“Mobocratic Feeling”: Religious Outsiders, the Popular Press, and the American West

Abstract

This article examines how the press reflected and reinforced mainstream values in its reporting on conflicts involving three religious groups, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Lakota Ghost Dancers, and the Branch Davidians. Despite the United States', especially the American West's, reputation for liberty and individualism, the press focused on characteristics of each group deemed un-American, thus contributing to hostility against them.