Blonde Journalism 1

Blonde Journalism 1 Introduction

When two blonde bombshells from Hollywood found themselves in trouble, they also found themselves in the newspaper. In the 1920s and ‘30s, comedienne Thelma

Todd captured America’s attention not only with her numerous Hollywood films, but also with her bitter divorce and highly publicized death threats from a male stalker.1 Decades later, Playboy model Anna Nicole Smith stole headlines with her scandalous marriage to a billionaire 63 years her senior and the contentious paternity battle over her newborn daughter.2 By the time both reached age 30, their triumphs and tragedies were as much on-stage as they were, spread all over the media for the world to see.

Because their lives were fodder for everyday news, their mysterious, tragic deaths created media frenzy. Newspapers relished coverage of Ms. Todd’s death, December 16,

1935. Three well-respected newspapers – The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution – covered the actress’s death throughout their papers during the week following. The opportunity for using the sensationalistic style of yellow journalism was intoxicating, and editors for the three newspapers in 1935 lapped it up – some more than others – knowing the juicy celebrity mystery would not fail to attract readers. Nearly 72 years later, a similar media frenzy occurred when Anna Nicole Smith died on February 7, 2007. As their newspaper counterparts did seven decades earlier, television news shows, from NBC’s “Dateline” to Fox News to CNN, jumped on the gossipy story with around-the-clock, dramatic, graphics-filled coverage – in short, employing the yellow-journalism techniques of Ms. Todd’s day. In contrast, however, the

1 “Dead Actress Won Fame After Start as Teacher,” Los Angeles Times, 17 December 1935, sec. A, p. 10. 2 Abby Goodnough & Margalit Fox, “Anna Nicole Smith Is Found Dead at a Florida Hotel,” The New York Times, 9 February 2007, sec. A, p. 1. Blonde Journalism 2 three newspapers mentioned above – which had reveled in Ms. Todd’s juicy story – this time were sober and more controlled.3

The New York Times, L.A. Times, and The Journal-Constitution had been sensationalistic in the Todd era but had changed direction by the Smith era. Despite the similar qualities possessed by both women – age, appearance, involvement in scandalous situations – and the mysterious nature of their premature deaths – both died before the age of 40 – The New York Times, L.A. Times, and The Journal-Constitution (known in

Ms. Todd’s day as The Atlanta Constitution) chose to report on the deaths very differently. Based on their coverage of the two deaths, it is clear each newspaper matured, mostly turning away from the yellow journalism techniques during the 72 years between Ms. Todd and Ms. Smith’s tragic ends.

Literature Review

Fans were captivated by the story of Thelma Todd’s mysterious death, but no scholar has examined the media’s portrayal of her possible murder. One book hinted at media coverage of Ms. Todd’s death. In his 1989 book, Hot Toddy, Andy Edmonds examined clues that led him to believe Ms. Todd was murdered, possibly by a friend or ex-lover. Although he examined accounts detailed in newspapers of the period, Edmonds did not draw any conclusions about the coverage of Ms. Todd’s death.4

Despite the television media frenzy surrounding Anna Nicole Smith’s death, the media’s coverage of her 2007 death has yet to be examined by scholars, perhaps because the incident is too fresh. Two books regarding Ms. Smith’s life, however, have been

3 James Rainey, “Smith’s Death a ‘Real Feast’ for the Media,” Los Angeles Times, 10 February 2007, sec. C, p. 1. 4Andy Edmonds, Hot Toddy (New York: William Morrow & Co., 1989). Blonde Journalism 3 published: Train Wreck: The Life and Death of Anna Nicole Smith and Blonde Ambition:

The Untold Story Behind Anna Nicole Smith's Death. MSNBC journalist Rita Cosby, who interviewed the people in Ms. Smith’s life and offered theories about her death, wrote

Blonde Ambition. Although Cosby discussed Ms. Smith’s life in the tabloid spotlight, she did not make any conclusions about the media’s coverage of her death.5 Similarly, Train

Wreck author Donna Hogan rushed to the presses to publish a memoir about Ms. Smith and to theorize about her death, but did not examine media coverage of Ms. Smith’s passing.6

Other authors have extensively scrutinized the media’s coverage of crime and celebrity news in general. In his 1998 book, Scooped!, former crime reporter David

Krajicek explained how the sensationalism of celebrity crimes has led news media to ignore the collapse of the criminal justice system in America. Krajicek wagged a finger at those promoting and reading celebrity crime coverage, writing:

An information conveyor heaped with deviance, death, moral decay, adulterous ministers, pedophilic priests, and Texas cheerleader moms feeds a gaping media maw that has proved to have an insatiable appetite for the violent, the sexy, and the salacious…Murder and sexual indiscretions are the marquee offenses, of course, and certain cases, generally based on nobility or celebrity, are anointed for extravagant coverage.”7

In stark contrast to Scooped!, history professor Charles Ponce de Leon focused on the impact celebrity journalism has had on the making of celebrities in his 2002 book, Self

Exposure: Human-Interest Journalism and the Emergence of Celebrity in America 1890-

1940. Through his examination of media-made celebrities throughout recent history,

5 Rita Cosby, Blonde Ambition: The Untold Story Behind Anna Nicole Smith's Death (New York: Grand Central Publishing, 2007). 6 Donna Hogan, Train Wreck: The Life and Death of Anna Nicole Smith (San Francisco, Calif.: Phoenix Books, 2007). 7 David Krajicek, Scooped! (New York: Columbia University Press, 1998). The quoted material is from page 4. Blonde Journalism 4 from Charles Lindbergh to Monica Lewinsky, Ponce de Leon concluded modern-day celebrities could not exist without the media. He wrote, “By virtue of their ability to make public figures visible and familiar to millions of people who have never encountered them in the flesh, it is the news media that literally create celebrities.”8

Another scholar, John Stevens, wrote about the sensationalism of crime stories in the 1920s. Stevens found the 1920s newspapers to be among the most eager to publicize celebrity news in history, alongside James Gordon Bennett’s penny press journalism and the yellow journalism of Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst. He wrote,

“During the 1920s, the new tabloid newspapers were streaked with yellow, and the magazine stands were as replete with crime and romance as the movie houses.”9 Thelma

Todd’s career and public life were repeatedly spotlighted in newspapers from the 1920s and ‘30s, but Stevens did not discuss Ms. Todd or her death in his article.

