ipl-logo

Williams Randolph Hearst: A Very Brief History Of Yellow Journalism

1369 Words6 Pages

News channels serve the purpose of bringing people the information they want to know. From local news to world news each serve the same purpose. Many people have watching the news as part of their routine and expect to gain trustworthy information from it. As it turns out however, the media may not always be the place to get trustworthy information. The media may change the facts and stories to gain viewers and peek interests. This isn’t an occurrence that just started happening recently. The name given for this is yellow journalism which is, “Journalism that exploits, distorts or exaggerates the news to create sensations and attract readers” (“Yellow” 1). This all started in the late 1800’s. Joseph Pulitzer as well as Williams Randolph Hearst were major contributing factors to the whole yellow journalism process. Pulitzer purchased the “New York World” newspaper and shortly after Hearst bought the “New York Journal” (“Comm455/History” 1).
These two were battling for the top spot for sales and in doing so a circulation battle soon occurred. Trying to outdo each other they embellished some of their stories. Sometimes they would even make up stories all together. It wasn’t just one or the other doing this. Both of the top selling newspapers at the time were completely making …show more content…

Tensions were already high between the United States and Spain but the explosion of the U.S.S. Maine in Cuba’s Havana harbor was the final straw. Journalist were quick to blame Spain for this incident even though there was little evidence pointing toward them as the culprit (2). All of this pushed the United States into war with Spain for Cuba and the Philippines (“Milestones” 1). This was the start of yellow journalism and it still continues to this day but it isn’t exactly in all the same

Show More
Related

  • Clara Barton's Attack On The Maine

    1523 Words  | 7 Pages

    The Spanish had no reason for trying to kill Clara Barton other than her meddling around in Cuba. Therefore, it is concluded that the destruction of the Maine was more than likely not caused by Clara Barton appearing upon the ship. After the government investigated the Maine, the next people to grab the story were the massive media juggernauts, Pulitzer and Hearst. These giants of the media world were hard at work using a system of writing called, yellow journalism.

    Read More

  • How Did The Spanish American War Propaganda

    513 Words  | 3 Pages

    Much of the stories that were being published were lies and fabrications. In 1895 a young 32 year old by the name of William Randolph set in motion the propaganda trail. He purchased the New York Morning Journal. Hearst would capitalize on the american people, and sensationalize the very nature of the cuban conflict. Hearst

    Read More

  • Parenting Skills 5.07

    76 Words  | 1 Pages

    1. Has something bad ever happened to you in life and someone else told your story? Did they miss any important details or change a few facts to make it seem more interesting? When the media gets a hold of a topic that could potentially be a big deal to our nation they jump into action and conclusions. Most often they are quick to make conclusions to make their story seem more complete than competing stations.

    Read More

  • How Did The Watergate Scandal Of 1972

    1708 Words  | 7 Pages

    The myth of Watergate paints a picture of two young Washington Post reporters, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, almost single-handedly bringing down the president of the United States through their investigative reporting. This undoubtedly supports the argument that the press were not liable for the hostility, considering they played no role in uncovering the Watergate Scandal as the myth suggests, and actually initially dismissed the story when rumours started to emerge. It was in fact the collective efforts of prosecutors, federal judges, both houses of Congress, the Supreme Court, as well as the Justice Department and the FBI who were the real figures involved in bringing Nixon's presidency to an end, the press were simply doing their job and exercising their right to free press. The myth also suggests that the Post not only uncovered the story, despite the fact that details had come from investigators, but also uncovered additional details which deepened the scandal. If this were true, then the accusation that the press were responsible for tensions with Nixon would be fair, however, again this was fiction.

    Read More

  • William Randolph Hearst Failures

    1518 Words  | 7 Pages

    Hearst was competing with Joseph Pulitzer in New York, and Hearst had to sell more papers in order to make money. Hearst and Pulitzer were in a vicious competition to sell more and more newspapers. In the late 19th century, there were high tensions between America and Spain. Cuba revolted against Spain for independence, and Spain brutally crushed the revolt. Hearst knew that the American people bought his papers when they were on something interesting.

