Mei Man: I drew Superman during the Great Depression

Chapter 22 Male and female thieves
I don't know, if I close the "Courier" to sell coffee, will the pattern condensed by the imprint become the appearance of coffee?
Holding the hot coffee in his hand, he came to his desk and sat down. Colin was thinking absent-mindedly.

Of course, the idea of ​​shutting down the newspaper and switching directly to selling coffee may be an exaggeration.

But changing the composition of the Courier, away from its hatred of Hoover, was now Colin's immediate problem.

Only, if this status quo is changed.

What kind of reporting direction should be chosen after the change is the focus of the next content of the "Courier".

Especially considering the particularity of [Faith], Colin was at a loss for a while.

……

clap clap-

Inside the Messenger newspaper office, rhythmic keyboard sounds continued to sound.

Typesetting workers in this era are basically manual laborers. If they want to complete the typesetting of "The Courier" before the weekly publication date, Old John does not have enough time.

It's just that Old John, who was sitting in front of the typesetting machine and working hard, would never have dreamed of it.

At this moment, what the boss Ke Lin was thinking about was to change the news development route established by the "Courier".

Through hate marketing, establish hate targets, divide audiences and other means.

The newspaper managed to improve, and the distribution and sales volume of the "Courier" increased from hundreds to thousands of copies at the lowest point to about [-] copies. Especially with the spread of songs, the circulation of the newspaper last week It almost broke through tens of thousands of copies.

It set a record for the highest circulation in the history of the "Courier".

To this day, Old John can still recall the scene where the old rotary printing press smoked.

This was a scene he had never seen since he joined the Courier.

It also represents the popularity of the Courier.

For a local tabloid like the Courier-Journal, this was no small feat, especially during this particular period of the Great Depression.

It can be predicted that once Colin brings up the idea of ​​changing the "Courier" report.

Old John will definitely be the first to jump out and object.

Even, he was the one who thought the content of the report was too merciless.

……

"...Winthrop Kellogg, an associate professor at Indiana University and a well-known zoologist, stopped a five-year animal experiment. It is reported that Winthrop had launched a reverse experiment nine months ago. It's for experiments—if the young animals are raised by humans, will their intelligence and habits be closer to humans?"

"In order to be able to complete this experiment, Winthrop personally selected a 7 and a half-month-old female orangutan in the zoo, named her "Guya", and made it and his 10-month-old son Donald Brothers and sisters, raise them yourself."

"During the whole experiment, Winthrop strictly followed the experimental specifications. From the first day "Guya" came to his house, he and his wife Lula strictly began to measure various data: the weight of the two children , blood pressure, height, etc., and test their natural reactions to the outside world..."

At the desk, Colin flipped through the old newspapers in front of him, trying to find some direction of inspiration.

However, unfortunately.

Most of the news content published in the old newspapers did not provide him with much help.

Averting his eyes from the report on the experiment of adopting chimpanzees, Colin flipped through the newspaper in his hand and continued to read.

"Bonnie and Clyde—a desperate couple never before seen!"

"...According to the information provided by the police, there are currently at least four robberies of small businesses and banks related to this pair of male and female robbers. They have repeatedly escaped from prison and are very dangerous criminals. Anyone who finds the whereabouts of the two People, don't act rashly..."

Male and female robbers - Bonnie and Clyde

Many newspapers published wanted reports about the couple.

As a case in point during the Great Depression, the story of "Bonnie and Clyde" was given an artificial meaning as it spread through the mass media.Even, in 1967, the story of the two was filmed into the movie "The Male and Female Thieves", which specifically tells the story of Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow who met and fell in love during the Great Depression, and they steal, kill, and get involved in gangs together , The process of being imprisoned several times and escaping.

However, from Colin's point of view, he understood clearly.

The so-called 'feat' of "Bonnie and Clyde" is actually the magnification effect produced by the media's over-emphasis, making them obtain a public image far beyond their own ability

Even after Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were shot and killed by the police, the death scene of the two attracted a large number of onlookers.Fanatics tried to take whatever they could from Bonnie and Clyde as souvenirs, with someone taking the corner of Bonnie's bloodstained dress and a bundle of her hair.

According to the coroner, there was chaos when he arrived and someone planned to cut off Clyde's ear.

And when their bodies were sent back to Dallas, the news of their deaths spread and caused a national sensation.

A few hours later, tens of thousands of people flocked into this small town with a population of only 2000, wanting to see the remains of a generation of male and female thieves, which nearly doubled the price of beer in local bars, usually 15 cents a bottle Beer was selling for 25 cents at this time.

Obviously, things like joining in the fun are the same at home and abroad.

Even, from a certain point of view, the performance overseas is even more fanatical and crazy.

Of course, the "Bonnie and Clyde" report is not the focus of Colin's attention.

In fact, as far as he knew, the 'career' of the male and female thieves did not last too long, and the rush of media coverage became a reminder for the two.

In 1934, just two years after the report came out, the pair of desperate mandarin ducks were arrested and shot to death.

Even after death, they could not be buried together according to their wishes, but were buried separately in two different cemeteries.

On the contrary, what he cares about is the magnification effect of the media on the whole thing.

People in the Great Depression had limited access to information.

In addition to TV broadcasts, it is paper news newspapers. Even because of the gap between the rich and the poor, the vast majority of people in the middle and lower classes most often read newspaper news reports.

It is precisely because of this that the communication power of mass media has increased unprecedentedly in this era.

In fact, people during this period, especially the homeless and unemployed.

The most common way to pass the time is to read news and books in the library.

Even if their main purpose of staying in the library is for the warm environment there that can shelter from wind and rain.

(End of this chapter)