Two journal articles examined celebrity crime coverage as it relates to its audience. A 2006 article by Serena Carpenter, Stephen Lacy, and Frederick Fico questioned what frames television networks used in 2004 to present celebrity news.

Researchers concluded more celebrity crime stories were broadcast during morning news shows than evening shows, because these stories appeal to a low- and middle-class demographic.10 Maria Elizabeth Grabe made a similar argument 10 years earlier in her article, “Tabloid and Traditional Television News Magazine Crime Stories: Crime

Lessons and Reaffirmation of Social Class Distinctions.” Grabe concluded celebrity

8 Charles Ponce de Leon, Self Exposure: Human-Interest Journalism and the Emergence of Celebrity in America 1890-1940 (Chapel Hill, N.C.: University of North Carolina Press, 2002). The quoted material is from page 5. 9 John Stevens, “Social Utility of Sensational News: Murder and Divorce in the 1920’s,” Journalism Quarterly 62 (1985): 53-58. The quoted material is from page 53. 10 Serena Carpenter, Stephen Lacy, and Frederick Fico, “Network News Coverage of High-Profile Crimes During 2004: A Study of Source Use and Reporter Context,” Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 83 (2006): 901-16. Blonde Journalism 5 crime reporting caters to a lower-class demographic than hard news reporting.11 Although both articles provided insight into who might read celebrity crime stories, neither focused on celebrity crime reporting relevant to this study.

While a plethora of information exists regarding individual aspects of this study, including the subjects themselves and celebrity and crime reporting, in general there is a clear need to tie these subjects together. Researchers such as Stevens and Krajicek have established a connection between deteriorating news value and celebrity sensationalism, but failed to note the timeline of this deterioration. Therefore, this paper will investigate how coverage of a celebrity murder mystery in 1935 compared with and contrasted from coverage of a similar incident by the same newspapers in 2007. Does the light coverage of Ms. Smith’s 2007 death contrasted by the heavy coverage of Ms. Todd’s 1935 death point to a decline in yellow journalism tactics used by the three major U.S. newspapers in the study?

Method

In order to draw conclusions about the coverage of both deaths in The New York

Times, The Journal-Constitution, and the L.A Times, the researcher looked at every edition of each newspaper in the one week following the women’s deaths. Thelma Todd died on December 16, 1935, so the research covered articles published from December

17 through December 24.The researcher examined the same three newspapers from the week following Anna Nicole Smith’s death on February 17, 2007. Thus, newspapers in the study ran from February 8 through February 15. The New York Times and L.A. Times were chosen because they are the leading newspapers in the U.S. cities most dominated

11 Maria Elizabeth Grabe, “Tabloid and Traditional Television News Magazine Crime Stories: Crime Lessons and Reaffirmation of Social Class Distinctions,” Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 73 (1996): 926-46. Blonde Journalism 6 by the entertainment industry and, as a result, celebrities. Readers in New York City and

Los Angeles are therefore likely to have a heightened awareness of celebrity, and thus it is likely that celebrity coverage is more intense there than in other cities. The Journal-

Constitution, far from the entertainment Meccas of the nation, was chosen as a foil to the other two.

Thelma Todd

Thelma Todd’s death, December 16, 1935, surprised and bewildered friends, family, and fans. Ms. Todd was found dead in her car, parked in a garage in California.

Police concluded quickly the actress died from carbon monoxide poisoning, yet the circumstances surrounding the death were highly abnormal. Newspaper reports bounced back and forth between theories of an accident, murder, or suicide.12

The L.A. Times was quick to publicize each juicy detail and absurdity surrounding the case. On December 17, 1935, the day after Ms. Todd was discovered dead, the L.A.

Times published a front page story detailing her death, devoted all of page 10 to details of her life and the intrigue surrounding the case, and included a full page of pictures of Ms.

Todd. One photo showed Ms. Todd’s dead body slumped over the steering wheel of her car, the most sensational view editors could publish.13 The stories also tended to be sensationalistic. The copy was often gossipy and salacious, not unlike what readers today might expect from a tabloid. For example, one said, “Beautifully gowned and wearing a small fortune in diamonds, Thelma Todd was the guest of honor last Saturday night at a gay café affair which turned out to be her last party before death.”14 Another used equally

12 “Body of Thelma Todd Found in Death Riddle,” Los Angeles Times, 17 December 1935, sec. A, p. 1. 13 “Pictures Tell Story of Tragic and Mysterious Death,” Los Angeles Times, 17 December 1935, sec. A, p. 16. 14 “Host at Trocadero Party Says Actress Cheerful,” Los Angeles Times, 17 December 1935, sec. A, p. 10. Blonde Journalism 7 as juicy language when it said, “Alive – drinking in her death car with a dark- complexioned man – in Hollywood – Thelma Todd was reported seen at 11 o’clock

Sunday night….”15 Page 10 stories told of the death threats Ms. Todd received from a stranger up until her death,16 and even gave accounts of Ms. Todd’s mood from friends at a party the late actress was supposed to have attended the evening of her death.17 Ms.

Todd’s friend and frequent co-star, Patsy Kelly, collapsed upon hearing the news of Ms.

