Life — August 8, 1912 — page 9: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 1549 The main cartoon depicts an "Enterprising Local Reporter" as an aviator, with an airplane constructed from makeshift materials. The caption asks: "AS AN AVIATOR, DO YOU THINK THE AEROPLANE HAS OVER ITS START? THIS ONE HAS." This is a visual pun—the reporter's crude flying machine appears to be made partly from printing press equipment and newspaper materials, satirizing ambitious but poorly-equipped local journalists attempting to report on aviation (a cutting-edge technology of the era). The facing text discusses Andrew Lang, a prominent hack-writer and literary figure, and debates about placing a Dante monument in Central Park. The page critiques journalism's relationship to literature and public taste, using the flimsy "aeroplane" as a metaphor for inadequate professional ambition.