The Press on Trial: Crimes and Trials as Media Events

by Lloyd E. Chiasson

Overview

Perhaps no drama catches the interest of the American public more than a spectacular trial. Even though the reporting of a crime may quickly diminish in news value, the trial lingers while drama builds. Although this has become seemingly more pronounced in recent years with the popularity of televised trials, public interest in criminal trials was just as high in 1735 when John Peter Zenger defended his right to free speech, or in 1893 when Lizzie Borden was tried for the murder of her father and stepmother. This book tells the stories of sixteen significant trials in American history and their media coverage, from the Zenger trial in 1735 to the O. J. Simpson trial in 1995. Each chapter relates the history of events leading up to the trial, the people involved, and how the crimes and subsequent trials were reported.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780313300226
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	08/30/1997
Series:	Contributions to the Study of Mass Media and Communications , #51
Pages:	248
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.69(d)

About the Author

LLOYD CHIASSON JR. is Professor of Mass Communications at Nicholls State University. He is editor of The Press in Times of Crisis (Greenwood, 1995).

Table of Contents

Preface: The Opening Statement
The Case of John Peter Zenger (1735) "A monkey…about 4 foot high" by Gene Wiggins
The Case of the Boston Massacre (1770) "A melancholy demonstration" by Carol Sue Humphrey
The Case of John Brown (1859) "John Brown still lives!" by Bernell Tripp
The Case of the Haymarket Riot (1886) "This is the happiest moment of my life!" by Kittrell Rushing
The Case of Lizzie Borden (1893) "Elizabeth Borden took an ax" by Donald Avery
The Case of Harry K. Thaw (1907) "You have ruined my wife!" by Janet S. Boyle
The Case of the Chicago Black Sox (1921) "Say it ain't so Joe" by Lloyd Chiasson Jr.
The Case of John Scopes (1925) "In the beginning…" by Lloyd Chiasson Jr.
The Case of the Scottsboro Boys (1931) "Bigots whose mouths are slits in their faces" by Michael Maher
The Case of Bruno Hauptmann (1935) "The greatest story since the Resurrection" by Alfred N. Delahaye
The Cases of Alger Hiss and the Rosenbergs (1949, 1951) "Would you open your mouth…" by Joseph McKerns
The Case of Lieutenant William Calley (1970) "We were all kind of crazed" by James Stewart
The Case of the Chicago Seven (1969) "The pigs are coming, the pigs are coming" by Arthur Kaul
The Case of Charles Manson (1970) "Plump ripe rabbits" by Robert W. Dardenne
The Case of O. J. Simpson (1995) "No closer to Greek tragedy than Oedipus Hertz" by Paul Thaler
The Verdict by Michael Maher and Lloyd Chiasson Jr.
Selected Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

Each of 16 essays describes a trial in American history, the events leading up to it, the people involved, and how the crime and subsequent trial were reported. They do not consider the effects of media coverage or freedom-of-the-press issues. The cases begin with that of John Peter Zenger in 1735 and include the Boston Massacre, John Brown, the Haymarket Massacre, John Scopes, Alger Hiss and the Rosenbergs, the Chicago Seven, Charles Manson, William Calley, and of course O. J. Simpson. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

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