Yellow Journalism

Yellow journalism is defined as sensational news reporting that blurs the line between fact and fiction, spontaneous reality and staged theater. In the late 1800's, yellow journalism was made predominant by American newspaper publishers Joseph Pulitzer and William R. Hearst. During this time period, Pulitzer was publisher of the New York World, while Hearst was publisher of the New York Journal. They began to report on the Spanish treatment towards Cubans during the Spanish-American-Cuban-Filipino war in 1898. (Jones et al., 2008)

The term developed from a comic character created in a tense competition between two journalists. This is how the term "yellow journalism" was coined. (Jones et al., 2008)

The New York Journal, in February of 1898, published a letter written by Enrique Dupuy de Lôme, the Spanish minister to the United States, denouncing President Mckinley as a weak politician. The letter was meant to be private and is said to have been one of the triggers of the Spanish American War of 1899. The headline read “The Worst Insult to the United States in its History”. De Lôme resigned, and officials realized later that yellow journalism had exaggerated the letter. (Jones et al., 2008, p. 437)

Yellow Journalism is one of the products of American imperialism. Modern day versions of this type of journalism include The Sun, Britain’s red top tabloids and the Daily Telegraph in Australia.

Reference

Jones, J., Wood, P., Borstelmann, T., May, E. and Ruiz, V., (2008). Created Equal: A Social and
Political History of the United States. 2nd ed., Volume II, (page 437). New York, Pearson
Longman.

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