Summer 1983 AMERICAN JOURNALISM The publication of the American JournaHsm Historians Association Volume 1 Number 1 PUBLISHED TWICE A YEAR BY THE ASSOCIATION Summer/American Journalism ADVISORY EDITORIAL BOARD Donald R. Avery, Alabama Douglas Birkhead, Louisiana State James Carey, Illinois John Erickson, Iowa Lewis Gould, Texas Jeff Henderson, Central Arkansas Sidney Kobre, Catonsville (Maryland) Community College Russel Blaine Nye, Michigan State Darwin Payne, Southern Methodist Sam G. Riley, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University William David Sloan, Alabama EDITORIAL BOARD Roy Atwood, Gonzaga University, book review editor Anantha Babbili, Texas Christian, assistant editor Sharon Bass, Arkansas, graphics editor John Behrens, Utica College of Syracuse University, assistant editor Margaret Blanchard, North Carolina, assistant editor Michael Buchholz, Oklahoma State, assistant editor Lloyd Chiasson, Loyola (New Orleans), assistant editor Dean Duncan, Central Arkansas, associate editor Lynn Ganger, Central Arkansas, associate editor Lloyd J. Graybar, Eastern Kentucky, assistant editor Dennie Hall, Central State (Oklahoma), assistant editor Richard Hudson, Central Arkansas, associate editor A.J. Kaul, Western Kentucky, assistant editor Terrance B. Kearns, Central Arkansas, associate editor Lauren Kessler, Oregon, assistant editor Jim King, Northeast Missouri State, assistant editor Frank Krompak, Toledo, assistant editor Bob Lance, Arizona State, production editor Summer/American Journalism iii Larry Lorenz, Loyola (New Orleans), assistant editor Charles Marler, Abilene Christian, production editor William McKeen, Oklahoma, assistant editor William McReynolds, Colorado, assistant editor Christine Miller, Loyola (New Orleans), assistant editor William Mofield, Murray State, assistant editor Michael D. Murray, Missouri (St. Louis), assistant editor Alf Pratte, Shippensburg State, director of public relations & advertising Nancy L. Roberts, Rhode Island, assistant editor Thomas A. Schwartz, Ohio State, assistant editor Judith Serrin, Columbia, assistant editor James D. Startt, Valparaiso, assistant editor James E. Swartz, Southern Methodist, assistant editor Reg Westmoreland, North Texas State, assistant editor Gary Whitby, Central Arkansas, editor Roxanne M. Zimmer, Rutgers, assistant editor Copyright 1983, American Journalism Historians Association. AMERICAN JOURNALISM is now soliciting manuscripts. Scholars are asked to follow the MLA Handbook on matters of docu- mentation and to submit a bibliography as well as footnotes. Three copies of a manuscript, along with a stamped envelope addressed to the author (SASE), should be mailed to the editor, Gary Whitby, at the following address: AMERICAN JOURNALISM, Dept. of English & Journalism, University of Central Arkansas, Conway, AR 72032. iv Summer/American Journalism EDITOR'S PREFACE This is the first issue of American Journalism, the publication of the American Journalism Historians Association, founded in the fall of 1982. The organization and journal originated from a percep- tion among journalism scholars that, despite the excellent work done by Journalism History, as well as a few quasi-historical jour- nals of communication, there were insufficient outlets for those interested in doing research in press history. Following tabulation of the results of a letter of inquiry, this perception was validated by an overwhelming percentage of respondents who said that they would welcome another organization and journal. A number of those persons are represented, in one capacity or another, in the current issue. It will be seen that they represent a wide geographic area and a variety of academic institutions. It will be seen, too, that most, if not all, of them are also members of AEJMC. This suggests the probable mutual desire of members of both organizations for association and interaction, not competition. Indeed, the members of the AJHA generally recognize and acknowledge the overarching position and authority of the AEJMC. The general focus of American Journalism is on the historical relationship between communication and culture in the United States, especially as this relationship has been affected by such areas as economics, philosophy, politics, literature, sociology, and law. Although the journal is primarily qualitative in orientation and method, the editors welcome qualitative studies containing quantification as a methodology. The editors also welcome book reviews as well as articles devoted to broadcast journalism. It should be noted, too, that the t\i\e American Journalism is intended to include international influences on American media. This issue contains studies that should be of interest to a wide spectrum of journalism historians. Linda