Press Agentry

As P.T. Barnum epitomized 19th century press agentry with exaggerated claims such as those about Tom Thumb and Jenny Lind, press agentry still exists today. For example, the Gibb twins, Mary and Margaret were joined at the hip since birth. Press agent Terry Turner subtly slipped information to newspapers that one was in love and this inspired the cause of their separation. This caught the attention of the media and its exploitation caused the two to change their minds and stay joined. Terry Turner hyped up the story so much, that the twins could not handle the pressures and called the operation off. Many other examples such as this continue of press agentry.