Crime Reporters at Work: Investigating the Underworld in Wartime Leeds, 1944-45

ABSTRACT

Crime news was a media staple throughout the twentieth century. What Britons read, heard and watched shaped public understanding of crime, prompted police inquiries and initiated legislation. While we know much about the content of crime news and something of its reception, we know little about its production. This article addresses this known unknown. Using a unique police investigation into press reports of black marketeering and corruption in wartime Leeds, it reveals the investigative methods reporters used and the rules under which they operated.