Cleveland State University EngagedScholarship@CSU Sensational News Treatment of the Sam Sheppard Case Newspaper Coverage 8-22-1964 The Cleveland Press Coverage of the Sheppard Murder Case in Relation to Sensational News Treatment Keith Sanders Follow this and additional works at: https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/sheppard_news_thesis How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! Recommended Citation Sanders, Keith, "The Cleveland Press Coverage of the Sheppard Murder Case in Relation to Sensational News Treatment" (1964). Sensational News Treatment of the Sam Sheppard Case. 1. https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/sheppard_news_thesis/1 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Newspaper Coverage at EngagedScholarship@CSU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Sensational News Treatment of the Sam Sheppard Case by an authorized administrator of EngagedScholarship@CSU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. :,··.. -~ • -. ·-! ! . ,·, ; ,•\ '. TEE CLEVELAND PRESS COVERAGE OF THE SHEPPARD MURDER CASE IN RELATION TO SENSATIONAL NEWS TREATMENT A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of the Graduate College 0£ Ohlo University I.t In Partial Fulfillment l ,I· \ of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Science by Keith Page Sanders- August 22, 1964 I ' ~H10-UN1VERS1TY UP.RARY This thesis has been approved for the School of Journalism and the Graduate College by Associate Professor of Jotiinalism TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. INTRODUCTION • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • l Statement of the Problem • • • • • • • • • • • 1 t Purp.os_e of the. Study • • • • • • • • • • • 3 Definition of Terms Used • • • • • • • • • • • 4 l 6 Method • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Related' Studies • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 9 l TF..E NATURE OP SENSA'l'IONALISM • • • • • • • • • • 13 II. The History o~ .. ~ensationalism • • • • • • • • • 13 When Is It Sensational • • • • • • • • • • • • 35 III. SENSATIONALISM IN PRACTICE • • • • • • • • • • • 51 The Hall-Mills Case • • • • .. • • • • • • • • 51 The Snyde;r.o.Gray.Csse .. 62 The Lindbergh~Hauptmann Case • • • • • • • • • 69 81 IV. THE SHEPPARD MURDER CASE • • • • • • • • • • • • The Murder of Marilyn Sheppard • • • • • • • • 81 !h,! Cleveland Press Coverage of the Sheppard Case " . • • • • • • • • 100 v. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS • • • • • • • • • • • • • 133 133 Summary •• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 142 Conclusions • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 150 BIBLIOGHAPHY • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • r I LIST Ofi' TABLES It TABLE PAGE I I. Amount of Space in Terms of Column Inches Involved in Coverage of Sheppard Case • • • • 126 ·rr. Percentage of Times Sheppard Case Received Lead Story Display • • • • • • • • • 127 III. Percentage of Times Some Story on Sheppard I Case Appeared on Front Page • • 6 • • • • • • 128 i f l l I 1 l 'i ~ • ~ .f .., ' : i 1:: l i !~ CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION I. STATEME:NT OF PROBLEM Seldom, if ever, does a day pass that the front page of some newspaper somewhere in the United States does I• not reflect some measure of sensationalism. This is nei- ther unique to the country, nor to the times. The news- papers of Europe, Asia, and South America all -reflect the same iensational tendencies, as did the earliest forms of newspapers nearly two thousand years ago. Generally, historians and commentators of the press have-deplored the presence of sensationalism. Sensational­ ism has been considered a contrib.uting factor to crime, to immorality, and to other blights on society. It has been charged that newspaper editors deliberately misrepresent, build up out of proportion, and sensationalize the news just for the sake of doing it--and to sell newspapers. Sensationalism often has been cited as one reason why news- papers do not deserve their coveted freedom of the press. In 1947,- The Commission on Freedom of the Press reported that the press is "so pre-occupied with the reporting of sensational events" that the 11 ci tizen is not supplied the information and discussion he needs to discharge his re- O. ·· .. : :.~f-Jj"/ERSITY: LIBRARY. 2 aponsibilities to the com...~unity." 1 While many critics have condemned the press for its I sensationalism, others have commended it. It has been ar- gued that only by publicizing and making known to everyone the evils of society that exist can these evils be elim­ inated. Another argument has been that it is the duty of the press to mirror society and, if society is sensational, the press should report it as such. Still another, and seemingly more practical, argument is that the press exists ' to serve it~ readers, and if sensationalism is what the readers want, that is what they should receive. Good, bad, or something else, sensationalism is a signii'icant characteristic of the pre'ss. - It is an impor­ tant concept in any study or consideration oi' the press. But,· despite its relative importance to the over-all role of the press, sensationalism has remained a vague concept. Students of the press argue almost continuously as to whether a.cert8in story was or was not sensational; whether Newspaper ~ was or was not sensational; and, if it was sen­ \ sational, t() what degree was it sensational. In comparison to other characteristics of the press, lRobert M. Hutchins, A Free and Responsible Press, The Commission on Freedom of-thePr8'33' (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1947), p. 55. ·-- /:. 