Judge, 1924-10-25 · page 15 of 36
Judge — October 25, 1924 — page 15: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The top cartoon satirizes sensationalist journalism by reimagining the Biblical story of Jonah as a modern newspaper scandal. It depicts journalists (labeled "Daily" and "Journalism") as bat-winged devils stirring up chaos among ordinary people wading through murky water, illustrating how the press sensationalizes and distorts reality. Below, "The Jericho Journal" parodies yellow journalism further by presenting absurd headlines about a "missing Jonah" — treating the biblical account as contemporary news. The mock newspaper features increasingly ridiculous investigative angles: kidnapping by whale, elopement theories, and conflicting police reports. The satire mocks both sensationalist reporting (which manufactures drama from thin evidence) and the gullibility of readers who accept these fabrications. By transplanting ancient scripture into modern tabloid-style coverage complete with "special dispatches" and competing theories, Judge ridicules how the press distorts facts for entertainment value.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The Jericho Journal (Ay it might have been) Friends Fail in Effort to Find Trace of Missing Jonah Police Commissioner Doubts Story That Man Sought Was Kidnaped by Whale SEEK MYSTERY WOMAN Private Detectives Work on Theory That Jonah Fled With Stenographer Neven (Special Dispatch)— Bringing a weird story of a minister whose presence had almost brought disaster upon the ship, the sailing vessel Ninerchnia docked to- day for repairs. “The Power of the Press.” Funnybones / fall down Wire—Pre just heard that’ dear Miss Smith ix up again. Broker (preoceupied)—H um ph— How much? For days, the captain. said, the Ninerehnia was at the merey of a terrific gale that sprang up in the face of fair weather predictions. The storm did not abate, the eap- fain reported, until the crew tossed overboard the Reverend Jonah, a stowaway, who had crept aboard the ship at her home port Early to-night a private detective ageney was working on the theory that the Reverend Jonah had eloped with a former member of his choir, and that the stowaway was only a slightly resembl This tl by friends, who the minister, ¥. however, was discounted id the minister never had shown any: personal inter est in his choir nor was he known to have any women acquaintances outside his congregation. Police inspectors doubted another story that he had been swallowed by a whale, which had been following the ship, when he was thrown over- hoard. A rumor early this morning that aman had been east up by a about three miles from. this pork could not be confirmed. Chet Johnson