Todd’s death, an event that warranted a separate story on page 10.18 On December 17, the

L.A. Times ruled out murder and suicide as possible causes of death: “Her magnificent mink coat, her jewels and her purse had not been touched by any marauding hand. They found the garage doors closed and the ignition key of the automobile turned on – but they could find no reason for Miss Todd taking her own life.”19

Coverage of Ms. Todd’s death dominated that of any other story. On page 1, news of Ms. Todd’s death ran alongside such hard news headlines as, “Ex-Worker Massacres

Four on Job” and “China Riots Flare Anew.”20 Ms. Todd’s picture was positioned at the top of the page, and the story of her death consumed an entire column. No other story was given that type of preferential treatment, indicating the paper’s leaning toward a sensationalist style most often associated with yellow journalism. Here was a star that people knew and whose scandalous death would sell papers. The L.A. Times rushed to make use of it that way, creating intrigue by saying, “Some one – a mysterious woman –

15 “Miss Todd Reported Seen Long After ‘Death Hour,’” Los Angeles Times, 19 December 1935, sec. A, p. 1. 16 “New Threats to Star Disclosed With Death,” Los Angeles Times, 17 December 1935, sec. A, p. 10. 17 “Host at Trocadero Party Says Actress Cheerful,” Los Angeles Times, 17 December 1935, sec. A, p. 10. 18 “Death Parts Film Team; Patsy Kelly Collapses,” Los Angeles Times, 17 December 1935, sec. A, p. 10. 19 “Thelma Todd Found Dead; Police Intensify Inquiry,” Los Angeles Times, 17 December 1935, sec. A, p. 10. 20 Los Angeles Times, 17 December 1935, sec. A, p. 1. Blonde Journalism 8 was impersonating Thelma Todd when she telephoned Mrs. Wallace Ford, wife of the screen actor, at 4:30 p.m. last Sunday, ten hours after police believe she died.”21

Doubts that the death was an accident began to surface on December 18, when the

L.A. Times devoted all of page 4 and stories on pages 1 and 5 to coverage of the investigation of the death of the actress. Wealthy stars involved in the case, including Ms.

Todd’s ex-husband, director Pat DiCicco, were called to the stand to testify about Ms.

Todd’s state of mind and their relationships with her.22 Again, the copy was laden with gossip and details sure to grab attention, presented in a sensational way. For example, an

L.A. Times reporter wrote, “From tangled evidence shot through with contradictions, police hope to learn whether Miss Todd was the victim of an ingeniously contrived murder prompted by cunning jealousy, or substantiate a preponderant belief that she died in an almost unbelievable accident,”23 The L.A. Times also quoted Mr. Di Cicco and painted him as cold and uncaring as he boarded a plane headed east, saying, “I can be of no use to Thelma and I am going to spend the Christmas holiday with my mother.”24 By

December 19, a trial to divide Ms. Todd’s assets had begun, and The L.A. Times published 10 stories about the death investigation and trial. Again the matter was sensational. The investigation stories were gruesomely worded for maximum effect, as in the case of actor Roland West’s testimony about how he found Ms. Todd dead: “I went to the garage and rushed in the door and there was Miss Todd lying over there. I put my hand onto her face and there was blood and I wiped it off with my handkerchief….”25

21 “Mystic Todd Call Traced,” Los Angeles Times, 18 December 1935, sec. A, p. 5. 22 “Screen Notables Called to Inquest in Todd Mystery,” Los Angeles Times, 18 December 1935, sec. A, p. 1. 23 “Screen Notables Called to Inquest in Todd Mystery,” Los Angeles Times, 18 December 1935, sec. A, p. 1. 24 “Ex-Husband Flies East,” Los Angeles Times, 18 December 1935, sec. A, p. 4. 25 “Roland West Clears Puzzle of Keys in Todd Death by Testimony at Inquest,” Los Angeles Times, 19 December 1935, sec. A, p. 10. Blonde Journalism 9 This round of coverage included another full page of celebrity pictures from the trial on page 20, again playing to the curiosity seeker in the form of some sort of mediated voyeurism.26

All told, the L.A. Times wrote 36 articles referencing Ms. Todd and featured three full pages of pictures of the actress and her friends between December 17 and December

24, 1935. Of the three newspapers in this study, the L.A. Times was by far the newspaper most devoted to covering the scandalous story of Ms. Todd’s untimely death. The paper’s devotion to such salacious stories seemed to coincide with a lack of attention paid to hard news stories that affected their readers’ lives and a lust for driving up readership with sensational celebrity news.

Although neither of the two other papers was as thorough as the L.A. Times, both

The New York Times and The Journal dedicated a fair amount of ink to the late actress during the week following her death. The New York Times published two stories on

December 17, 1935, and one each day between December 18 and December 24, 1935, regarding the death of the actress, totaling nine articles. Only one article regarding Ms.

Todd’s death appeared on the front page of the paper – December 17, 1935, the day following her death. The article was given the same privileged location as other hard news stories, including “44 WPA Lose Jobs” and “Mayor to Pass New Tax,”27 on only one day, unlike the preferential placement given by the L.A. Times on all but one day.

The front-page story in The New York Times focused not on the dead actress, but on the scandalous mystery surrounding her death that was already boiling to the surface. After announcing Ms. Todd’s death in the first paragraph as an “accident,” the second

26 Los Angeles Times, 18 December 1935, sec. A, pp. 1, 10-12, 20. 27 The New York Times, 17 December 1935, sec. A, p. 1. Blonde Journalism 10 paragraph promoted the intrigue surrounding the case, and attempted to discredit the ruling of “accidental death,” by calling into question the actress’s time of death:

But after Dr. A. F. Wagner, the county autopsy surgeon, had given this finding on the cause of death and fixed the time as about 6 a.m. Sunday, Mrs. Wallace Ford, wife of the film actor, said she was “positive beyond all question,” that she talked to Miss Todd late Sunday afternoon.28

On December 18, 1935, The New York Times continued to fan the flames of controversy. In a story on page 29, the first paragraph quoted Ms. Todd’s chauffeur, who said the actress asked him to speed home after the party preceding her death, because she feared being kidnapped or killed by gangsters.29 The driver’s testimony fueled later suspicions that gangster "Lucky" Luciano killed Ms. Todd, because she refused to allow his illegal gambling in her club, and refused to participate in his sex orgies.30 Each article throughout the week provided new theories regarding Ms. Todd’s death, salaciously written to attract readers’ attentions, much like the L.A. Times did. One such article led with quotes from Deputy District Attorney George Johnson, who said, “The possibility of jealousy and of unrequited love or hatred must be considered in the mystery death of

