Jerry Springer may have perfected the art of chasing ratings, but his predecessors laid the groundwork
- Written by Donna L. Halper, Associate Professor of Communication, Lesley University
Jerry Springer was the ringmaster of a trashy but very successful circus. Hulton Archive/Getty ImagesIn a widely quoted New York Times column, the paper of record called his TV program “an electronic peepshow.” The Times’ media critic, Jack Gould, accused him of “making a commercial virtue of cheap sensationalism” and...