Lizzie Borden Society Forum

The most trusted accounts are the one's under oath, sworn statements, and testimonies.

Statements from the horses mouth.

Next probably comes Newspaper accounts.

Then possibly Newspaper "he said, she said."

Then historical written accounts, books, research (?) etc.

Everything else is gossip, hearsay, canards, and just trash talk.

At times Newspapers are just as irresponsible.

Below is an example of when Newsprint gets it wrong.

They didn't bother to check Lizzie's date of birth, but that is so typical, even in today's newspapers. Never let the facts get in the way of a good story!

This is exacerbated when there is an intriguing mystery attached to a person's life. I don't think many of the interviews given to the newspapers by Lizzie's friends, relatives, acquaintances or those who didn't care for her much were rigorously checked either at the time of her trial.

Jack the Ripper is another great interest of mine and sometimes the surnames of people who spoke to the press after the murders are just mangled, because the reporters couldn't even be bothered to check the spelling. Back to the office and the mistakes continued, in print. Sometimes mistakes made by early writers on famous murder cases are perpetuated for many years too, because lazy later authors can't be bothered to check the research!

This article makes some points about how electronic reading gadgets may benefit the reader in the long run, because they may be able to be updated as mistakes are found. Maybe the only way to combat errors that can't be erased due to the permanence of the printed reading matter. I'm a print fan all the way though.

http://moreintelligentlife.com/content/ ... and-kindle