Differences in reporting the Inquest(s)

[John Savage]

Hi Howard,

The Times, then and now, has always been considered as a paper of record and always concentrated on the facts as ascertained from reputable sources. Some may debate if this the case still today, but that is another story. The Telegraph could also be considered a paper of record, whilst some of the other papers, Echo, Evening News, etc. were more interested in sensational stories that sold copies of their newspapers. The Times, in my opinion, also verged on caution as to what was suitable for Victorian moral sensitivities.

The Times, because of it's position as a paper of record, has for many years been widely available on microfilm in public libraries throughout England, whilst other newspapers are only available at the newspaper library at Colindale. Because of this any worthwhile study of the differences in reporting would need a researcher to spend many hours at Colindale, other than this there may be useful information to be found in L. Perry Curtis book, Jack the Ripper and the Victorian Press. (It is a few years since I read it, so I cannot be certain).

Rgds
John

[Howard Brown]

Prof.Savage:

Thank you for the mention of Colindale.

The Times, in my opinion, also verged on caution as to what was suitable for Victorian moral sensitivities.--J.Savage

Based on this logical explanation...and its inference...the original question I had might be now split in three parts.

A. Since the Times reported news items "closer to the vest"...this suggests that the Times may have omitted certain comments that appeared in the other newspapers.

B. If the above is true,then there may be other worthwhile statements in the "other papers" unseen to this very date that for the sake of Victorian sensibilities would have appeared in the Times.

C. Some of the comments that didn't appear in the Times Inquest reports that Messrs.Evans and Skinner provided in the Ultimate ,but did appear in the latter portions of the chapters dealing with the individual Inquests, may have been embellishments after all for sales purposes. May have been.....

Thanks a lot John. Much appreciated.