Titanic In Headlines
The Titanic's own fate may have been determined by the power of the press due to the pressure for positive headlines about size and speed. What better way to learn about the disaster than through its news coverage? Scroll through to see various news stories from American and British papers.
Clicking on a New York Times article from below will send you to their website to view it closer.
By clicking on any other photos you can magnetize them for a better look.
View front page headlines from The New York Times between April 10-May 04 covering the Titanic setting sail and through to the senate inquiry. Click on a paper to go to NYT website for viewing. If you need help using our CMU student access let me know!
NYT
Click the photo left to view a special New York American edition from April 17, 1912.
Click the photo right to view even more articles about the Titanic.
Large N.Y.C. and London publications were quick to send out headlines about the sinking. The papers not only carried the news of the disaster but also some famous surviving passenger's whereabouts and names of those saved. Many families anxiously awaited the paper to bring them the news of their loved one's fates.
The British newspaper The Daily Mirror from April 20, 1912. Seen left are two women and a child awaiting news of the fate of friends and family aboard the Titanic. The photograph was taken in Southhampton, where the Titanic first set sail. The page to the right honors some heroes from the disaster, including many crew members who were from Southhampton.
Fake News
False headlines were reported by The Evening Sun (the evening edition of Baltimore The Sun). On Monday, April 15, 1912. At 5:40 a.m. (Olympic's time) a Leyland line ship (same line as the famous Californian ship that did not come to the aid of Titanic) named the Asian sent a message to Olympic that she was towing a disabled oil tanker to Halifax. Simultaneously Olympic received an inquiry from another station inquiring, "Are all passengers safe?". Amateur eavesdroppers misinterpreted the exchange to mean that Titanic was in tow to Halifax with a ll passengers safe. The false information as printed by several newspapers and raised hopes that disaster had been averted.