Thelma Todd….”31 On December 19, 1935, The New York Times switched its focus to

Ms. Todd’s boyfriend, actor Roland West, who denied suggestions that he accidentally locked Ms. Todd in the garage and committed purposeful murder.32 Although he was never charged with a crime, some fans of Thelma Todd still believe Mr. West to be a prime suspect in her murder.33 By December 21, 1935, The New York Times, however,

28 “Thelma Todd Dead; Found in Garage,” The New York Times, 17 December 1935, sec. A, p. 1. 29 “Death Night Fears of Miss Todd Told,” The New York Times, 18 December 1935, sec. A, p. 29. 30 Wikipedia, “Thelma Todd”; available from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thelma_Todd#Suspicious_death; accessed 13 November 2007. 31 “Todd ‘Death Walk’ Traced for Clue,” The NewYork Times, 22 December 1935, sec. A, p. 16. 32 “Todd Death Sent to Grand Jurors,” The New York Times, 19 December 1935, sec. A, p. 8. 33 Wikipedia, “Thelma Todd”; available from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thelma_Todd#Suspicious_death; accessed 13 November 2007. Blonde Journalism 11 began to embrace a suicide theory. Even police began to make hypothetical statements regarding Ms. Todd’s mood the night of her death: “‘Perhaps she was very despondent over something,’ [Deputy District Attorney George] Johnson declared. ‘Perhaps she was fully aware of what she was doing when she turned on the motor of that car.’”34 The police were grasping at straws, and the newspaper happily obliged their tangents.

While only nine stories about Ms. Todd’s death were published between

December 17 and December 24, 1935, and only one made the front page, The New York

Times appeared more eager to report the juiciest theories above all other details of Ms.

Todd’s death. The L.A. Times published articles that memorialized Ms. Todd’s life and accomplishments and contained comments from her grieving friends, including studio owner Hal Roach, who said, “She was a favorite with everyone on the lot, from the lowliest employee to the highest. She apparently was always joyous and happy and seemed to thoroughly enjoy her work.” 35 The New York Times showed little compassion, and instead chose detective novel-type gossip over the celebrity worship of the L.A.

Times.

Of course, The New York Times was not above committing acts reminiscent of yellow journalism, as shown through its coverage of Ms. Todd’s death. A New York

Times reporter displayed yellow journalism by quoting a seemingly unimportant, but interesting, piece of testimony given by a waiter who served Ms. Todd before her death:

“I was struck by her beauty. She seemed unsteady on her feet and I first thought she had a hang-over. Then I decided she was just nervous.”36

34 “Todd Study Turns to Suicide Theory,” The New York Times, 21 December 1935, sec. A, p. 34. 35 “Tribute Paid Thelma Todd,” Los Angeles Times, 17 December 1935, sec. A, p. 10. 36 “Miss Todd Linked to a ‘Strange Man,’” The New York Times, 24 December 1935, sec. A, p. 34. Blonde Journalism 12 The Journal was far more fastidious with its coverage of Ms. Todd’s death, although also not above capitalizing on celebrity crime news. The Journal published only five stories about Ms. Todd during the week following her death, with no stories published on December 19, December 23, or December 24, 1935. However, all but one story was given a key position on the front page of the newspaper. Coverage of Ms.

Todd’s death on December 17, 1935, was modest and contained a mix of sentiment and information.37 For example, a reporter for The Journal wrote, “Blue-eyed Thelma Todd of the films died accidentally of carbon monoxide after a tiff with Rowland West, her business manager, police decided tonight – but they could not dissolve the mystery cloaking her last hours.”38 Similar to The New York Times, the story of Ms. Todd’s death investigation was given play on page 1 equal to that of other hard news stories, such as

“Rioting Draws Warning by Jap Military” and “Truck to Be Sent on Safety Tour.”39

On December 18, 1935, The Journal began to get caught up in the mystery and joined the other two publications in printing theories surrounding Ms. Todd’s curious death. On December 20, 1935, The Journal, like the other two papers, published whispers of murder. But unlike The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, The Journal published only facts reported by official sources, as opposed to rumors circulating among friends and fans. The straight news lead read: “George W. Rochester, foreman of the Los

Angeles county grand jury, declared tonight evidence he has gathered indicates strongly that Thelma Todd, screen actress, might have been a ‘monoxide murder victim.’”40

37 “Thelma Todd Dies of Monoxide Gas,” The Atlanta Journal, 17 December 1935, sec. A, p. 1. 38 “Police Baffled by Todd Death,” The Atlanta Journal, 18 December 1935, sec. A, p. 1. 39 The Atlanta Journal, 17 December 1935, sec. A, p. 1. 40 “Murder is Hinted in Todd Mystery; 3 to Be Quizzed,” The Atlanta Journal, 20 December 1935, sec. A, p. 1. Blonde Journalism 13 Despite its leaning toward investigative coverage over sensational reporting, The

Atlanta Journal displayed some characteristics of yellow journalism by publishing the bulk of its stories about Ms. Todd on the front page, where the gossipy details were likely to catch the eye of people considering whether to pick up the paper from the newsstand.

Although the newspaper’s coverage did not publish articles about Ms. Todd as frequently as The New York Times and the L.A. Times, The Journal stayed with the story, just like its peer publications, as the investigation progressed.

The Journal displayed a desire to stick with a mostly serious news tone when reporting on Ms. Todd. The Journal often used official sources to convey news of the investigation of Ms. Todd’s death and to describe the case, reporting, “Coroner Frank

Nance, sifting the multitude of ‘mysterious and unusual circumstances in the background of this case,’ announced he would call an inquest tomorrow.”41 Another example of The

Journal letting the officials do the talking can be found in the publication of coroner Dr.

