Why did the Whitechapel murders attract so much attention in 1888?

To start with most of the victims were prostitutes. Most of them were heavy drinkers and most of them if not all lived in Whitechapel. Most of the women lived in lodging houses. These women would have been the lowest class people in the Victorian society because of their jobs as prostitutes were seen as dirty women. These women were also one of the poorest in society at that time. The case attracted attention because people didn’t want to talk about prostitution and the murders at that time in Victorian society, some people saw this as rude. This meant that people didn’t want to think or sympathise with the prostitutes. People didn’t want to think or sympathise with poor people in the first place anyway. There was a huge division between rich people and poor people and both lived very different lives. The people feared for their safety and not the prostitutes’.

The press had an immense role in spreading the words of the murders. The press knew that this story would sell a lot of their papers and so followed the coverage of the story from murder to murder. They kept the whole story spinning so that everyone was following it and it kept everyone on their toes. They sensationalised the story to grab attention. As the murders went on the press began to create a fear of incompetence on the part of the police meaning that the public was unsure if the police was skilled enough to handle this situation as no evidence had been found and Jack the Ripper hadn’t been caught or traced. This influenced matters to an extent where the police were flooded with false leads and malicious letters which created even more confusion as the police didn’t know what to do. Rewards were also offered for any information regarding the murders or Jack the Ripper which fuelled the confusion problem even more as there were more false leads. On the other hand the press had a big hand in describing how the murders were done and told them public how ruthlessly and cunningly the murders had been carried out.

In conclusion the most important reason for the Whitechapel murders attracting so much attention would be the press coverage mainly because they were the ones to spread about the word of murder. There is a link between the press coverage and the nature of the crime. If the press hadn’t described the nature of the crime in their papers and sensationalised their stories then not a lot of people would have known about the murders. This is because London was a divided city and most of the murders took place at night and the only ones to witness the bodies were the Police and one lodge house keeper. If the papers hadn’t followed every murder and not published rewards this case would not have been given that much attention. This is probably the first known serial killer but this is only due to the press. If he wasn’t made famous by the press no one would know him.

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