Yellow Journalism Essay, Research Paper

The phrase yellow journalism is said to have been coined in the late nineteenth century (about 1867) to describe Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst’s newspapers. Some say it came from controversies surrounding bitter struggles over Richard Felton Outcault’s Yellow Kid. Accounts of the derivation are widespread in various dictionaries, histories, and chronicles of journalism. It also has a connection with the Spanish-American war of 1898. Yellow journalism developed as a direct result of the controversies between Pulitzer’s New York World and Hearst’s New York Journal over Outcault’s Yellow Kid. This phrase was taken to characterize New York’s sensational papers, but it was not the phrase of choice nor was it differentiated from several other expressions in use at that time. When the newspaper world found out about the United States going to war with Spain, many newspapers published cartoons that commented and criticized Spain and the hysteria. Circulation is an apt term for the newspaper industry, for to threaten a paper’s circulation is indeed to threaten its lifeblood. During the 1890s, one of the most protracted wars in journalism occurred in New York between Joseph Pulitzer’s World and William Randolph Hearst’s Journal. In many ways, the battle was as much about blood as it was bloody, for the outcome of this conflict was yellow journalism. The first salvo in the war was launched when Hearst’s Journal appeared on November 7, 1895. Hearst, born in 1863, was the son of silver miner who had made his fortune on the Comstock Lode. He entered Harvard when he was 19 where he largely neglected his studies until he was expelled in 1885 for a practical joke played on the faculty. Still, he had developed an interest for print media at Harvard, where he was business manager of the Harvard Lampoon. After his expulsion, Hearst successfully lobbied his father to allow him manage the San Francisco Examiner, a paper owned by the elder Hearst for political reasons, which Hearst turned into a success, ironically enough, by modeling the paper after the New York World. The reason for the New York World’s success was a close understanding of the desires of its audience by its owner Joseph Pulitzer. Pulitzer was an immigrant, born in Hungary in 1847, who came to America in 1864 when he was 17 as a recruit for the Union Army during the Civil War. Upon his discharge in 1865, he found himself unemployed in St. Louis. After a series of career misfires, Pulitzer eventually discovered his calling in reporting and the newspaper business. Through a number of clever business maneuvers and newspaper ownership’s, Pulitzer eventually bought the St. Louis Dispatch in 1878 for its Associated Press membership. Three days later he merged it with another paper, the Post. By 1880 Pulitzer had made the Post-Dispatch the most successful newspaper in St. Louis. Pulitzer had realized early on that the Civil War had created a desire among the people for news of all kind, which he sated by coverage of economic, political, and social trends. While on a vacation for health reasons in 1883, Pulitzer bought the financially troubled New York World. The World quickly became one of New York’s most popular papers because Pulitzer sought to capture two sets of readers: those interested in significant news events and those desiring sensational or human-interest stories. The new expanded size of the paper allowed for more features and stunts, such as Nellie Bly’s trip around the world, more advertising, and color comics.When the Journal began competing with the World, the sensationalism was magnified. Preachers, librarians, social clubs, and critics began to decry the lurid angle that all stories took. An interview of French actress Anna Held by reporter Alan Dale for the Journal, for example, ran under the headline “Mlle. Anna Held Receives Alan Dale, Attired in a Nightie” accompanied by sketches of the actress in a night gown. The battle between the two papers was a protracted one, fought through paper content, price slashing, and staff raiding. Ultimately, these papers would contribute to the start of the Spanish-American War. Yet, in that chaotic atmosphere of manic reporting, such current fixtures as the comics and the crusading reporter were born.The phrase yellow journalism is said to have been coined in the late nineteenth century (about 1867) to describe Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst’s newspapers. Some say it came from controversies surrounding bitter struggles over Richard Felton Outcault’s Yellow Kid. Accounts of the derivation are widespread in various dictionaries, histories, and chronicles of journalism. It also has a connection with the Spanish-American war of 1898. Yellow journalism developed as a direct result of the controversies between Pulitzer’s New York World and Hearst’s New York Journal over Outcault’s Yellow Kid. This phrase was taken to characterize New York’s sensational papers, but it was not the phrase of choice nor was it differentiated from several other expressions in use at that time. When the newspaper world found out about the United States going to war with Spain, many newspapers published cartoons that commented and criticized Spain and the hysteria. Circulation is an apt term for the newspaper industry, for to threaten a paper’s circulation is indeed to threaten its lifeblood. During the 1890s, one of the most protracted wars in journalism occurred in New York between Joseph Pulitzer’s World and William Randolph Hearst’s Journal. In many ways, the battle was as much about blood as it was bloody, for the outcome of this conflict was yellow journalism. The first salvo in the war was launched when Hearst’s Journal appeared on November 7, 1895. Hearst, born in 1863, was the son of silver miner who had made his fortune on the Comstock Lode. He entered Harvard when he was 19 where he largely neglected his studies until he was expelled in 1885 for a practical joke played on the faculty. Still, he had developed an interest for print media at Harvard, where he was business manager of the Harvard Lampoon. After his expulsion, Hearst successfully lobbied his father to allow him manage the San Francisco Examiner, a paper owned by the elder Hearst for political reasons, which Hearst turned into a success, ironically enough, by modeling the paper after the New York World.

