Life, 1892-09-15 · page 10 of 18
Life — September 15, 1892 — page 10: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 150 **Left Column ("A Crime Against the People"):** This editorial attacks Joseph Pulitzer and the *New York World* newspaper for exposing a cholera outbreak. The text argues that while the reporters involved deserve criticism, Pulitzer—who profits from the paper—bears primary responsibility. It calls for his prosecution and demands that American newspapers maintain professional standards rather than sensationalism. **Right Side ("A Matter of Personal Taste, After All"):** A series of cartoon panels depict well-dressed gentlemen having conversations, apparently illustrating different responses to journalistic scandal. The caption suggests that reactions to the *World's* conduct are matters of subjective opinion among the elite, likely satirizing their indifference to ethical journalism. The page criticizes both sensationalist reporting and society's complacent acceptance of it.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
150 A CRIME AGAINST THE PEOPLE. HE man or set of men in the employ of the New York World, who, by taking cor- respondence from the quarantined ships exposed the whole United States to the ravages of cholera, are unfortunately beyond the reach of the law. For the reporters who were immediately con- cerned, Lire is only sorry that they are learning their journalism in such a school, and that their ambitious energies should be prostituted to such employment. They might possibly be punished under the sanitary laws, but the real criminals who instigated this shameful and terrible act can sneak behind their newspaper and avoid dis- covery. Back of it all, however, is one individual to whom alone belongs the opprobrium and into whose pockets go the profits. If Joseph Pulitzer is unwilling that his name should be held up to the execration of a whole people, he must make quick and ample amends for the acts for which he is indirectly, if not directly, responsible. If he has one particle of manhood or courage, he will show that there are depths of mercenary journalism to which not even the Wor/d will permit its employees to descend. Every self-respecting newspaper man who cares to save his profession from disgrace, and every decent newspaper which seeks to preserve its own influence, should be outspoken in its denunciation of this outrage—an outrage not only to the people of the United States, but to every newspaper man who is enterprising in the true way and honestly brave in the pursuit of his calling. Are the newspaper men of America willing to let the World set the standard of their profession ? A FREE AGENT, - LIFE: A MATTER OF PERSONAL TASTE, AFTER ALL. comicbooks.com