Steiner's "Finding Com- munity in Nineteenth-Century Suffrage Periodicals" analyzes the role played by periodicals "in sustaining and solidifying" a sense of community among those in the woman's suffrage movement in nine- teenth-century America. — Summer/American Journalism Mary S. Mander's "American Correspondents During World War 11" documents the imagination and manners exhibited by jour- nalists covering the Second World War. Mander isolates and analyzes four characteristics of the common-sense approach to the world: homely wisdom, reductiveness, practicality, and realism. Frank Krompak's "A Wider Niche for Westbrook Pegler" pre- sents Pegler's "virtually ignored" side — his work as a humorist and compares him to H. L. Mencken, Damon Runyon, and Ring Lardner. Krompak includes numerous examples of "Peglerian humor," from mock outrage and character types to satiric poetry. Lewis Gould's "First Ladies and the Press: Bess Truman to Lady Bird Johnson" briefly presents the interaction between each of the first ladies and the press corps and compares the style of each first lady in dealing with the press to that of Eleanor Roosevelt. Maurine Beasley's "A 'Front Page Girl' Covers the Lindbergh Kidnaping: An Ethical Dilemma" examines Lorena A. Hickok's coverage of the Lindbergh kidnaping case and what Hickok per- ceived to be her ethical "responsibility for newsgathering in an era of gross sensationalism." Beasley also raises final questions un- resolved today: What is the public interest in crime stories, and is it to be informed at the price of ignoring the plight of innocent victims? Finally, Anne Messerly Cooper's "Suffrage as News: Ten Dailies' Coverage of the Nineteenth Amendment" examines nation- al coverage of the woman's suffrage movement and the enactment of the Nineteenth Amendment, concentrating on the tone of, and the prominence given to, the movement and the amendment. Gary Whitby vi Summer/American Journalism DEDICATORY STATEMENT This issue of American Journalism is respectfully dedicated to Dr. Jefferson Farris, President of the University of Central Arkansas, in gratitude for his support and encouragement. Summer/American Journalism Vll CONTENTS FINDING COMMUNITY IN NINETEENTH-CENTURY SUFFRAGE PERIODICALS Linda Steiner AMERICAN CORRESPONDENTS DURING WORLD WAR II Mary S. Mander 17 A WIDER NICHE FOR WESTBROOK PEGLER Frank Krompak 31 FIRST LADIES AND THE PRESS: BESS TRUMAN TO LADY BIRD JOHNSON Lewis Gould 47 A "FRONT PAGE GIRL " COVERS THE LINDBERGH KIDNAPING: AN ETHICAL DILEMMA Maurine Beasley 63 SUFFRAGE AS NEWS: TEN DAILIES' COVERAGE OF THE NINETEENTH AMENDMENT Anne Messerly Cooper 73 BOOK REVIEWS 93 CONTRIBUTORS 109 viii Summer/American Journalism American Journalism is a publication of the University of Central Arkansas, Conway, Arkansas. 2 Summer/American Journalism Finding Community In Nineteenth Century Suffrage Periodicals LINDA STEINER For most sociologists as well as journalism historians, the term community is inherently ecological. It implies a physical concentration of people who are spatially delimited. In this view, although territory is not a sufficient condition for community, it is necessary. 1 An alternative conceptualization uses the term to designate groups situated normatively, in sentiment. Representa- tive here is William Goode's discussion of professions as commun- ities, in that the limits and definitions of membership are social, not geographic. Members, he says, are bound by a sense of identity, shared values, and, at least within areas of communal action, a com- mon language. This study extends the tradition which Goode represents to an analysis of the importance of periodicals in sustaining and solidify- ing the nineteenth century woman's suffrage community as such in America. The study will show how newspapers and journals pro- duced by woman suffragists helped women locate themselves in an exciting but entirely plausible community and find there a sense of significance and meaningfulness. Suffragists did not use the word community, preferring, instead, terms like sisterhood and sorority. Through specialized periodicals, the suffrage movement achieved the defining processes and charac- teristic "spirit" of community. Suffragists professed common goals and shared interests; they saw themselves, both as women and as suffragists, as bound up in a common fate. They participated in co- operative activity. They self-consciously emphasized interdepen- dence and, therefore, loyalty, commitment, and even esprit de corps. Summer/American Journalism Most importantly, suffragists explicitly and proudly defined them- selves in terms of their affiliation. After a brief review of the suffrage movement and the specific periodicals to be examined here, this study will discuss how early suffrage