The reason for the New York World’s success was a close understanding of the desires of its audience by its owner Joseph Pulitzer. Pulitzer was an immigrant, born in Hungary in 1847, who came to America in 1864 when he was 17 as a recruit for the Union Army during the Civil War. Upon his discharge in 1865, he found himself unemployed in St. Louis. After a series of career misfires, Pulitzer eventually discovered his calling in reporting and the newspaper business. Through a number of clever business maneuvers and newspaper ownership’s, Pulitzer eventually bought the St. Louis Dispatch in 1878 for its Associated Press membership. Three days later he merged it with another paper, the Post. By 1880 Pulitzer had made the Post-Dispatch the most successful newspaper in St. Louis. Pulitzer had realized early on that the Civil War had created a desire among the people for news of all kind, which he sated by coverage of economic, political, and social trends. While on a vacation for health reasons in 1883, Pulitzer bought the financially troubled New York World. The World quickly became one of New York’s most popular papers because Pulitzer sought to capture two sets of readers: those interested in significant news events and those desiring sensational or human-interest stories. The new expanded size of the paper allowed for more features and stunts, such as Nellie Bly’s trip around the world, more advertising, and color comics.When the Journal began competing with the World, the sensationalism was magnified. Preachers, librarians, social clubs, and critics began to decry the lurid angle that all stories took. An interview of French actress Anna Held by reporter Alan Dale for the Journal, for example, ran under the headline “Mlle. Anna Held Receives Alan Dale, Attired in a Nightie” accompanied by sketches of the actress in a night gown. The battle between the two papers was a protracted one, fought through paper content, price slashing, and staff raiding. Ultimately, these papers would contribute to the start of the Spanish-American War. Yet, in that chaotic atmosphere of manic reporting, such current fixtures as the comics and the crusading reporter were born.The phrase yellow journalism is said to have been coined in the late nineteenth century (about 1867) to describe Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst’s newspapers. Some say it came from controversies surrounding bitter struggles over Richard Felton Outcault’s Yellow Kid. Accounts of the derivation are widespread in various dictionaries, histories, and chronicles of journalism. It also has a connection with the Spanish-American war of 1898. Yellow journalism developed as a direct result of the controversies between Pulitzer’s New York World and Hearst’s New York Journal over Outcault’s Yellow Kid. This phrase was taken to characterize New York’s sensational papers, but it was not the phrase of choice nor was it differentiated from several other expressions in use at that time. When the newspaper world found out about the United States going to war with Spain, many newspapers published cartoons that commented and criticized Spain and the hysteria. Circulation is an apt term for the newspaper industry, for to threaten a paper’s circulation is indeed to threaten its lifeblood. During the 1890s, one of the most protracted wars in journalism occurred in New York between Joseph Pulitzer’s World and William Randolph Hearst’s Journal. In many ways, the battle was as much about blood as it was bloody, for the outcome of this conflict was yellow journalism. The first salvo in the war was launched when Hearst’s Journal appeared on November 7, 1895. Hearst, born in 1863, was the son of silver miner who had made his fortune on the Comstock Lode. He entered Harvard when he was 19 where he largely neglected his studies until he was expelled in 1885 for a practical joke played on the faculty. Still, he had developed an interest for print media at Harvard, where he was business manager of the Harvard Lampoon. After his expulsion, Hearst successfully lobbied his father to allow him manage the San Francisco Examiner, a paper owned by the elder Hearst for political reasons, which Hearst turned into a success, ironically enough, by modeling the paper after the New York World. The reason for the New York World’s success was a close understanding of the desires of its audience by its owner Joseph Pulitzer. Pulitzer was an immigrant, born in Hungary in 1847, who came to America in 1864 when he was 17 as a recruit for the Union Army during the Civil War. Upon his discharge in 1865, he found himself unemployed in St. Louis. After a series of career misfires, Pulitzer eventually discovered his calling in reporting and the newspaper business. Through a number of clever business maneuvers and newspaper ownership’s, Pulitzer eventually bought the St. Louis Dispatch in 1878 for its Associated Press membership. Three days later he merged it with another paper, the Post. By 1880 Pulitzer had made the Post-Dispatch the most successful newspaper in St. Louis. Pulitzer had realized early on that the Civil War had created a desire among the people for news of all kind, which he sated by coverage of economic, political, and social trends. While on a vacation for health reasons in 1883, Pulitzer bought the financially troubled New York World. The World quickly became one of New York’s most popular papers because Pulitzer sought to capture two sets of readers: those interested in significant news events and those desiring sensational or human-interest stories. The new expanded size of the paper allowed for more features and stunts, such as Nellie Bly’s trip around the world, more advertising, and color comics.When the Journal began competing with the World, the sensationalism was magnified. Preachers, librarians, social clubs, and critics began to decry the lurid angle that all stories took. An interview of French actress Anna Held by reporter Alan Dale for the Journal, for example, ran under the headline “Mlle. Anna Held Receives Alan Dale, Attired in a Nightie” accompanied by sketches of the actress in a night gown. The battle between the two papers was a protracted one, fought through paper content, price slashing, and staff raiding. Ultimately, these papers would contribute to the start of the Spanish-American War. Yet, in that chaotic atmosphere of manic reporting, such current fixtures as the comics and the crusading reporter were born.