Yellow Journalism

Children's Literature - Elizabeth D. Schafer

Discussing a topic often overlooked or briefly mentioned in American histories for young readers, this book focuses on sensationalized news reporting in the late nineteenth century. Featuring newspaper magnates Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst this title examines their journalistic motivations and the development of their rivalry. Although perpetuating myths regarding yellow journalism, particularly its role in the Spanish-American War, this book captures the essence of the yellow journalistic style, characterized by such traits as flamboyant front page layouts and the self-promotion of newspapers' involvement in solving crimes and exposing corruption. Pulitzer's New York World and Hearst's New York Journal battled to boost their newspapers' circulation, hiring reporters to fill pages with embellished, gossipy stories appealing to many readers. Without exploring contemporary uses of the word "yellow," this narrative incorrectly credits Pulitzer's "Yellow Kid" cartoon character as inspiring the term yellow journalism, not mentioning Ervin Wardman, who first printed references to yellow journalism in his newspaper, The New York Press, to insult competitors for their unprofessional practices. This history does not address how mainstream newspapers encouraged yellow journalism boycotters and how yellow newspapers reacted. The book ignores such concurrent technological advances as presses printing colors. A caption incorrectly states William McKinley was president in 1895. This title notes yellow journalism's contributions to investigative reporting and to strengthening journalism standards. Part of the "We the People" series.