Mutual Profiteering: Sensational Journalism, Society Columns, and Mrs James Brown Potter’s Theatrical Debuts

In 1887, amateur theatrical performer Cora Urquhart Brown Potter turned professional amid a maelstrom of international newspaper coverage. Newspapers picked up the story of her career, feeding a desire for salacious gossip at the expense of the elite celebrity cast as a fallen woman. Yet, Potter and the press developed a symbiotic relationship, as her non-traditional path to the stage required that she transform her personal celebrity into a professional one in order to attract audiences and bookings. The papers obliged and, as the story developed and her celebrity transformed, they shifted their coverage of Potter’s journey from society columns, to theatrical columns, to sensational front-page spreads. Potter’s early career paralleled and capitalised on such new developments in the newspaper industry and its messaging. While the press continued to sell her scandal, Potter used the papers to profit from her society past while forging her future as a theatre professional.