The Media

The media (primarily newspapers) played a huge role in the popularity of the case. In days where many cities were the target of sometimes several dailies, getting the most sellable photos and headlines, as well as making special press runs, were key to survival. And Los Angeles was a prime example of the lengths editors and publishers would go to sell the most copies.

There have been reports of the use of touched photos, sensational headlines and less-than-factual stories and comments used, all for the purpose of outselling competitors. Beth Short was murdered in the day where the more graphic (either in appearance or illusion) a photo was, the more copies sold. Today, there's a standard in journalism that only specific events warrant the publishing of corpses (it's common today for a newspaper to verify the survival of an auto accident victim in an effort not to publish the photo of a corpse as a result of such a death; commonly, displaying photos of death as a result of war and famine are considered somewhat acceptable).

Today, the media takes a different approach at the case. Nearly once a year we'll see a feature article focusing on Beth's life, the latest theory, or the investigation. Television specials are also produced, focusing on the likes, and usually including reenactments.

Today, there's no "headline" news about the case because there's been no officially released newer evidence.