In the summer of 1897, Joseph Pulitzer's New York World and William Randolph Hearst's New York Journal were the big names in journalism focusing their attention to a baffling murder. As soon as the oil cloth parcel, found by children in the river, was opened to reveal a man’s torso, Manhattan police speculated it to be a prank by the nearby medical students. Soon the rumor of a prank was snuffed out and the real mystery and search for a murderer began.
Word spreads like wildfire, especially in the hands of journalists. Hearst’s Journal had been topping Pulitzer’s World for a while, but Pulitzer changed the game when he published the first ever color picture in a newspaper depicting the red oil cloth that had been wrapped around the John Doe body parts.
Just as the police investigated, reporters from both the World and Journal went places the police could not and investigated the murder for themselves. Once word of a body being found was heard by the public, everyone and anyone thought it to be their missing loved one or friend and instantly thought of a murder suspect.
The body could not be successfully identified, so both of these big-name newspapers published that any reader that could “deduce a solution” would be given a reward. Pulitzer’s World offered $500, while Hearst’s Journal doubled the offering price to $1,000. The war of journalism was in full swing.
As the police investigated and eventually found a suspect, Mrs. Augusta Nack, the newspapers instantly went to investigate the woman for themselves. Reporters wrote articles of romance and tragedy, instead of the usual articles written of murder suspects.
The Murder of the Century basically follows the Manhattan police’s investigation of the 1897 murder, while simultaneously following the investigations of the warring sides of journalism at the time. Yellow Journalism was huge during this time, and it also played roles in the investigation. Both sides, World and Journal, aided in spreading the word and helping the police get leads and suspects, eventually leading to solving the crime.