Broad sheets about executions served as entertainment in 18th century Britain. As executions became more for fun than for religion, it became difficult to determine whether people's behaviors changed because of what they were reading in broad sheets or because of societal shifts.
The influence of historical broadsheets on public perception is difficult to determine as it is unclear how much the people were changing due to the publications or if the publications were just following societal trends. However, the broadsheets' coverage of executions added a level of realism that appealed to audiences.
Friedland explains how the broadsheets of the 1840s catered to the salacious and pulp-like interests of the new penal voyeurs who were gathering in windows overlooking scaffoldings during executions. These voyeurs processed the execution scenes almost as if they were watching one of Pierre Cornell's tragic characters, highlighting their interest in the intimate moments of life and death.