Wagner’s comments about Ms. Todd’s autopsy. Dr. Wagner said, “Her blood was carrying poison up to 70 per cent of saturation point. Her brain showed alcohol to .13 per cent of the saturation point.”42

In spite of all the media attention, investigators were unable to prove foul play or suicide as causes of Ms. Todd’s death. But as a result of the media hype, theories regarding Ms. Todd’s death still circulate today.43 The New York Times, The Journal and the L.A. Times all played a role in the sensational storytelling of Ms. Todd’s death. While

41 “Police Baffled by Todd Death,” The Atlanta Journal, 18 December 1935, sec. A, p. 1. 42 “Thelma Todd’s Death is Baffling to Police,” The Atlanta Journal, 18 December 1935, sec. A, p. 3. 43 Denny Jackson’s Thelma Todd Page, “Thelma Todd,” available from http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Hills/2440/todd.html, accessed 13 November 2007. Blonde Journalism 14 it was evident in some more than others, tactics of yellow journalism were practiced by all three publications in their coverage of the actress’s death.

Anna Nicole Smith

The Los Angeles Times succinctly captured the turbulent and scandalous life lived by Anna Nicole Smith in its front-page article, published the day she died, February 9,

She became a teenage mother, a topless dancer, a Playboy centerfold and a Guess jeans model, all before marrying a man old enough to be her great- grandfather. After he died 14 months into their marriage, she fought his grown sons for her share of his estate, then declared bankruptcy, starred in her own train- wreck of a reality show, became a spokeswoman for a weight-loss supplement, won a precedent-setting Supreme Court case, and lost her grown son days after giving birth to a daughter last year.44

Like Thelma Todd before her, Ms. Smith was a movie comedienne and divorcee who lived her life under the media spotlight. Everything Ms. Smith did attracted attention from fans and paparazzi, who loved to tell the tales of her tragic, drug-filled life. Not even her mysterious death, behind the closed door of a Florida hotel room, could be kept secret.

Ms. Smith’s death was publicized to the point of frustration among some news consumers. But unlike those of Ms. Todd’s day, newspapers were not the ones covering the story with sensationalism that was reminiscent of yellow journalism. Reporters and editors for television, a non-existent medium during Ms. Todd’s lifetime, bombarded the

American public with ceaseless coverage of Ms. Smith’s death and the impending

44 Carol Williams & Robin Abcarian, “Glitz, Scandal, Fame, Loss – and Death at 39,” Los Angeles Times, 9 February 2007, sec. A, p. 1. Blonde Journalism 15 custody battle over her newborn daughter.45 Although Ms. Smith’s situation probably involved more salacious, gossipy twists and turns than Ms. Todd’s had, newspapers were less lurid with their coverage of Ms. Smith’s death than with Ms. Todd’s, choosing to devote minimal resources to the puzzling story and, in some cases, to publish stories criticizing the attention paid by other media. However, all three papers in the study practiced a modern-day form of yellow journalism.

On February 9, 2007, the day after Ms. Smith’s death, the L.A. Times published two articles about the late actress: one on the front page, announcing her death and recapping her life,46 and another on page A22 about her legal battle to inherit her dead husband’s multimillion dollar estate. The latter story almost possessed some news value, as the trial made it to the U.S. Supreme Court, but ultimately the article was not particularly newsworthy, because it did not disclose any information not already known by the public. Still, the story of Ms. Smith’s trial was not as salacious those of the trial that following Ms. Todd’s death. L.A. Times reporter David Savage wrote the story in a very no-nonsense manner, writing, “The long-running legal battle of the $1.6-billion estate of Anna Nicole Smith’s late husband, Texas oilman J. Howard Marshall, has survived both parties to the dispute.” 47

Coverage of Ms. Smith’s death continued on February 10, 2007, with a story on page A9 of the L.A. Times. The story led with news that an autopsy on Ms. Smith had yet to reveal the cause of her death, but it had ruled out violent murder methods, such as stabbing, suffocating, bludgeoning, or shooting. Only the top two paragraphs of the story

45 James Rainey, “Smith’s Death a ‘Real Feast’ for the Media,” Los Angeles Times, 10 February 2007, sec. C, p. 1. 46 Carol Williams & Robin Abcarian, “Glitz, Scandal, Fame, Loss – and Death at 39,” Los Angeles Times, 9 February 2007, sec. A, p. 1. 47 David Savage, “Estate Battle Goes On In Courts,” Los Angeles Times, 9 February 2007, sec. A, p. 22. Blonde Journalism 16 gave information about the autopsy. The remaining 21 paragraphs were devoted to juicy details about the three men claiming to have fathered Ms. Smith’s child, and to speculation she had died from a lethal combination of drugs. The salacious copy ran as follows: “The paternity of Dannielynn Hope Marshall [Ms. Smith’s daughter] has become a compelling chapter in the enduring Smith soap opera, as the child could inherit millions if her mother’s estate prevails in its pursuit of the fortune of Smith’s late husband, J. Howard Marshall II.” 48 Even text containing information from official sources had a scandalous twist: “The 39-year-old celebrity sexpot, who was found lifeless in a luxury hotel suite Thursday, probably died of natural causes, drug or chemical influences, or a combination of those factors, said Joshua Perper, chief of the Broward

County medical examiner’s office.”49 Thus, the L.A. Times’ coverage of Ms. Smith’s death had a lot in common with coverage of Ms. Todd’s death. Both were full of gossip and lurid details that would have pleased the yellow journalists of earlier generations.