3 few studies have been made of sensationalism. The results of those studies performed have been relatively inconclu- sive, and often have contradicted one another. Consequently, the question remains: what is sensationalism and how is it i i to be measured? 1 II. PURPOSE O? TH~ STD"DY Periodically, charges of sensationalism have been leveled at the press as a whole, and at specific newspapers ' . in particular, for coverage of a given event or events. Once the charges were made, there was no reliable method of proving that the press was, or was not, guilty of sensa- tionalism. Generally, if the c·overage titted into a .fairly I' ~ vague pattern of sensationalism it was judged to be sensa- tional. In an assessment of the sensationalism of the press, the important criteria often used by critics were I the amount and intensity of criticism. Consequently, if i there was a great deal of intense adverse criticism, the coverage of an event came to be accepted as sensational. II The most recent instance in which widespread charges ,f of sensationalism were leveled at one newspaper occurred in 1954 as a result of~ Cleveland Press' treatment ot the Sheppard murder case. It was the purpose of this study to analyze the newspaper's treatment of the case and to deter- 4 mine if that treatment fits the pattern of sensationalism. The study should be of importance to the student of j I the press because it presents a detailed account of how a I I newspaper, accused of sensationalizing a particular case, I handled the incident, and how that treatment compared to tha treatment given threa well-known sensationnlized cases I in the past. I f The study, also, should expand for the student of the press the existing knowledge relating to the concept of sen- sationalism. The study should aid the student in developing a more clear~cut concept of sensationalism. It should offer some insight into the role of the editors and publishers who are responsible for the existence or sensationalism in the press. Finally, it should aid the student in consider- ing how subject content of a story affects selection of the story for publication and the typographical display and po­ sition it will receive. III. DEFINITION OF TERMS The Presa. Unless otherwise noted, the press was considered to include only crornmercial newspapers. Radio and television, usually considered a part of the press media~ were not included because they are relative newcomers to the news field and, as such, would not permit the extensive r f '! s study over a period of time that the newspapers did. Lead Story. The term "lead story" shall be inter­ preted as meaning the article of primary i!lportance on the front page of a newspaper. Tha criteria used in determin­ ing the relative importance of a story were its position on the page and the typographical display it received. The traditional positioning for the lead story is across the width of the top of the page or in the upper right-hand cor­ ner. With only rare exceptions, the lead story is displayed with the largest-size headline, in terms of depth, on the page. headlines are measured in terms or width in columns and depth in points, seventy-two points equalling one inch. The "second lead11 would be the story receiving typographical display and positioning most closely rivaling that of the lead story. Column Inches. The term "column inches" shall be interpreted as indicating a measure of space in a newspaper. Since newspapers are printed in columns, the simplest means of tabulating space is to measure the width in terms of col­ umns and the depth in terms of inches. A story that runs eight inches deep down one column thus covers eight column inches of space. A photograph that is printed three col­ umns wide by four inches deep covers twelve column inches. 6 Roman Holiday. The term "Roman Holiday" shall be interpreted in this study to mean enjoyment or profit where- by others suffer. The term refers to a day of amusement in I· ancient Rome characterized by gladiatorial contests and other bloody games. I " IV. METHOD Although there have been recent attempts to analyze scientifically the concept of sensationalism, the most fre­ quent method utilized ~y historians and commentators of the press to determine sensationalism has been to compare each new case with a preceding one:that has been accepted as an example of such treatment. In so doing, they have assumed that there are certain methods of sensationalizing the news that are characteristic of the concept and that a historical pattern of sensationalism exists. In an attempt to define more clearly the historical pattern, the history of journalism was studied.