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Yellow Journalism
Written by Cleveland Ferguson III, published on January 1, 2009 last updated on July 19, 2024
Yellow journalism refers to sensationalistic, salacious and sometimes
slanted stories that newspapers present as objective truth.
The term was coined in the late 1800s in New York by established
journalists to belittle the unconventional techniques of their new rivals:
William Randolph Hearst, publisher of the New York Journal, and Joseph
Pulitzer, publisher of the New York World.
Hearst and Pulitzer themselves were locked in a furious circulation battle,
one-upping each other with big stories with big headlines to sell papers
appealing to the working-class populace.
New York newspapers publishers William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer Although Eric Burns in his book "Infamous Scribblers" demonstrated that
engaged in a fierce competition readers in the late 1800s, employing the press in early America could be quite raucous, yellow journalism is
sensationalism, big headlines and salacious stories to attract readers. The
conservative press derided the aggressive play for readers as "yellow journalism" generally perceived to be a late 1800s phenomenon full of lore and spin,
and even successfully got the Hearst and Pulitzer newspapers removed from fact and fiction, tall tales, and large personalities. It was aided by advances
libraries and news racks in some places. Here, an illustration published in the New in technology that allowed faster turnarounds in getting printed news to
York Evening Post makes fun of William Randolph Hearst as a jester tossing
newspapers to a crowd of eager readers. (Image via Library of Congress, public readers.
domain)
Characteristics of yellow journalism
Yellow journalism had the following characteristics:
the use of multicolumn headlines, oversized pictures, and dominant graphics;
front-page stories that varied from sensationalist to salacious in the same issue;
one-upmanship, or the scooping of stories, only later to be embarrassed into retractions (usually by a competing publication);
jingoism, or the inflaming of national sentiments through slanted news stories, often related to Civil War;
extensive use of anonymous sources by overzealous reporters especially in investigative stories on “big-business,” famous people, or
political figures;
self-promotion within the news medium; and
pandering to the so-called hoi polloi, especially by using the newspaper layout to cater to immigrants for whom English was not
their first language.
Conservative press organized boycott against Pulitzer, Hearst papers
The conservative press thought these characteristics amounted to misconduct in the gathering of news and launched a boycott of both
newspapers. The boycott was successful in excluding the two newspapers from the stands in the New York Public Library, social clubs, and
reading rooms, but it only served to increase readership among average citizens who rarely frequented such establishments.
Overall, the boycott backfired. Circulation for both newspapers increased, and Hearst purchased other newspapers and insisted on the use
of the same techniques in other cities.
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One illustration published in the New York Evening Post shows William Randolph Hearst as a jester tossing newspapers to a crowd of
eager readers. It includes a note in the bottom left from the New York mayor which says:
”The time is at hand when these journalistic scoundrels have got to stop or get out, and I am ready now to do my share to that end.
They are absolutely without souls. If decent people would refuse to look at such newspapers the whole thing would right itself at once.
The journalism of New York City has been dragged to the lowest depths of degradation. The grossest railleries and libels, instead of
honest statements and fair discussion, have gone unchecked.”
The conservative press was itself not above printing the occasional fantastical story. Moreover, within 10 years, almost every newspaper in
the country began using large headlines for election day editions or illustrations and pictures to contextualize a crisis or celebration.
Hearst's and Pulitzer's newspapers eventually declined in circulation, but not before others had copied their methods.
Where did the term "yellow journalism"
come from?
Lore has suggested that the use of a comic strip illustrated by The
World’s Richard Felton Outcault entitled “The Yellow Kid” (later
poached by the Journal) was the source of the phrase “yellow
journalism.” The comic strip poked fun at industry, political, and
society figures, was the source of the phrase “yellow journalism.”
Other sources point to a series of critical editorials by Ervin
Wardman of the New York Press as coining the phrase. Wardman
had first attempted to stigmatize the practices as “new” and then
“nude” journalism. He then used the term “yellow,” which had the
more sinister, negative connotation that Wardman sought. Other
editors began to use the term in their newspapers in New York, and
it eventually spread to Chicago, San Francisco, and other cities by
early 1897.
