Shocking Atrocities in Colorado: Newspapers' Responses to the Ludlow Massacre

Abstract

This article examines twelve newspapers' coverage of the Colorado mine strike and Ludlow Massacre of April 1914. Rather than following the usual pattern of focusing solely on the conflict between the strikers and the mine operators, many newspapers developed two unique themes. One of these used the rhetorical argument of a paradoxical appeal to common belief by comparing the situation in Colorado to the ongoing revolution in Mexico. A second theme condemned the slaughter of the strikers and their families by the state militia and camp guards.