Uploaded June 2016 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
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"En la Brisa" Music by Dan-O at DanoSongs.com
“Solo Bass Blues Improv” by Nicolascoffman at soundcloud.com/nicolascoffman/solo-bass-blues-improv
Yellow Journalism refers to journalism and media that uses sensationalism, hyperbole, bias, and often false reporting to reign in and influence its audience. It’s the 1890s term for the worst kind of clickbait.
In order to understand yellow journalism, we have to look back at two newspapers of the 1890s: the New York World and the New York Journal. Back then Joseph Pulitzer, yes, of the Pulitzer Prize, owned a paper called the New York World. In that paper ran a comic named Hogan’s Alley which featured a character named the Yellow Kid. That strip helped the paper sell millions because, well, entertainment options were a lot more limited than they are today. Enter William Randolph Hearst; the guy Citizen Kane is based on. Hearst owned the competing paper, the New York Journal, and he actually hired away the comic’s artist. “So what,” you say. “Who cares?”
Well, competition for this comic between these two publishing giants may be where the name “yellow journalism” came from but it was more about this rivalry between these publishing giants and their increasingly sensational headlines. See, blood and violence sell papers. Relative isolationism does not. And in the late 1890s, there was a situation that could sell a lot of papers, if it was reported just right.
Nearby Cuba, our friend Cuba, yes, we were friends way back when, was still controlled by Spain. They had tried to rebel a bunch of times to no avail. Some people in the US, especially businesspeople with investments on the island were worried about revolutions, oppression, and violence. But America was still in full-on isolation mode so Presidents like Cleveland and McKinley just hoped everything would work itself out. Publishers like Hearst, on the other, were all too eager to fuel public concern. It’s said that he told an artist covering a story on Cuba “You furnish the pictures, and I’ll furnish the war.” Probably followed by a “Muh-ha-ha-ha.”
Cut to February 15, 1898. The US battleship Maine is in Havana harbor, sent down to protect US citizens and property in Cuba. And then it blowed up, killing 260 crew members. Publishers like Hearst quickly blamed the Spanish even though they lacked any, what’s that called, evidence. Hearst wasn’t the only one. Soon, “Remember the Maine,” became a rallying cry of papers and people all over the country and while it may be a stretch to say that yellow journalism caused the Spanish-American War, it definitely pushed public opinion in that direction.
New videos every Tuesday (sometimes Monday!)
Follow on Twitter: twitter.com/MrBettsClass
Instagram: instagram.com/MrBettsClass
Tumblr: http://mrbettsclass.tumblr.com
Like on FaceBook: facebook.com/MrBettsClass
"En la Brisa" Music by Dan-O at DanoSongs.com
“Solo Bass Blues Improv” by Nicolascoffman at soundcloud.com/nicolascoffman/solo-bass-blues-improv
Yellow Journalism refers to journalism and media that uses sensationalism, hyperbole, bias, and often false reporting to reign in and influence its audience. It’s the 1890s term for the worst kind of clickbait.
In order to understand yellow journalism, we have to look back at two newspapers of the 1890s: the New York World and the New York Journal. Back then Joseph Pulitzer, yes, of the Pulitzer Prize, owned a paper called the New York World. In that paper ran a comic named Hogan’s Alley which featured a character named the Yellow Kid. That strip helped the paper sell millions because, well, entertainment options were a lot more limited than they are today. Enter William Randolph Hearst; the guy Citizen Kane is based on. Hearst owned the competing paper, the New York Journal, and he actually hired away the comic’s artist. “So what,” you say. “Who cares?”
Well, competition for this comic between these two publishing giants may be where the name “yellow journalism” came from but it was more about this rivalry between these publishing giants and their increasingly sensational headlines. See, blood and violence sell papers. Relative isolationism does not. And in the late 1890s, there was a situation that could sell a lot of papers, if it was reported just right.
Nearby Cuba, our friend Cuba, yes, we were friends way back when, was still controlled by Spain. They had tried to rebel a bunch of times to no avail. Some people in the US, especially businesspeople with investments on the island were worried about revolutions, oppression, and violence. But America was still in full-on isolation mode so Presidents like Cleveland and McKinley just hoped everything would work itself out. Publishers like Hearst, on the other, were all too eager to fuel public concern. It’s said that he told an artist covering a story on Cuba “You furnish the pictures, and I’ll furnish the war.” Probably followed by a “Muh-ha-ha-ha.”
Cut to February 15, 1898. The US battleship Maine is in Havana harbor, sent down to protect US citizens and property in Cuba. And then it blowed up, killing 260 crew members. Publishers like Hearst quickly blamed the Spanish even though they lacked any, what’s that called, evidence. Hearst wasn’t the only one. Soon, “Remember the Maine,” became a rallying cry of papers and people all over the country and while it may be a stretch to say that yellow journalism caused the Spanish-American War, it definitely pushed public opinion in that direction.
