After reading Chapter 4 in Rodger Streitmatter's Mightier Than The Sword: How The News Media Has Shaped American History titled "Attacking Municipal Corruption, this is what I gathered:
From the 1860's all the way up to the early 1870's, William Marcy Tweed ran a well oiled machine. Backed by Tammany Hall, a political organization at that time, he gained power through manipulation, election fraud, extortion, and the list goes on. Holding multiple positions simultaneously, including a New York State Senate seat, construction supervisor for the New York County Court House, and the highest official of Tammany Hall, Tweed and his pals (who also held high positions within the city's political system) made their money from city contracts, creating a monopoly in the city and buying out anyone who tried to compete.
His reign and dominance was no secret to those involved in businesses and/or politics. It wasn't that those people didn't know about his corruption, but rather they didn't have the fire power (money, political pull, etc) to bring him down. It also helped that he had ironclad control over the media. It's kind of hard to expose somebody when they are keeping you employed and cutting your checks. Because of this, he was able to stay clear of any bad publicity, thus keeping the general public in the dark about everything that was going on around them. Arrogantly pushing his agendas through the city, he dared anyone to get in his way, issuing a challenge to any takers; "Well, what are you going to do about it?" Luckily for the city, and for journalism in general, one man accepted this challenge.
Thomas Nast, a German immigrant with a passion for drawing (and exposing truths, as we would soon find out) landed himself a job at Harper's Weekly in 1862. A large publication at the time, due to its ability to speak to the common man. The newspaper was for everyday people, not just elitists. That in itself played a key role in bringing down the Tweed powerhouse. The more people you have on your side, the better.
Nast, who had already gained notoriety from his coverage of the Civil War, began his assault on Tweed in 1869. Nast used vivid imagery to get his point across and open the eyes of the public. Images like portraying Tammany Hall as a vicious tiger, devouring the laws and ballots of the city, and his cartoon titled "The Brains" which depicted Tweed as a greedy fat man with a bag of money for a head, Nast didn't mince his words or shy away from his opinions. He went at Tweed and his circle of friends and he went at them hard, and consistently, waking up a sleeping giant inside of the hearts of New Yorkers, and bringing to light the corruption of Tammany Hall.
It wasn't long before other publications and politicians got behind Harper's Weekly and Nast, and helped drive the public to the polls to rid themselves of this toxic reign. In 1871, Tweed was found guilty of fraud-related charges and actually did jail time. He bribed his way out of jail and made his way to Spain, which, in complete irony, was caught by officials because of a drawing Nast did of Tweed grabbing hold of a child, which Spanish law enforcement perceived as a wanted poster for a kidnapper. This just goes to show that sometimes imagery is more powerful than actual words. Images cross boundaries that language sometimes can't, and because of that, Tweed was brought down and his days of corrupting the public and the media were over.
No comments:
Post a Comment