    Read More

  • William Hearst Research Paper

    500 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hearst wrote his paper with a sensationalist style of writing, big bolded headlines to catch the reader’s attention, exaggerated stories, etc. and with the help of that his paper flourished. (https://www.biography.com/people/william-randolph-hearst-9332973) Hearst was getting so popular, he was expanding so much that his once idol, Joseph Pulitzer, was now his rival. This competition was fierce, he bought one of Pulitzers former papers and later started to publish the Evening Journal. With the same style as his Examiner, Hearst continued to use sensationalism and exaggeration in his new publications.

    Read More

  • How Did Yellow Journalism Affect The Cubans

    343 Words  | 2 Pages

    With the inclusion of both Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst, yellow journalists, together they influenced the public to feel the pain of the Cubans and immensely propelled the desire to finally go to war. The effects are numerous with yellow journalism, for example, Americans learned more about the Spanish American War through dramatized articles like “FEEDING PRISONERS TO THE SHARKS” and “blood on the roadsides, blood in the fields, blood on the doorsteps, blood, blood, blood” which exposed the violent tensions in Cuba. On top of this, Americans felt genuine emotion for the Cubans, they felt like we as a country should help them gain their independence from Spain. Also, American citizens were also infuriated that those currently

    Read More

  • Wildfires In The Pacific Northwest

    292 Words  | 2 Pages

    For example, the Soda fire on the Idaho and Oregon border burned over 280,000 acres. The news reported that it was spreading quickly and nearing Nyssa, Oregon. While the fire was spreading fast, it was not close to Nyssa at all. This half-truth caused panic among those citizens and boosted ratings for that news station. Even though

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Essay On American Imperialism

    392 Words  | 2 Pages

    the United States used propaganda targeting humanitarian concerns to incite the public to declare war. As Americans were interested in the Cuban Revolution, sensational journalism only raised tensions between the United States and the Spanish monarchy, which would help cause the war. While General Weyler

    Read More

  • The Movie Newsies Movie Analysis

    1298 Words  | 6 Pages

    In regards to the truth, publishers did not care as long as they were making money, and their papers were selling. For the Newsies, it did not matter either, as when the headlines were more intriguing, they sold more papers as well. This is demonstrated

    Read More

  • Comparing Hearst And Yellow Journalism

    219 Words  | 1 Pages

    This is where the term “yellow journalism” originated, but soon after the Spanish American war started, it gained a totally different meaning. Hearst realized that he could use

    Read More

  • Essay On Media Bias

    1296 Words  | 6 Pages

    The media will pick and choose which topics to discuss according to the viewer’s ratings. The news media represent the news in a manner that will leave people coming back for more. They choose carefully what they want to report and by doing so they do not spread lies within the articles but what they choose not to tell the audience. The media shares what the people

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On Media Bias

    1019 Words  | 5 Pages

    Media bias is a real problem. When people are not aware of the facts alone, rather interpretation of facts, they are being manipulated. Media should report facts concisely and promptly with as much accurate information as possible. When networks allow to dictate how they report news, there is a much greater chance to be biased. When networks accept monetary incentives to report in a specific manner, there is a much greater chance to be biased.

    Read More

  • Penny Press Impact

    490 Words  | 2 Pages

    Articles were mainly pointed at wealthy businessmen. There weren’t articles that could be read by most people, and be understood. They were written in a way that if you didn’t know business, you would be lost. Articles were a major part of newspapers before, and still to this day. But how they are laid out has changed.

    Read More

  • Yellow Journalism And The Revolutionary War

    493 Words  | 2 Pages

    Yellow journalism is a type of journalism that contained exaggerated stories paired with eye-catching photos, drawing many readers. Historians throughout the years believe this is the cause for the Spanish-American War; however this is deceitful. Although many articles were intentionally made to anger Americans, thus causing war, the yellow press had no effect on the decision to declare war against Spain. The real cause is the sinking of the Battleship Maine.

    Read More

More about Williams Randolph Hearst: A Very Brief History Of Yellow Journalism

Open Document