However, there was a turnabout in the L.A. Times’ attitude toward salacious coverage of Ms. Smith’s death when compared with that of Ms. Todd’s. Remarkably, three columns appeared in the February 10, 2007, edition of the L.A. Times, each critical of media coverage of Ms. Smith’s death. The first, by James Rainey, marveled at the rush to capitalize on Ms. Smith’s death. Rainey wrote:

Hours after Anna Nicole Smith's death, people across the globe tried to cash in on her celebrity by listing for sale items such as bobblehead dolls and poker chips bearing her image. But positioned to benefit the most were media outlets that tried to feed the enormous appetite of its audiences… with tonight's

48 Carol Williams, “No Signs of Violent Death; Anna Nicole Smith’s Autopsy is Inconclusive. The Husband of Zsa Zsa Gabor Says He Fathered Smith’s Baby Girl,” Los Angeles Times, 10 February 2007, sec. A, p. 9. 49 Carol Williams, “No Signs of Violent Death; Anna Nicole Smith’s Autopsy is Inconclusive. The Husband of Zsa Zsa Gabor Says He Fathered Smith’s Baby Girl,” Los Angeles Times, 10 February 2007, sec. A, p. 9. Blonde Journalism 17 airing of ‘Death of a Centerfold’ on NBC's ‘Dateline,’ to be followed by Fox News' hourlong special ‘Anna Nicole: Tragic Beauty.’50

The second column, by Tim Rutten, explained Ms. Smith’s meteoric rise to the top, which he felt justified the decision made by the L.A. Times to put the February 9, 2007, story about her death on the front page. Despite his feeling of justification, Rutten criticized the means by which Ms. Smith achieved stardom – through stripping and scandal – and accused his television counterparts of needlessly propelling her to fame.

The third column, by Paul Brownfield, echoed the others, chastising the television media for allowing Ms. Smith’s death to overshadow hard news stories, such as those occurring overseas in Iraq.51

In his article, Rutton acknowledged the irony of running three columns on the same day criticizing the media attention surrounding Ms. Smith’s death, writing:

THIS column is either part of the problem or a thought on its solution… Of course, one of the cheapest journalistic tricks going is to get a piece of a mindless, tawdry media frenzy by denouncing it. The writer gets to wallow profitably in whatever gutter has everybody's attention while still being wry and high-minded. The readers get to join the fun without losing their self-respect. It's a win-win sort of arrangement for a certain knowing-wink-and-sly-nod wing of the media culture.52

This imagined lens of irony did not excuse the L.A. Times from indulging in the same sensational patterns as other media. However, it is clear the L.A. Times wanted to distance itself from yellow journalism practices. Perhaps by writing about how it was not publicizing Ms. Smith’s death, the L.A. Times went overboard to assure its readers of the paper’s commitment to hard news over celebrity scandal in that it certainly covered the

50 James Rainey, “Smith’s Death ‘A Real Feast’ for the Media,” Los Angeles Times, 10 February 2007, sec. C, p. 1. 51 Paul Brownfield, “Breathtaking Coverage, But Lamentable; In Death and on the News, Anna Nicole Smith’s Tawdry Appeal Overshadowed Iraq,” Los Angeles Times, 10 February 2007, sec. E, p. 13. 52 Tim Rutten, “How Smith’s Death Hit Page 1,” Los Angeles Times, 10 February 2007, sec. E, p. 1. Blonde Journalism 18 death of Ms. Smith in some detail. However, when compared with the coverage of Ms.

Todd’s death, something had changed. The L.A. Times published eight articles about Ms.

Smith’s death between February 9 and February 15, 2007, including the three scathing columns and two briefs, both less than 150 words apiece. While the L.A. Times’ coverage of Ms. Smtih may have seemed excessive, the newspaper certainly scaled back its coverage of salacious celebrity deaths since writing 36 articles about Ms. Todd’s death.

The New York Times was characteristically demure in its coverage of Ms. Smith’s death. Six articles were published regarding Ms. Smith between February 9 and February

15, 2007. On the day after her death, The New York Times offered a report similar to that given by the L.A. Times, explaining details (as far as they were known) about the celebrity’s death, plus her life and times. However, The New York Times article was more concise than its Los Angeles counterpart (about half the length). Editors also chose to bury the story inside the A section on page 12, as opposed to running it out front, as the

Los Angeles Times did. The author of The New York Times article was able to deliver a condensed version of the story of Ms. Smith’s passing by offering little background information and reporting the death as a straight crime story. Contrasting with the L.A.

Times’ featuresque recap of Ms. Smith’s headline-grabbing life, The New York Times offered this sober, newslike second paragraph:

A personal nurse traveling with Ms. Smith called the hotel operator at 1:38 p.m. to report she had found Ms. Smith alone and unconscious in her sixth-floor suite, the police said. Ms. Smith's bodyguard arrived a few minutes later and tried to revive her with cardiopulmonary resuscitation, as did paramedics, who arrived after 2 p.m., they said, but she was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital at 2:49 Blonde Journalism 19 p.m. The office of the Broward County Medical Examiner was to perform an autopsy on Friday morning.53

Still, reporters could not resist topping off the crime story with a bitter, gossipy lead:

“Anna Nicole Smith, a former Playboy centerfold, actress and television personality who was famous, above all, for being famous, but also for being sporadically rich and chronically litigious, was found dead Thursday….”54

However, despite covering the story, The New York Times adopted the same fault- the-media agenda as the L.A. Times on February 10, 2007. Columnist Caryn James delivered blows to Ms. Smith, television news, and the American people: “Her career started out tacky, went downhill from there and ultimately says more about the culture's fascination with celebrity than it does about Anna Nicole Smith. Ms. Smith's lust for fame coincided with a media explosion she could exploit.”55 Fellow columnist Maria

Aspan also took a turn at bashing television news and its simple audience on February 12,

2007. Aspan used Ms. Smith’s death as a means of poking fun at the popular paparazzi television show, “Access Hollywood.” She mocked the show’s news judgment, saying,

“Mr. Silverstein said that ‘Access Hollywood’s’ pre-Grammy coverage suffered considerably in the wake of Ms. Smith’s death. (The astronaut story was less prominent on the Hollywood-focused TV shows, but Ryan O’Neal, who made headlines earlier in the week for assaulting his son, had joined Captain Nowak in relative obsolescence by

