Industry was slowing picking up and printing had just been invented, in addition more and more people were able to read because of the law which had been brought, that all children were to have schooling; therefore newspapers were ideally the best way of notifying the public of the happening in the city. Also the fact that tax had been abolished from newspapers led to it becoming more affordable for citizens to purchase. So what type of role in society were newspapers playing in attracting so many people to the murders?
The mighty power of the word of mouth shined through as all citizens of the east end came up with a brilliant hypothesis that the murderer must have been a doctor of some sort with enough intelligence to have performed such mutilations. Here we see the type of role newspapers played in society. The main foundation or source for this idea was based around the following statement published in the newspaper. “The injuries have been made by someone who had considerable anatomical skill and knowledge, no unskilled person could have known where to find the organs, no mere slaughterer of animals could have carried out these operations”, such statement eradicated the fact it could be a butcher but nevertheless people still continued to spread rumors and speculations. Not only was it the power of word of mouth but also the helping hand of vision. Printing had become popular so now the newspapers contained photographs of the ghastly disfigurement of the deceased, again stirring the imagination of Londoners. People just could not figure out why this was happening, what motivation the ‘mad man’ had to resulting to such repulsive actions, so newspapers were the only way of finding some sort of answers to their unanswered questions. Yet indirectly the newspapers were in fact incubating fear to grow and magnetizing attention. Source A is part of an article in the East End Observer describing the murders of Martha Tabrham and Polly Nicholls. The use of clever wording such as ‘murders which have startled London’, ‘no adequate motive’, ‘the works of a demented being, as the extraordinary violence used....’ is respectively going to increase the fear of citizens. The language used was very much intended to attract people and portray the seriousness of the murders. We see that the question ‘was there a motive?’ has been semi-answered, yet it is not exactly something the city would want to read. Now these people know that there is ‘no adequate motive’ it gives them even more reasons to consider that it could be them or a family member next…
Source F is a police leaflet again published in the newspapers after the murders of Elizabeth stride and Kate Eddowes. It is pleading the public for any information that could guide the police to finding the serial killer. It quotes ‘supposed by someone residing in the immediate neighbourhood’, indicating that the murderer could possibly be from the local area, again another factor which causes alarm. This leaflet made many take notice and worry that the police after three or four murders still could not find any evidence to trace the killer down, this too emphasizes the ability and skills he must have had that not even polices were able to seize him. The desperation to find the murderer attracted so many through the leaflets and articles published in newspapers.
Everyone was astonished to witness that this murderer was walking among them, committing horrendous massacres, on top of that the women being local, and furthermore doing what he did in a short amount of time and still not being exposed. It was no wonder that some were wondering if this murderer was in fact a person or not. Everyone including investigators were left ‘baffled’, the press calling the ‘the sights and sounds an apocalypse of evil’. It seemed to people as there was no hope left as even polices were relying now only on luck. ‘All that police can hope is that some accidental circumstance will lead to a trace which may be followed to a successful conclusion’. This statement taken from the article published in The times after the murder of Mary Kelly.
The dexterity and agility of Jack the ripper plays a very vital role into attracting so much attention. The reports published in the newspapers described the sickening disembowelment Jack operated on as ‘ruthless’, yet ‘knew what he wanted and how to use the knife’. The skills and ability he had astounded people, how he mutilated the women in such a short spam of time and even in the darkness dumbfounded most in the city. Police were patrolling the scene of the crime every fifteen minutes, and still within that time he was able to meet his blood thirsty needs. Source F shows us that the murders happened on Friday 31st Saturday 8th, and Sunday 30th of September, as it was published in the newspapers citizens reading it spotted the pattern and believed the murders were being repeated again and again for no apparent reason. Anxiety and apprehension grew to as when these murders will have an end, who would be next and if the ferocious assassin would be ever caught. All the murders that took place were all one square mile away from each other yet still no evidence or clues were left as to who he was. It was also amazing for everyone that in such a crowded city not one person really witnessed good substantial and hardcore evidence that would lead to him. Only a few had seen some incident relating to the crime, such as the man talking to Annie Chapman before she was killed. Source D is the description of the man talking to Annie Chapman. Elizabeth Long quotes, ‘He was dark complexioned and was wearing a deerstalker hat. I think he was wearing a dark coat but I cannot be sure.’ Here we see that although there may be a bit of evidence it cannot be relied upon as Elizabeth herself is not too sure. Again it is not substantial as their could be many men in London wearing a deerstalker hat and a dark long coat, in addition there were many immigrants so it would be very difficult to pin point one person out of thousands that could be suspects. The pleadings of the police and very few witnesses left people afraid that this ‘maniac’ would never be caught thus attracting attention.
London was the scene of chaos, people were acting franticly over the two months with all the press coverage surrounding the Jack the ripper murders. All around the country people were informed that this ‘monster’ was out on the loose; therefore people naturally feared for their lives. His skills and ability to get away with such wild and extreme actions grabbed the headlines, and the headlines grabbed the people’s attention. In conclusion I believe that the newspaper captured the minds of citizens in London as well as the photo’s, yet in a rational or irrational way is a thought to ponder on. The type of attention that was influenced by the newspaper was perhaps more exaggerated than it really was, or was it as horrific as it was said to be? What we do know is that both the skills of Jack the Ripper, being the first known serial killer and never being caught integrates a lot with press. If there was to be no media coverage it would have not attracted so many people across the country yet if there was to be no gruesome attacks or skilful mutilations there would be nothing to capture. One does not work without the other.
