Download Yellow Journalism - IH Social Studies

US History 2 Name: Yellow Journalism Yellow journalism, in short, means biased opinion camouflaged as objective fact. It involves sensationalism, distorted stories, and misleading images for the sole purpose of boosting newspaper sales and exciting public opinion. The term originates from a series of events around a cartoon called "The Yellow Kid". In 1883 Joseph Pulitzer purchased The New York World for $346,000. The newspaper concentrated on human-­‐interest stories, scandal and sensational material. It was extremely popular, especially the cartoons of its main artist, Richard F. Outcault. In 1895 William Randolph Hearst purchased The New York Journal, and using the similar approach adopted by Joseph Pulitzer, began to compete with the New York World. Pulitzer responded by producing a colour supplement. This included “The Yellow Kid”, a new cartoon character drawn by Richard F. Outcault. This cartoon became so popular that William Randolph Hearst, owner of the New York Journal, offered the artist a considerable amount of money to join his newspaper. Joseph Pulitzer then had to employ a new artist, George Luks, to produce the Yellow Kid for New York World. As a result of the importance of Outcault's Yellow Kid character in these events, this circulation war between the two newspapers became known as “yellow journalism”. Sadly though, this period of sensationalist news delivery where the so-­‐called yellow press routinely outsold the more honest newspapers does stand out as a particularly dark era in journalistic history. The demand of the United States people for absolutely free press allowed such newspapers to steal headlines and stories directly from other papers, or simply fabricate stories to fit their particular agenda. One of the more disturbing features involved with the former practice of yellow journalism is that there is no definite line between this period of yellow journalism and the period afterwards. Does this mean that yellow journalism simply faded away, never to return? Or did it absorb itself into the very heart of our newspapers, where it will remain forever? Some experts argue that the tactics used by the New York World and New York Journal partly influenced the content and style of newspapers in many of the USA's major cities. Indeed, several aspects of yellow journalism, such as banner headlines, sensational stories, and coloured supplements, have become a permanent feature of many popular newspapers in the United States and Europe, especially tabloids. The modern newspaper appearances of catchy headlines, humorous comic strips, special interest sections and intrusive investigative reporting serve as a constant reminder that one must always stay sceptical when examining news sources. Double-­‐checking sources and reading between the lines is highly recommended. If one disregards the obvious marketing that is used to hook readers, newspapers may actually prove to be reliable sources of information. Adapted from: http://library.thinkquest.org/C0111500/spanamer/yellow.htm, http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAyellow.htm Words: Camouflaged = hidden Objective = not influenced by personal feelings or opinions in considering and representing facts Indicate whether the following statements are true or false. a) The goal of yellow journalism is to excite the audience and improve newspaper sales, rather than informing people with real facts. _____ b) In order to achieve its goals, yellow journalism relies on solid and verified facts. _____ c) The term “yellow journalism” was coined from an old TV cartoon whose main character was “The Yellow Kid”. _____ d) Richard F. Outcault was working for New York World when he was offered a job at New York Journal. _____ e) William Randolph Hearst was the artist who created the character “The Yellow Kid”. _____ f) George Luks was recruited by New York World to continue the production of the cartoon. _____ g) At the time when New York World and New York Journal were publishing “The Yellow Kid”, honest newspapers were less successful than the yellow press. _____ h) American people did not like the idea of an absolutely free press. _____ i) Banner headlines and coloured supplements in today’s newspapers were inspired from the yellow press. _____ j) Modern newspapers do not use catchy headlines, which is a sign that they are only concerned with the truth. _____