Lewis and Clark Abducted by Space Aliens:
The Influence of Tabloids on American History, Journalism, and Culture
by Dr. Greg Stanley
This four-day unit exposes students to "how it used to be" in American politics and culture before the age of tabloid papers, investigative reporting, and television.
Introduction
Tabloid journalism and similar recent trends in news and television reporting have had a tremendous (and, some would say, irreversible) impact on American culture. Even traditionally conservative media have become more tabloid in style. Moreover, as traditionally tabloid outlets have become more mainstream, the line between the two is quickly becoming blurred. Many students today, having been born and raised in this environment have known no other styles of reporting. They frequently have a hard time relating to characters and events from the past as human beings. As any brief discussion of Franklin D. Roosevelt would illustrate, students do not understand the "unofficial gentlemen’s agreement" between the media and public figures which was so characteristic of American culture in the pre-tabloid days. Students are often surprised to learn that most Americans in the 1930s and 1940s never knew that their president was paralyzed. Photographers honored FDR's wish not to be photographed or filmed being lifted out of his car or carried to his wheelchair. There may well be only two surviving photographs showing FDR in his wheelchair (see the video and accompanying book "A Paralyzing Fear: The Story of Polio in America" produced by PBS).Similarly, the rather odd living arrangement of Franklin and Eleanor, along with the sexual excesses of other presidents (most notably John Kennedy) were not considered proper journalistic topics during their respective time periods. A unit on "The Influence of Tabloids on American History, Journalism, and Culture" will help students understand the context of contemporary times, while giving them ample opportunities to become familiar with life in previous eras. They will be able to discuss just how much exposure and scrutiny public figures should bear. Finally, they will be able to discuss the impact of tabloid-style reporting on the whole of American culture.
Day One
(can be divided into two days with larger classes)
Topic: describe what American political life and journalism was like before the age of yellow journalism or tabloid headlines.
Part I
Mention the presidents who might not have been elected if they had been held to the scrutiny of today’s media [i.e. short presidents, unattractive one, those with poor speaking voices, in wheel chairs, and of course, those with one or more skeletons in their closets].
examples:
George Washington
Thomas Jefferson
James Madison
Andrew Jackson
James Buchanan
Abraham Lincoln
U.S. Grant
Warren Harding
Franklin Roosevelt
Dwight Eisenhower
John Kennedy
[here, a teacher would do well to peruse a copy of Shelly Ross, Fall From Grace: Sex, Scandal, and Corruption in American Politics from 1702 to the Present]
Have the students discuss whether the glare of today’s media is a good thing or bad; how would history have been different without some or all of these people?
For example, Abraham Lincoln was uncommonly tall, had a squeaky voice, and a very poor public speaking style. He rocked back and forth while speaking and when making a key point would flail his arms. He was no match in a debate with polished politicians such as Stephen Douglas. Additionally, Lincoln himself noted that he was far from attractive. When once accused of being two-faced on the issue of slavery, Lincoln replied that if he did indeed have two faces, he would scarcely choose to wear his in public.
Would he be elected today in a campaign dominated by television?
Part II
Have the students choose one of the above presidents and write a thirty second attack commercial which their opponents might have run had television been around during their time.
Student Samples:
Election of 1796
In November the American people will be asked to chose a president to lead them into the new millennium. There are two clear choices: Federalist John Adams, a proven man for the people, and Thomas Jefferson, a double-talking, slave-owning philanderer from Virginia. Jefferson has been threatening to start a new American Revolution. We shudder to think of the chaos that will follow if Jefferson is elected. Will he seize the lands of America’s true leaders? Will he appoint the Southern rabble to office? Will he move his slave mistress into the White House? John Adams is the only man who can safeguard America from the masses of uneducated, backwoods illiterates. Only John Adams can save America from the menace of mob rule. In November, defer to John Adams. Vote Federalist and be glad we let you vote at all.
Election of 1920
Warren Harding is promising Normalcy. Yet just how normal is he? Do we need a president that has checked himself into sanitariums not once, not twice, not even three times, but five times? Do we dare vote for a president whose heart condition is so unstable that he can not even mount a vigorous campaign? Can we bear to have a president who has had numerous affairs with married women and girls of questionable reputation? The Democratic Party has always stood for decency, progress, and reform. Harding will take America a giant step backwards. In November, the Democratic ticket of Cox and Roosevelt is the only choice safe for the American family, the American worker, and the American dream.
Day 2
Have students write 2 newspaper articles in tabloid style on any even or person. Emphasize that they need large headlines and small articles. Stress the importance of eye-catching and at least partially true headlines.
When finished, have the students read their articles to the class.
Student Samples:
"Vice President Arrested in Wake of Deadly Lovers’ Quarrel" [describe the Burr-Hamilton Duel]
"Mystery Disease Rock New York: State and Nation in Panic. Governor Urges Day of Prayer. Are the Irish to Blame?" [describes the mid-19th century cholera outbreaks]
"Lewis and Clark Abducted by Space Aliens. Heroic Explorers Not Seen in Months. The Untold Story From Eyewitnesses"
"I was Jefferson’s Mistress: Shocking Confessions of Monticello’s Sex Slave"
"Betraying the Nation for Trinkets: The Strange Truth Behind Mrs. Lincoln’s Wild Spending Sprees. Is the Nation Imperiled by this Confederate Plot?"
Day 3
Have the students write the article they would have written if they had been William Randolph Hearst’s reporter assigned to cover the events which immediately preceded America’s entry into the Spanish-American War. They can focus on alleged Spanish atrocities, the Marti freedom movement and, of course, the explosion of the USS Maine. Remind them that it was not exactly necessary for them actually to go to Cuba to write the story.
Student Sample:
This reporter has returned, escaped might be a better word, from Cuba with only his life and this mind-searing story. For four days, I traveled through the Cuban countryside witnessing horrible atrocities which will trouble my every waking moment and my fitful sleep for as long as I live. In the town of Santa Maria I saw the carnage produced by the demons under the command of the Spanish monster General Weyler. I saw heroic Cuban freedom fighters tortured and mutilated while their families were forced to watch. I saw innocent Cuban babies roasted slowly over a spit while their mothers cried out in their grief. Surely now is the time for President McKinley to take prompt and decisive action before every shred of humanity is destroyed on the island so close to our mainland. If indeed America is to be an instrument in the remaking of the world, there is no clearer time to act than now; no finer cause to embrace than this. If we fail now, we will one day have to answer to a higher authority.
Day Four
Part I
Assuming the school’s media center has the resources (if not, the teacher will have to provide photocopied assistance), have the students look up real Hearst or Pulitzer newspaper articles [New York Morning Journal; New York World]
Part II
Photocopy product advertisements from the 1920s (Ladies’ Home Journal is an excellent source). Have the students discuss how different these advertisements are from those of today. Emphasize how small the print was, how long the ads were, and how detailed the text for each one was. Compare them with modern day examples.
Examples:
1921 Palmolive Soap advertisement: word count 315
1927 Arch-Preserve Shoe advertisement: word count 565
2000 full page Gatorade advertisement: word count 5
2000 full page Reebok advertisement: word count 3
2000 full page Nike advertisement: word count 0
Have the students discuss the pros and cons of modern advertising. For example, is the lower word count an attribute of better advertising or the result of declining attention spans or literacy level?