The Yellow Kid comic strip appeared first in Joseph Pulitzer's New York World in February
1895. It was created by illustrator Richard Outcault and may be the first source of the term
"yellow journalism."
While yellow journalism is largely associated with the newspaper wars in New York, scholar Patti Piburn has documented the use of the
same scurrilous reporting, attention-grabbing news and front-page illustrations in what was then territorial Arizona.
In "Discovering the Arizona Republican Newspaper, 1890-1900: Yellow Journalism in America’s Territorial Press," (2024) Piburn notes how
advances in printing technology allowed swifter reporting and was coupled with the desire to appeal to huge audience of the poor and
working class with a broader definition of news that included "topics such as crime, violence, disasters, sex, divorce, scandal,
pseudoscience, sports, international diplomacy, and weather events."
Yellow journalism and the Spanish-American War
Yellow journalism is sometimes linked with arousing public sentiment against Spain's occupation of Cuba and President William
McKinley's decision to enter a war with Spain, particularly after sensational and nonstop coverage of the sinking of the USS Maine in
Havana, Cuba, in 1898.
Others discount such press influence, but the journalistic practices of the day nevertheless marked a turn in how such events were
covered.
In "Breaking the News: Telegraphy and Yellow Journalism in the Spanish-American War," scholar Craig Carey recalls the popular, but now
regarded as probably fictional, ancedote that reflected the idea that new journalism featured people who did not merely chronicle an
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15/10/2024, 18:00 Yellow Journalism | Definition and History | The Free Speech Center
event, but took part, sometimes as decisive agents. Carey writes how war correspondent and
illustrator Frederic Remington who was sent to Cuba by William Randolph Hearst dispatched
back that “Everything is quiet. There is no trouble. There will be no war. I wish to return.” Hearst
famously replied: “Please remain. You furnish the pictures and I’ll furnish the war.”
Furthermore, Carey documents how electrical telegraphy allowed newspapers "to produce the
continuous spectacle of war news and sensational journalism."
The fact that Remington, who would later become a famous sculptor and painter of the
American West, was sent to Cuba to provide illustrations for Hearst's newspaper also
underscores the importance of such images in the age of yellow journalism, as David Spencer
writes in "The Press And The Spanish American War Political Cartoons of the Yellow Journalism
Age."
An artist's illustration of the sinking of the USS Maine in
the harbor of Havana, Cuba, was featured largely on the
Supreme Court has set high bar for restraining the press front page of the New York World, which was published by
Although modern journalistic standards are arguably as high as they have ever been, some Joseph Pulitzer. The use of large, dramatic images to
attract newsstand buyers is one of the characteristics that
Supreme Court decisions have allowed room for sensational coverage and criticism, came about during the age of yellow journalism.
especially of public figures.
In Near v. Minnesota (1931), the Supreme Court set a strong presumption against prior
restraint of publication, and New York Times Co. v. Sullivan (1964) further set a high bar for
public figures who thought that articles printed about them were libelous.
McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission (1995) also ruled that individuals can publish
anonymous criticisms of political issues, and newspapers’ use of anonymous sources is
largely governed by a code of journalistic ethics.
This article is originally published in 2009. It was updated in June 2024 by Deborah Fisher.
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SEE ALSO
Joseph Pulitzer
McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission (1995)
Near v. Minnesota (1931)
New York Times Co. v. Sullivan (1964)
Prior Restraint
Retraction
William McKinley
FURTHER READING
“Infamous Scribblers” by Eric Burns, New York: Perseus Books, 2006.
“Yellow Journalism: Puncturing the Myths, Defining the Legacies” by Joseph W. Campbell, Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 2003.
“Discovering the Arizona Republican Newspaper, 1890-1900: Yellow Journalism in America’s Territorial Press” by Patti Piburn, American
Journalism, 41:2, 207-230, 2024.
“Breaking the News: Telegraphy and Yellow Journalism in the Spanish-American War” by Craig Carey, American Periodicals, 2016.
“The Press And The Spanish American War Political Cartoons of the Yellow Journalism Age” by David R. Spencer, International Journal of Comic
Art, Spring 2007, Vol. 9 Issue 1.
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