Synopses & Reviews
During the first half of the nineteenth century, the penny presses of the industrial East treated brothels as a mundane, if annoying, aspect of city life. But later in the century, reformers and mainstream papers began to push back against this representation through highly public campaigns against andldquo;white slavery.andrdquo; These newspaper crusades mixed a potent cocktail of lurid sexual detail and sensationalist scandal aimed equally at promoting anti-vice measures, arousing popular demand for progressive reform, and increasing newspaper circulation.
In Sex Trafficking, Scandal, and the Transformation of Journalism, Gretchen Soderlund offers a new way to understand sensationalism in both newspapers and reform movements. By tracing the history of high-profile print exposandeacute;s on sex trafficking by journalists like William T. Stead and George Kibbe Turner, Soderlund demonstrates how controversies over gender, race, and sexuality were central to the shift from sensationalism to objectivityandmdash;and crucial to the development of journalism in the early twentieth century.
Review
andquot;This is a beautifully written, skillfully narrated take on the transformations that took place in American journalism during the Progressive Era. Highly creative and meticulously researched, there's no book quite like it.andquot;
Review
andquot;Sex Trafficking is model media research. Soderlund unearths the origins of 'sensationalism'andmdash;stimulating the sensesandmdash;which aimed to build a new public aroused to progressive reform. But the use of scandal backfired, laying a shaky foundation for news media that has led to the crisis of journalism today. Soderlund's book is essential reading for anyone concerned with the fate of citizenship and democracy in the digital era.andquot;
Review
andldquo;By considering the role that media scandals around sex trafficking played at a critical juncture in journalism history, this book offers new insights into the evolution of a wide range of media practices. Rigorous, eloquent, and original, Sex Trafficking, Scandal, and the Transformation of Journalism is going to change how we think about journalism history and the role that womenandmdash;as both objects and subjectsandmdash;played in the making of it.andrdquo;
Review
"A compelling account of how the press shaped public understanding of prostitution at a turbulent time in the nationand#8217;s history and how, in turn, the resulting scandal shaped the press."
Synopsis
During the early twentieth century, individuals and organizations from across the political spectrum launched a sustained effort to eradicate forced prostitution, commonly known as "white slavery." White Slave Crusades is the first comparative study to focus on how these anti-vice campaigns also resulted in the creation of a racial hierarchy in the United States.
Focusing on the intersection of race, gender, and sex in the antiprostitution campaigns, Brian Donovan analyzes the reactions of native-born whites to new immigrant groups in Chicago, to African Americans in New York City, and to Chinese immigrants in San Francisco. Donovan shows how reformers employed white slavery narratives of sexual danger to clarify the boundaries of racial categories, allowing native-born whites to speak of a collective "us" as opposed to a "them." These stories about forced prostitution provided an emotionally powerful justification for segregation, as well as other forms of racial and sexual boundary maintenance in urban America.
"
Synopsis
Forced prostitution, moralism, and the narratives of prejudice
During the early twentieth century, individuals and organizations from across the political spectrum launched a sustained effort to eradicate forced prostitution, commonly known as "white slavery." White Slave Crusades is the first comparative study to focus on how these anti-vice campaigns also resulted in the creation of a racial hierarchy in the United States.
Focusing on the intersection of race, gender, and sex in the antiprostitution campaigns, Brian Donovan analyzes the reactions of native-born whites to new immigrant groups in Chicago, to African Americans in New York City, and to Chinese immigrants in San Francisco. Donovan shows how reformers employed white slavery narratives of sexual danger to clarify the boundaries of racial categories, allowing native-born whites to speak of a collective "us" as opposed to a "them." These stories about forced prostitution provided an emotionally powerful justification for segregation, as well as other forms of racial and sexual boundary maintenance in urban America.
About the Author
"This interesting book deserves wide readership."--Journal of Social History
"Interesting and provocative. The study covers an important topic in social and political history."--Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare
"This close textual analysis offers an insightful look at rhetorical strategies underlying the formation and adaptation of racial and gender ideologies at the turn of the last century."--Choice
Table of Contents
Preface
1.and#160;White Slavery and Journalismand#8217;s Shifting Axis of Truth
2.and#160;William T. Stead and the and#8220;Souland#8221; of Sensationalism
3. and#160;The Journalism of Reform and the Reform of Journalism
4.and#160;George Kibbe Turner, Muckraking, and the Brief Reign of Piteous Facts
5.and#160;Authorizing Skepticism: The New York Times and the Demise of Muckraking
6.and#160;From Sensation to Secrecy: The Rockefeller Grand Jury and Its Aftermath
Conclusion
Notes
Index