Sensational
Books | Biography & Autobiography / Editors, Journalists, Publishers
3.8
Kim Todd
"A gripping, flawlessly researched, and overdue portrait of America’s trailblazing female journalists. Kim Todd has restored these long-forgotten mavericks to their rightful place in American history."—Abbott Kahler, author (as Karen Abbott) of The Ghosts of Eden Park and Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy A vivid social history that brings to light the “girl stunt reporters” of the Gilded Age who went undercover to expose corruption and abuse in America, and redefined what it meant to be a woman and a journalist—pioneers whose influence continues to be felt today.In the waning years of the nineteenth century, women journalists across the United States risked reputation and their own safety to expose the hazardous conditions under which many Americans lived and worked. In various disguises, they stole into sewing factories to report on child labor, fainted in the streets to test public hospital treatment, posed as lobbyists to reveal corrupt politicians. Inventive writers whose in-depth narratives made headlines for weeks at a stretch, these “girl stunt reporters” changed laws, helped launch a labor movement, championed women’s rights, and redefined journalism for the modern age.The 1880s and 1890s witnessed a revolution in journalism as publisher titans like Hearst and Pulitzer used weapons of innovation and scandal to battle it out for market share. As they sought new ways to draw readers in, they found their answer in young women flooding into cities to seek their fortunes. When Nellie Bly went undercover into Blackwell’s Insane Asylum for Women and emerged with a scathing indictment of what she found there, the resulting sensation created opportunity for a whole new wave of writers. In a time of few jobs and few rights for women, here was a path to lives of excitement and meaning.After only a decade of headlines and fame, though, these trailblazers faced a vicious public backlash. Accused of practicing “yellow journalism,” their popularity waned until “stunt reporter” became a badge of shame. But their influence on the field of journalism would arc across a century, from the Progressive Era “muckraking” of the 1900s to the personal “New Journalism” of the 1960s and ’70s, to the “immersion journalism” and “creative nonfiction” of today. Bold and unconventional, these writers changed how people would tell stories forever.
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Author
Kim Todd
Pages
392
Publisher
HarperCollins
Published Date
2021-04-13
ISBN
006284363X 9780062843630
Community ReviewsSee all
"May read "
Erika Lynne
"Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge -Tor Teen for letting me read and review this book. I enjoyed it and could follow along easily with the same characters and such from having read the first book, Spectacle, which if you haven't read that one - you should go get it and read it now to get ready for this one!<br/>This was another engrossing, fun and delightful read by Jodi Lynn Zdrok - I enjoyed the first book and this one was awesome too.<br/>In this sequel to Spectacle, Nathalie is still using her powers as an Insightful to help out at the morgue with murder investigations while also trying to figure things out in regards to her Aunt and her Aunt's powers in relation to her powers. She is, in general, trying to investigate and understand what it means to be an Insightful and to be herself and what she wants out of life as well. <br/>In this story, there's another crazy murderer who this time is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Guillotine and writing a play to go with their murders and victims while beheading them and leaving them around in the Exposition Universelle in Paris to be found. Nathalie tries to help find this murderer using her powers while helping out at the morgue with the cases, but this time around it seems to catch her and others off guard as well as myself as the reader. I had no clue who the murderer was until the end and I was also a bit more invested in the other parts of the story like the events with Nathalie's Aunt and her coming to terms with her grief over her friend, Agnes.<br/>Another major part of the story that I was invested in was that in this book, Nathalie has a beau, Jules, and what happens with him and their relationship as well as what happens with Christophe, which if you've read the first book, you'll know more about the relationship issues, etc. between Christophe and Nathalie. I finally got the ending I was hoping for with her and her romantic relationships with this book.<br/>Once I got to the end and everything was resolving itself and I realized this was the end, I was a bit upset because I have enjoyed reading about Nathalie, Christophe, Simone, Louis, Jules, all the characters and about Insightfuls and their powers. I wish there was going to be more stories with these great characters and would love to know more about them and their futures as well as more info on Insightfuls and their powers.<br/>If you've read Spectacle, then you need to read this sequel, if you haven't read Spectacle, go read it so you are ready for this Sensational book when it comes out!"
Annette W