Yellow journalism

In journalism, yellow journalism and the yellow press are American newspapers that use eye-catching headlines and sensationalized exaggerations for increased sales. The English term is chiefly used in the US. In the United Kingdom, a similar term is tabloid journalism. Other languages, e.g. Russian (Жёлтая пресса zhyoltaya pressa), sometimes have terms derived from the American term. Yellow journalism emerged in the intense battle for readers by two newspapers in New York City in 1890s. It was not common in other cities.

Joseph Pulitzer purchased the New York World in 1883 and told his editors to use sensationalism, crusades against corruption, and lavish use of illustrations to boost circulation. William Randolph Hearst then purchased the rival New York Journal in 1895. They engaged in an intense circulation war, at a time when most men bought one copy every day from rival street vendors shouting their paper's headlines. The term "yellow journalism" originated from the innovative popular "Yellow Kid" comic strip that was published first in the World and later in the Journal.

This type of reporting was characterized by exaggerated headlines, unverified claims, partisan agendas, and a focus on topics like crime, scandal, sports, and violence. Historians have debated whether Yellow journalism played a large role in inflaming public opinion about Spain's atrocities in Cuba at the time, and perhaps pushing the U.S. into the Spanish-American War of 1898. Most historians say it did not do so. The two papers reached a working class Democratic audience, and the nation's upscale Republican decision makers (such as President William McKinley and leaders in Congress) seldom read the Yellow press.^[1]

^ On the historiography see W. Joseph Campbell, "Not to Blame: The Yellow Press and the Spanish-American War" in his Yellow Journalism: Puncturing the Myths, Defining the Legacies (Praeger, 2003) pp. 97–150; and David R. Spencer. "The Spanish-American War and the Hearst Myth" in his The Yellow Journalism: The Press and America's Emergence as a World Power (Northwestern UP, 2007) pp.123–152.

[1] On the historiography see W. Joseph Campbell, "Not to Blame: The Yellow Press and the Spanish-American War" in his Yellow Journalism: Puncturing the Myths, Defining the Legacies (Praeger, 2003) pp. 97–150; and David R. Spencer. "The Spanish-American War and the Hearst Myth" in his The Yellow Journalism: The Press and America's Emergence as a World Power (Northwestern UP, 2007) pp.123–152.

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