Friday.)” 56 Unlike those in the L.A. Times, neither columnist attempted to justify the

53 Abby Goodnough & Margalit Fox, “Anna Nicole Smith is Found Dead at a Florida Hotel,” The New York Times, 9 February 2007, sec. A, p. 12. 54 Abby Goodnough & Margalit Fox, “Anna Nicole Smith is Found Dead at a Florida Hotel,” The New York Times, 9 February 2007, sec. A, p. 12. 55 Caryn James, “Why Did We Watch? The Answer Isn’t Pretty,” The New York Times, 10 February 2007, sec. B, p. 7. 56 Maria Aspan, “A One-Two Punch at the Old Guard of Gossip,” The New York Times, 12 February 2007, sec. C, p. 4. Blonde Journalism 20 paper’s publication of stories about Ms. Smith’s death. Although, by publishing six stories about Ms. Smith, it is obvious editors at The New York Times recognized the public’s interest in salacious news, and they aimed to accommodate.

Coverage of Ms. Smith’s death in The Journal-Constitution was curiously lacking between February 9 and February 15, 2007. Members of the newspaper’s staff reported no articles regarding Ms. Smith’s death. A search of the newspaper’s archives revealed only three mentions of Ms. Smith during the week following her death. Each of the mentions came in the form of “The Vent,” a jumbled column, comprised of random sentences. These brief statements, though random, were scathing and salacious. One statement said, “Anna Nicole Smith is to Marilyn Monroe what Yugo is to a Ferrari.” 57

Another item attacked Ms. Smith and her suitors, saying,

I see a new reality show in the makings: ‘The Anna Nicole Smith Babby- Daddy Hopefuls House.’ Watch as they all brag about who really had it going on the night they slept with the voluptuous beauty from Texas. When the DNA test comes back, will you be watching? Stay tuned!”58

Ms. Smith received no more than two sentences in each of the columns.

This conspicuous lack of stories may have been the result of one of two factors.

According to Mae Reedy, a receptionist for the news department of The Journal-

Constitution, the newspaper does not include wire stories in its archives. This means The

Journal-Constitution may have run wire stories about Ms. Smith in the paper, but none of its writers contributed their own articles. The other possibility is that the print version of

The Journal-Constitution simply didn’t cover the story. In any case, The Journal-

Constitution did not bother to assign its own reporters to the story. If “The Vent” hadn’t mentioned it, there would have been no staff-generated copy on Ms. Smith’s death.

57 “The Vent,” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 15 February 2007, sec. D, p. 2. 58 “The Vent,” The Atlanta Journal Constitution, 25 February 2007, sec. D, p. 25. Blonde Journalism 21 Clearly, The Journal-Constitution, being located far away from the nation’s entertainment centers, did not find Ms. Smith to be worthy enough to pay a writer to report on her.

Like Ms. Todd before her, mysteries linger about the cause of Ms. Smith’s death.

A medical examiner eventually determined Ms. Smith died as the result of an accidental drug overdose. However, many fans question the motives of Howard K. Stern, Smith’s lover and lawyer, whom they allege could have killed her for her money.59

From A1 to Inside

Despite their myriad similarities, the L.A. Times, The New York Times, and The

Journal-Constitution handled coverage of the deaths of Thelma Todd and Anna Nicole

Smith quite differently. Ms. Todd’s death saturated the newspapers in 1935, most notably the L.A. Times. But 72 years later, much less attention was paid Ms. Smith.

The L.A. Times scaled back its celebrity crime coverage dramatically over the seven decades, from publishing 36 articles about Ms. Todd’s death to eight regarding Ms.

Smith’s death. The articles about Ms. Smith included three columns criticizing the coverage by other media and two briefs, meaning that only five real articles appeared on her death. None of the articles in Ms. Todd’s day questioned the coverage given to the topic. Ms. Todd’s death made the front page of the L.A. Times seven times – every day of the week following her death. Ms. Smith made the front page only once, on the day after her death. Following Ms. Smith’s death, the L.A. Times, clearly shamed by its decision to put celebrity scandal on A1, went so far as to publish a column explaining the choice.

59 Xomba, “Anna Nicole Smith – A Conspiracy Tragically Unfolding,” available from http://www.xomba.com/anna_nicole_smith_a_conspiracy_tragically_unfolding, accessed 12 November 2007. Blonde Journalism 22 Columnist Tim Rutten’s explanation correctly argued why his newspaper’s coverage of

Ms. Smith’s death was not done out of some lurid interest in celebrity misfortune:

When a story takes on the sheer scope and intensity of the Anna Nicole Smith frenzy there's something willful in the unexamined impulse to look away. Plain curiosity is an essential ingredient of the journalistic enterprise, and those who deny its operation in the interest of some higher value usually are not entirely to be trusted.60

Between the time of Thelma Todd and Anna Nicole Smith, it is clear the L.A.

Times made a fine transformation from scandal rag to respected newspaper. However, it should be noted the decision to publish three columns in one day criticizing coverage of

Ms. Smith’s death showed a leaning toward the days of yore. Even though the newspaper changed its focus from slobbering over celebrity to growling at the media, publicity of the scandal was still evident, albeit cleverly disguised by elitist scolding. Nevertheless, the L.A. Times by 2007 showed tremendous growth away from the sensationalist forms that characterized yellow journalism.

Ever the classy newspaper of record, The New York Times also displayed some growth away from celebrity scandal between Ms. Todd and Ms. Smith’s deaths. The change from nine articles to six was not as remarkable as that made by the Los Angeles

Times, but the numbers did indeed decline. Only one article regarding Ms. Todd’s death graced the front page in 1935; the closest an article on Ms. Smith got was page A12. The most significant change was not the number of articles, but the content. In Ms. Todd’s day, The New York Times was hardly above printing speculation and rumors. But stories about Ms. Smith in 2007 seemed to be almost grudgingly written, with very little room allotted for the stories and very few details of her flamboyant past.

