Life, 1912-11-14 · page 17 of 44
Life — November 14, 1912 — page 17: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The top cartoon depicts a laborer narrowly escaping death from flying debris—a visual reference to industrial accidents common among workers. The caption uses working-class dialect to underscore the danger. The main article features William D. Haywood, leader of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), accusing capitalists of controlling the Associated Press to suppress labor news and distort reporting in their favor. Life challenges the AP to respond directly to this "perfectly definite charge." The article then shifts to John D. Rockefeller allegedly endorsing Taft's presidential candidacy—suggesting wealthy industrialists manipulate political messaging through controlled media channels, which validates Haywood's broader claim about press manipulation. The satirical point: major news organizations and wealthy elites collude to control public information, leaving workers and ordinary citizens deceived. This represents progressive-era skepticism about corporate influence over media.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Pat: sure, "TWAS TH’ BLISSID s A NARROW ESCAPE SINT THOT GUST 0’ WIND ALONG IN TH’ NICK O° TOIME T’ SAVE ME FROM HAVIN’ ME BRAINS BLOWED OUT Let Us Have the Truth ILLIAM D. HAYWOOD, labor leader, the man who had charge of the Lawrenceville strike, and who is at the head of the Industrial Work- ers of the World, says: “When they (the capitalists) do not own the press, they subsidize it, and through their control of the Associ- ated Press they control all the news, suppress information, enlarge, exag- gerate and distort the news to suit their interests.” This is a perfectly definite charge, made in the New York World by a man who is one of the most prominent figures in the industrial world. Why does not the Associated Press reply to it definitely? It is a charge that has often been made, but never with the directness of Mr. Haywood. Early in the present political cam- paign (according to certain gossips) Mr. John D. Rockefeller gave out an interview in which he indorsed Mr. Taft's candidacy. This interview Mr. Rockefeller, who was going away, handed over to his son with instruc- tions to have it published. Mr. Rocke- feller’s intention (so the story goes) THOSE EVER CHANGING FOUTBALL RULES. OW LET ME SEE. WHAT DO I DO comicbooks.com