Yellow Journalism

Joseph Pulitzer R.F. Outcault’s “Yellow Kid” William Randolph Hearst

As newspapers began to compete more and more with one another to increase circulation and obtain more advertising revenue, a different type of journalism was developed by publishers Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst.

In the mid-1890s, Pulitzer (in the New YorkWorld) and Hearst (in the San FranciscoExaminer and later the New YorkMorning Journal) transformed newspapers with sensational and scandalous news coverage, the use of drawings and the inclusion of more features such as comic strips.

After Pulitzer began publishing color comic sections that included a strip entitled “The Yellow Kid” in early 1896, this type of paper was labeled “yellow journalism.” Drawn by R.F. Outcault, the popular (if now-unfunny) strip became a prize in the struggle between Pulitzer and Hearst in the New York newspaper wars. Outcault moved the strip to Hearst's papers after nine months, where it competed with a Pulitzer-sponsored version of itself.

“The Yellow Kid” proved the first merchandising phenomenon of the comics. The character was portrayed in keychains and collector cards, appeared on stage and even had a short-lived magazine named after him.

The papers themselves trumpeted their concern for the “people.” At the same time, yellow journalists choked up the news channels on which the common people depended with shrieking, gaudy, sensation-loving, devil-may-care kinds of journalism. This turned the high drama of life into a cheap melodrama and led to stories being twisted into the forms best suited for sales by the hollering newsboy.

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Discussion Questions

1)Competition is the engine that drives the capitalist system. Businesses try to improve their products to make them “better” than the competition. Why did this prove to be a problem in the newspaper business of the late 1800s?

2)The “Yellow Kid” cartoons don’t make many readers laugh today. What new technique made this comic so popular at the turn of the century?

3)Why did the term “yellow journalism” come to describe sensational newspaper stories?

4)What role did journalism play in the Spanish-American War?

5)Look at the articles and cartoons on the following pages. For each picture, identify the event or concept and what emotion the newspaper is trying to evoke.

6)Can you think of any analogues to yellow journalism in the world today?

The “Yellow Kid”

Yellow Journalism