60 Tim Rutten, “How Smith’s Death Hit Page 1,” Los Angeles Times, 10 February 2007, sec. E, p. 1. Blonde Journalism 23 Like the L.A. Times, The New York Times seemed embarrassed to “have” to cover

Ms. Smith’s death. The two papers seemed “above” that sort of thing, while obviously both actually wanted to cover the celebrity’s strange death. Thus, the two tried the tactic of publishing columns criticizing coverage of Ms. Smith’s death. But the tone of the columns seemed less insistent than those in the L.A. Times, which appeared to be trying to convince readers it had departed from yellow journalism tactics, even though it was indeed covering the death of Ms. Smith.

The New York Times had a similar problem. It was “above” celebrity obsession in the media and so felt obliged to point out it was not a part of the hoopla. Nevertheless, it did write about Ms. Smith in its attempt to distance itself from that type of journalism. As one columnist, Caryn James, said:

The news of her death brought the inevitable jolt that comes when anyone dies suddenly at 39. And there is the inescapable tragedy of a 5-month-old left without her mother. But Anna Nicole Smith's fame is as sad and shallow in death as it was in life, just as much of a tawdry compact between her and us.61

Just as it did in 1935, The New York Times showed restraint in its publicity of a mysterious celebrity death in 2007. However, the newspaper took a greater, more definitive stand against the sensationalist, celebrity-studded yellow journalism type of fare in its coverage of Ms. Smith’s death by refusing to allow the stories on the front page, and by limiting the gossipy content and space for the articles.

The Journal-Constitution didn’t start out all that interested in celebrity reporting in 1935, but it executed a complete departure from celebrity crime reporting between Ms.

Todd and Ms. Smith’s deaths. The newspaper that printed five stories about Ms. Todd’s death in 1935 opted out of running any local news copy regarding Ms. Smith’s death in

61 Caryn James, “Why Did We Watch? The Answer Isn’t Pretty,” The New York Times, 10 February 2007, sec. B, p. 7. Blonde Journalism 24 2007. Although it is unknown whether wire stories were used in the newspaper to convey the news of Ms. Smith’s death, it is worth noting none of the paper’s human or financial resources were devoted to coverage of the scandal. No reporter was sent to nearby

Florida, where Ms. Smith died, and no money was spent to gather the story independently. Even though The Journal-Constitution was closer geographically to the scene of death than were The New York Times or L.A. Times, The Journal-Constitution simply refused to assign a local writer to the story. The lack of resources alone showed

The Journal-Constitution cared little about celebrity scandal in 2007, a departure from the interest paid Ms. Todd’s death 72 years earlier.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s non-existent coverage of Ms. Smith’s death, and its minimal coverage of Ms. Todd’s death, could have occurred because Atlanta is farther removed from celebrity hotspots, such as those found in New York and

California. Atlanta citizens are not as likely to brush elbows with Hollywood stars as those in New York City and Los Angeles. Atlanta doesn’t make its bread and butter on the entertainment industry in the same astronomical way that New York City and Los

Angeles do. Therefore, the newspaper may have seen little point in publishing said stories.

What caused the change?

Based on the coverage of two similar celebrity deaths, it is clear the L.A. Times,

The New York Times, and The Journal-Constitution changed their philosophies regarding celebrity crime coverage between 1935 and 2007. It is unclear when the departure from the extreme yellow journalism style was made or why. One possibility explaining the lesser coverage given Ms. Smith’s death may be a difference in public respect. Audiences Blonde Journalism 25 loved and admired Ms. Todd, who had a fruitful movie career.62 Ms. Smith, who gained fame by posing nude and marrying an octogenarian, aroused audiences’ interests, but not their ovations. Caryn James, of The New York Times, summarized the public’s relationship with Ms. Smith the best, writing:

But without any actual career to back up her claim on the public, the question becomes: why did we watch? The unsettlingly vapid reason: because we could. She was a glittery spectacle who offered guilt-free voyeurism, as we watched her dramas with drugs and weight and inheritance laws. And the lesson of her fame is that there is no lesson.63

Still, Ms. Todd was no angel. The actress divorced Pat DiCicco shortly before her death.

Divorce was not as socially acceptable in the 1930s as it was seven decades later. To some degree, then, Ms. Todd experienced some of the same notoriety as Ms. Smith during her lifetime.

The likeability factor may have played some part in the heavy coverage of Ms.

Todd contrasting with the light coverage of Ms. Smith. But it seems the newspapers themselves in 2007 explained the reason most clearly. Apparently, television played the biggest role in the reduction of coverage. It is clear the three papers in 2007 did not want to be classified in the same genre as salacious, gossip-chasing television shows, which they criticized heavily in an attempt to look different from them. The impulse to avoid coverage of Ms. Smith, even though her death seemed to hold high interest in the public, seemed rooted in the fact that newspapers no longer saw themselves as the primary vehicle of entertainment news. Newspapers were supposed to be serious, and the three papers in the study bent over backwards in a variety of ways to appear uninterested in

62 “Friends From All Walks of Life Pay Final Tribute at Thelma Todd’s Funeral,” Los Angeles Times, 20 December 1935, sec. A, p. 9. 63 Caryn James, “Why Did We Watch? The Answer Isn’t Pretty,” The New York Times, 10 February 2007, sec. B, p. 7. Blonde Journalism 26 lowbrow fare. If the newspapers likened TV tabloid-like coverage of the death of Ms.

Smith to coverage on the Internet, they didn’t say so. They seemed to be anxious to portray themselves as “not TV.”

Whatever the reason, it is obvious the L.A. Times, The New York Times, and The

Journal-Constitution did not use the same scandal-hungry approaches in covering Ms.

Smith’s death as they did Ms. Todd’s. But it is clear the three newspapers in the study worked hard in Ms. Smith’s day to differentiate themselves from their television counterparts. Being “not TV” was an identity all three papers wholeheartedly embraced.