Gloria Santti
US History
Yellow Journalism Essay
December 1, 2020
Yellow Journalism
The world of Journalism has had a major influence on society from the beginning, the
American people rely on news outlets for accurate, credible, and unbiased information in order to
form an opinion. From that, the news provides the people with opinions that differ from other
opinions to create democracy, which is needed to ensure an equitable environment. Some
elements are most important to an informed citizenry and a well-functioning democracy that
helps hold people accountable. The most important elements in journalism include gathering and
verifying factual information, avoiding bias and conflict of interest, and identifying sources
clearly while considering sources’ motives.
At the turn of the Century, the United States declared war on Spain as a result of the
Cubans and Filipinos struggle for power for against the Spanish and the peculiar sinking of the
USS Maine in Cuba. Leading up to the war, many articles were published discussing the events
that caused the war. Two of the most popular news publications of the time, The New York
Journal and The New York World wrote inflammatory articles, claiming that Spain was
responsible for the sinking of the USS Maine. However, there was and still is no evidence
supporting their claims, despite a statement from the US Naval Court of Inquiry (Document 13).
Both news publications used sensationalized words to entice more people to read their articles
even it meant that they sacrificed accuracy, in favor of excitement. There is a saying that comes
from a Greek play, Aleadae written by Sophocles, that goes “What people believe prevails over
the truth.” This is shown that these highly rated, news publications were able to capture the
audience’s attention with their choice of language even when there was no proof. The power that
news outlets hold in that time period had was extremely high and the people believed them since
people didn’t have such easy ways to check for accuracy.
One of the most important elements of responsible journalism is to gather and verify
factual information. This is important because the people will rely on whatever the author writes,
even if it is biased, misleading, different opinions, or even lies. The audience should be getting
factual information so they can give their best and honest opinion about a topic or situation. If
people are getting false information, then it gives the audience the wrong idea about something
which leads to a misinformed conclusion. In 1898, the USS Maine was sunken in Havana, where
it nearly killed around half of the crewmembers. Many people made the assumption that the
Spanish were the cause of the disaster because of an article published by a well-known news
publication, The New York Journal. The New York Journal used sensationalism in their article
and in their title to capture the reader’s attention, simply to gain popularity. In their article, they
put in big bold letters, “Destruction of the War Ship Maine was the Work of an Enemy”
(Document 10). This fully points the finger at the Spanish, insinuating they were the ones to
blame for the sinking. Although, the Journal was a popular outlet, The New York Times
presented an accurate and very factual described article. A report made by the ship’s captain
said, “There is no evidence to prove or disprove treachery. Naval men tell of many ways in
which the disaster could have been caused by an accident which could not have been guarded
against.” (Document 13). This shows that they gathered factual information because it told about
how there was no evidence of treachery or betrayal from the Spanish, which safely provided an
argument that the Spanish were not to blame for the cause of the sinking. If the Times didn’t
gather and verify their information, then they could have very easily provided their readers with
more evidence and reason to blame the Spanish for the incident leading the United States into the
Spanish-American war. The element, of gathering factual evidence is very important due to the
effects it could lead others to believe when given false information, which leaves the United
States with an uninformed citizenry.
Another important element of responsible journalism is to avoid bias and conflict of
interest. When people are reading a piece of information, they should be provided with unbiased
ideas, so they can base their thoughts and opinions on the information given. Even if the author’s
opinion about a topic is generally viewed as right or most people agree, it is not the author’s job
to decide to force an opinion on the audience. If the audience is giving credible and well-written
information, then they will be best set to give their best opinion without the author’s influence.
The Buffalo Times published an article telling about how General Weyler was making all these
laws removing goods from the towns and how it cut people from their land who had family in the
Rebel Army. The title of their article was “Vicious Weyler” (Document 3) biased the readers
because they used the word vicious in their title. The writer already set General Weyler up to be
disliked by using the word ‘vicious’ in the headlines of the article which could make the
audience automatically hate General Weyler or the Spanish and think that General Weyler was
representative of the Spanish. An article opposing The Buffalo Times, was The New York Times
because they didn’t use inflammatory words in the headlines that made it seem aggravating or
harmful towards the Spanish or General Weyler. Their headlines said, “Spain Recalls Weyler”
(Document 4) The publicists allowed readers to take the information given and form their own
opinion about the Spanish. Avoiding bias and conflict of interest benefited the people by giving
them credible information to sustain a well-functioning democracy, as well as keeping them
informed.
Furthermore, identifying sources clearly and considering the sources motives is
important, so readers can determine their reliability for themselves; It is the author’s job to
identify evidence and the motivations of their sources. Then the audience will be better able to
determine if what they are reading is credible or not. If there isn’t a clear source, the articles
could be made up or sensationalized. Citations helps people to see who the writer is and give
them the background of the point of view from the article. During the sinking of the Maine, the
New York Journal published an article claiming that the Spanish were the cause of the sinking
from a torpedo hole. Their headline included these words in bold, “War! Sure!” and “Maine
Destroyed by Spanish; This Proved by the Discovery of the Torpedo Hole” (Document 12). The
New York Journal directly blamed the Spanish for the sinking USS Maine. They failed to
provide sources in the article as well as proving that their claims were accurate, which they were
not. Another news outlet, The Philadelphia Inquirer, published an article about the same event
without making accusations based off of their sources. They clearly stated what happened, and
didn’t criticize the Spanish, nor blaming them for the sinking of the USS Maine. The words they
used in their article left it up to the audience to think about what could have caused it or even if it
was possibly an accident. “Deep Mystery Surrounds the Cause of the Explosion Which Killed
258 American men on the Battleship Maine.” (Document 14). The Inquirer provided the readers
with a title name that was straightforward and without bias towards Spain and no hints that the
Spanish could have somehow been responsible. They also used a primary source, Captain
Sigsbee who was aboard the ship and was a reliable person to receive and process information
from. By determining if the source was credible or not, the Inquirer helped people in the United
States to stay informed with the correct information they needed in a well-functioning
democracy.
The least important piece to the code of ethics is to distinguish between factual news
content and opinionated articles. With all the other codes of ethics, this code becomes pointless
because the other codes cover the topic of distinguishing factual content and opinionated articles.
At the beginning of the Spanish War, Ambassador de Lomé wrote a letter about how the United
States President McKinley wanted people to like him to his friend. The New York Times
published an article about it, basing their information off primary sources including people who
were involved in the De Lomé situation stating, “Many of them take the view that is not only a
right but a duty, for a prime minister to present every detail.” (Document 8). In their statement,
the Times referred to the people who were there for that event but didn’t demonstrate that it is a
fact or an opinion. Since they are primary sources, there isn’t a lot of room for bias or lies. The
information given is still enough for the audience to understand what is going on. By following
the other codes of ethics, distinguishing between factual news content and opinionated articles is
unnecessary.
To conclude, the most important elements of responsible journalism are gathering and
verifying factual information, avoiding bias and conflict of interest, and identifying sources
clearly while considering sources’ motives. Without these elements, the citizens would become
misinformed and democracy would be at risk due to the spread of bad journalism.
