Margot Opdycke Lamme

This article examines many of the nonfiction works of Doris E. Fleischman to discover why, as the wife and business partner of Edward L. Bernays, there is so little information concerning her contributions to the field of public relations. By tracing her words across more than half a century, it becomes clear that although she appreciated her role as one of the field's pioneers, her primary focus concerned women and work. Thus, to consider Fleischman's work solely in the context of public relations is to neglect her larger role as an advocate for working women.
 

The Great White Father and the Antichrist: Bud WilkinsonÕs Football Letter as Cultural History

Robert L. Kerr

This study of Bud Wilkinson's Football Letter offers insight into the cultural significance of an institutional newsletter. From 1947 to 1963, the Football Letter consistently articulated an idealistic vision of college football as a metaphorical realm where wholesome warriors strive for collective progress. Wilkinson saw that vision validated early in his coaching career, then challenged in later years. He was able to dismiss the most prominent rebel, but not the future.
 
 

Science, Journalism, and the Construction of News: How Print Media Framed the 1918 Influenza Pandemic

Meg Spratt

In 1918, the deadliest pandemic of the twentieth century killed millions of people worldwide. America's relatively young professions of medical science and modern journalism were faced with the challenge of relaying crucial health information in a way the general public could understand. Through a content analysis of two scientific and two mainstream publications, this
article considers how scientific and journalistic dependence on objectivity, facticity, empirical observation, and expert sources shaped the way the influenza story was told during the height of the pandemic. Emphasis on facticity and empirical data did far more than relay medical truths to the public--it constructed a journalistic reality that supported existing power structures and conferred status on scientific and governmental authorities while taking for granted the subordinate positions of average citizens.
 
 

Sensation and the Century: How Four New York Dailies Covered the End of the Nineteenth Century

Randall S. Sumpter

Media historians sometimes divide late nineteenth century newspapers into yellow or elite categories on the basis of whether they indulged in sensationalism. The era's editors and press reformers, however, found it difficult to perform the same task because of disagreements about how sensationalism should be defined and how it should be used. This case study examines the period debate about sensationalism and uses it to evaluate how elite and yellow New York dailies covered a common story, the end of the nineteenth century. Using 1890s standards, the study found elements in both groups' coverage that could be labeled sensational. In this case, the application of sensation links, rather than separates, the news practices of elite and yellow journals.