Re-visiting Whitechapel, East London

Abstract

The purpose of this historical research is to analyse how the press reportage on Jack the Ripper was carried out at the end of the nineteenth century. Furthermore, it seeks to understand the relationship developed between the press and the police and to analyse the way in which the press portrayed the unidentified killer. Archival research was used to gather data, as the main resources for this study were newspaper articles issued between August 1888 and November 1888. This investigation is divided into three themes; Journalism and Sensationalism, Fear of Crime and Moral Panics and The Relationship between Journalism and Policing. This study results into the division of the East End, the Metropolitan Police being frequently scrutinised by the media and the sensationalism that the media used to create, which resulted into fear and panic within the Whitechapel district. But surely, the end result of this research will show that although the case occurred more than a century ago, the legend is still with us today, a case that would probably live on forever without an answer.