The Brass Check: A Study of American JournalismIn this systematic critique of the structural basis of U.S. media -- arguably the first one ever published -- Upton Sinclair writes that "American journalism is a class institution serving the rich and spurning the poor." Likening journalists to prostitutes, the title of the book refers to a chit that was issued to patrons of urban brothels of the era. Fueled by mounting disdain for newspapers run by business tycoons and conservative editors, Sinclair self-published The Brass Check in the years after The Jungle had made him a household name. Despite Sinclair's claim that this was his most important book, it was dismissed by critics and shunned by reviewers. Yet it sold over 150,000 copies and enjoyed numerous printings. A substantial introduction to this paperback edition by Robert W. McChesney and Ben Scott asserts the book's importance as a cornerstone critique of commercial journalism and a priceless resource for understanding the political turbulence of the Progressive Era. |
Contents
The Story of the Brass Check | 13 |
Open Sesame | 22 |
The Condemned Meat Industry | 32 |
An Adventure with Roosevelt | 39 |
The Last | 45 |
Aiming at the Publics Heart | 55 |
A Venture in Cooperation | 62 |
The Village HorseDoctor | 68 |
Owning the Owners | 258 |
The Owner in Politics | 263 |
Owning the Associated Press | 271 |
The Owner and His Advertisers | 282 |
The Advertising Boycott | 289 |
The Advertising Ecstasy | 295 |
The Bribe Direct | 300 |
The Bribe Wholesale | 307 |
In High Society | 74 |
The Great Panic | 80 |
XV | 86 |
Gaming on the Sabbath | 97 |
In the Lions | 110 |
Journalism and Burglary | 121 |
A Millionaire and an Author | 125 |
The Heart Wife | 130 |
The Mourning Pickets | 142 |
The Case of the A P | 150 |
A Governor and His Lie | 154 |
The Associated Press at the Bar | 165 |
The Associated Press and Its Newspapers | 169 |
The ScandalBureau | 176 |
The Concrete Wall | 184 |
Making BombMakers | 191 |
The RoofGarden of the World | 197 |
A Fountain of Poison | 202 |
The Daily CatandDog Fight | 213 |
PART II | 219 |
The Causes of Things | 221 |
The Empire of Business | 228 |
The Dregs of the Cup | 237 |
Owning the Press | 241 |
The WarMakers | 250 |
The Elbert Hubbard Worm | 314 |
The Press and Public Welfare | 318 |
The Press and the Radicals | 323 |
102 | 326 |
The Press and the Socialists | 327 |
The Press and Sex | 332 |
The Press and Crime | 337 |
The Press and Jack London | 341 |
The Press and Labor | 346 |
The Associated Press and Labor | 353 |
114 | 362 |
The Press and the War | 377 |
The Case of Russia | 385 |
Bolshevism in America | 395 |
PART III | 401 |
Cutting the Tigers Claws | 403 |
The Mental MunitionFactory | 408 |
The Problem of the Reporter | 415 |
The Press Set Free | 421 |
A FrameUp That Fell Down | 429 |
Conclusion | 436 |
Publishers Note | 438 |
| 441 | |
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Common terms and phrases
advertising American Angeles answer appeared asked Asso Associated Press Bolsheviki Brass Check Bull Moose Special called campaign capitalist CHAPTER charge Charles Edward Russell Chicago ciated Press circulation Club Collier's Weekly Colorado columns Company copy course Denver department-store dispatch fact fight give Governor happened Hearst Herald hundred interests interview investigation J. P. Morgan Jack London jail Journalism journalistic knew La Follette labor lady letter magazine managing editor matter Max Eastman miners Miss Branch morning never newspapers organization owner paid paper police political Post President Wilson printed published quote radical railroad reader refused Rockefeller Russia Senator sent social Socialist statement story strike strikers Tarrytown telegram tell thing thousand dollars tion told took Tribune truth Upton Sinclair wife woman word write wrote York young