s bunk