How Jack the Ripper invented the tabloid press (and vice versa)
The Whitechapel Murders of 1888 gave rise to the gripping story of ‘Jack the Ripper’. How did this help to create the tabloid press as we know it today?
Image: An 1888 illustration from the 'Illustrated London News' titled 'A Suspicious Character' | Public Domain
Today, simply mentioning tabloid newspapers can instantly bring to mind the sensationalist, misleading, and inaccurate stories they are prone to generating. So, when did the press become obsessed with entertaining — rather than merely informing — audiences about the latest happenings?
The answer can be traced back to 1888 when a spate of mysterious murders struck in the run-down London district of Whitechapel. Yes, this is a reference to Jack the Ripper, whose brutality sparked widespread panic further stoked by journalists for less-than-ethical reasons, as Sky HISTORY explains…
‘Tabloids’ vs ‘broadsheets’
Thanks to the pop-culture juggernaut that is the Netflix period drama Bridgerton, many of us are familiar with the concept of Georgian-era ‘scandal sheets’. These would be distributed to spread gossip about scandalous goings-on of fashionable society — or ‘the ton’.
Scandal sheets are now deemed precursors of ‘the tabloids’. The latter are often compared unflatteringly to ‘broadsheet’ newspapers classed as more ‘highbrow’ and intellectual — and, by extension, less concerned with disseminating lurid, frivolous stories.
How did the Ripper narrative take hold?
In an age well before security cameras and DNA testing, it was theoretically easier for criminals to escape justice. Indeed, it is tricky to discern exactly when Jack the Ripper’s killing spree even began — or even who the Ripper actually was.
A suspicious spike in the rate of attacks against East End women was kicked off with the murder of Emma Smith on 3rd April 1988. However, five particular murders that year are generally thought to have been committed by a single culprit.
Mary Ann Nichols was found dead and mutilated in the early hours of 31st August 1888. A distasteful drawing of her corpse appeared on the front cover of The Illustrated Police News the following day.
A week later, the dead body of another woman — Annie Chapman — was discovered on Hanbury Street. She had apparently been assaulted in a similar way to Nichols — with, in both instances, the throat cut twice and the abdomen torn open. This led to speculation that the two murders were linked.
The Pall Mall Gazette ran with the story of 'another murder' before raising the frightening prospect that there might be 'more to come'. The message was clear: a serial killer was on the loose, and there was no telling where they would strike next. Still, it wasn’t a type of narrative entirely unfamiliar to the Victorian literate.
The influence of the 'penny dreadfuls'
By the late 19th century, crime fiction had already cemented its popularity among the British masses. This trend was largely fuelled by low-price literary works like the 'penny dreadfuls' and 'shilling shockers'.
Journalists were apparently taking their cue from these in the wake of the Whitechapel murders — and for good reason. Media moguls had spent big on rotary presses capable of printing more than 10,000 papers in an hour.
However, proprietors faced with tight financial margins were under pressure to hit high sales targets. What better way to make these papers stand out than employ tropes of crime fiction to spin gripping stories about the Ripper?
Where did the ‘Jack the Ripper’ name come from?
On 27th September 1888, the London-based Central News Agency received what has become known to history as the 'Dear Boss' letter. Purportedly from the killer himself, it was signed 'Jack the Ripper'.
This name soon garnered worldwide notoriety, with the Central News Agency telegraphing Ripper news to the other side of the Atlantic.
After two other murders (of Elizabeth Stride and Catherine Eddowes) on 30th September showed hallmarks of the Ripper’s style, the 'Saucy Jacky' postcard turned up. This, too, was sent to the Central News Agency by 'Jack the Ripper'.
These messages are now often considered to be hoaxes. Journalists Fred Best and Tom Bullen have been linked with writing 'Jack the Ripper' letters while working for newspaper The Star. These may have been attempts — made at the behest of The Star’s editor T. P. O’Connor — to heighten the paper’s sales.
Disinformation: Not just a modern problem
Mary Jane Kelly, killed on 9th November 1888, was the last of the five canonical Ripper victims. Afterwards, Jack seemingly vanished.
Was he caught for committing another crime? Alternatively, did he simply flee the country? The truth might never be known, but journalists invented stories in the hope of keeping their profits flowing.
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