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 calle
d "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, e
specially the cartoons of its main artist, Richard F. Outcault. In 1895 Wi
lliam Randolph Hearst purchased The New York Journal, and using the sim
ilar approach adopted by Joseph Pulitzer, began to compete with the New
York World. Pulitzer responded by producing a colour supplement. This inc
luded “The Yellow Kid”, a new cartoon character drawn by Richard F. Out
cault. This cartoon became so popular that William Randolph Hearst, owner
of the New York Journal, offered the artist a considerable amount of mone
y 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 res
ult of the importance of Outcault's Yellow Kid character in these events, thi
s circulation war between the two newspapers became known as “yellow jo
urnalism”. Sadly though, this period of sensationalist news delivery where
the so-­‐
called yellow press routinely outsold the more honest newspapers does stan
d out as a particularly dark era in journalistic history. The demand of the
United States people for absolutely free press allowed such newspapers to s
teal headlines and stories directly from other papers, or simply fabricate sto
ries to fit their particular agenda. One of the more disturbing features invo
lved with the former practice of yellow journalism is that there is no defini
te 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 Yor
k 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 y
ellow 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 s
trips, special interest sections and intrusive investigative reporting serve as a
constant reminder that one must always stay sceptical when examining new
s sources. Double-­‐
checking sources and reading between the lines is highly recommended. If
one disregards the obvious marketing that is used to hook readers, newspap
ers may actually prove to be reliable sources of information.