(no subject)

[in_stead]

Dear historians who have written on the Maiden Tribute of Modern Babylon before now,

There are no wrong answers in history and other Arts disciplines, not really. We all know that.

However.

You are all very, very wrong. I'm not sure how you managed it, but you have. You should take a certain degree of pride in the fact that you have accomplished the near-impossible.

I, on the other hand, am very, very right.

Glad we could clear this up.

Yours,
d_v_8

Comments

[msilverstar]

Now I'm dying to find out what the wrong and right stories are!

[in-stead.livejournal.com]

See, the thing is, I mean, the thing is that all the historians who've written about the Maiden Tribute before did it from the perspective of the history of gender and sexuality, not from that of the history of journalism or the history of Stead. They're looking at it wrong. Actually, they don't quite know what they're looking at. It's like trying to describe someone's face after you've only seen the back of their head.

Every single one of these gender and sexuality historians write about how the Maiden Tribute was a massive innovation of journalism. This, they say, this is something new. This is something we've never seen this before. Change the world one lead article at a time? The conscious exercising of the power of the press? This, this, this is the birth of the modern press, right here. The Maiden Tribute. This is it. July 6th to 10th, 1885.

Only, the thing is, that it's not something new. It's what Stead had been doing his entire career -- going out and investigating and stirring up public opinion in order to institute social or political change. It's just that the Maiden Tribute was the most successful of his efforts. The response to the series was unbelivable. The first chapter was printed on Monday, July 6th, 1885. It sold out. By Tuesday, there was a riotous crowd gathered outside the Pall Mall Gazette offices, trying to get their hands on the first available copy of the second chapter. The PMG's printers ran all day and into the night, only stopping when they'd run out of paper, and even then they didn't come close to meeting demand. On Wednesday, there was no paper left in the city of London except for a very fine stock intended for the Globe -- and the PMG bought it and printed their next issue. The crowd was so out of hand that PMG staffers couldn't get into their office and one man actually got thrown, by the crowd, through one of the building's windows.

As a break-and-enter strategy.

It was amazing. There had been nothing like it in the history of journalism ever. So, while the sexuality and gender historians are busy wrongly arguing that Stead's methods were completely revolutionary and that he, with the Maiden Tribute, gave birth to the modern press, what they should be saying is that the public's reaction to the Maiden Tribute, which was a continuation of Stead's previous journalistic efforts, was unprecidented.

And then they should be asking themselves why that was.

Which is what I'm doing.

Which is why I'm right.

[inkink.livejournal.com]

i love it when people ask. :)

[in-stead.livejournal.com]

So. Do. I. Exclamation point. Exclamation point. One. Exclamation point.

[msilverstar]

YES!!!!

My god I adore good historical anlysis! You have the makings of a fantastic article there as well, and you write very very vividly. Keep that style and you'll be a star :-)

*butts in*

[inkink.livejournal.com]

it's her masters thesis, so it's considerably longer than an article, but it's true she writes so well. she's made me interested in things i didn't think i could care about, which i'd say is a priceless asset for a historian. :)

Re: *butts in*

[msilverstar]

Oh I know, it's just the publish-or-perish thing, journal articles are great to have on the CV.