most easy-going employer in town. Many World employees went Name over to Hearst's paper.

Among the deserters was a cartoonist who authored a comic strip called The Yellow Kid. It starred a cheery, likeable, bald baby in a The Great American Newspaper War, Part 2 - yellow nightshirt. The Kid's thoughts appeared in print on his colorful shirtfront. At the time, color was a new thing for mass Yellow Journalism produced papers. The Yellow Kid was wildly popular. People loved By Toni Lee Robinson the breezy toddler and his bright yellow shirt. When the strip's author jumped ship, The Yellow Kid began appearing in Hearst's Journal. Pulitzer promptly hired another cartoonist for the World and Like Pulitzer, W.R. Hearst thrived on continued the strip. Now both papers had Yellow Kid comics running investigative reporting. His Examiner at the same time! regularly blew the whistle on graft. In one instance, Hearst sent a reporter undercover The two publishing giants battled viciously for dominance. In to a local hospital. She witnessed firsthand spite of their fierce rivalry, however, the two papers were much alike. the facility's treatment of poor women. Her With a curious zeal, both were involved in events in a tiny country report on the hospital's cruelty toward the far away from the streets of New York. Sensational headlines from poor shocked the city. The next day, every Cuba thundered from the front pages of both papers each morning. member of the hospital staff was fired. The whole process, of course, kept readers It is unlikely that the smallest detail of the struggles of Cuban riveted to the pages of the Examiner. rebels escaped any faithful World or Journal reader. Pulitzer and Circulation shot up. Hearst saw to it that their papers told the story from every angle. At least, they told the story from every angle that supported their views. Hearst made up his mind to be the king of newspaper publishing. He They romanticized the rebels and always showed Spain in a bad light. planned to overthrow the reigning king, the same man whose ideas When the truth seemed to be lacking in drama, the editors spiced it he had copied. Having made his mark in San Francisco, he moved on up with made-up details. to New York. Now, on Pulitzer's turf, Hearst plotted to outdo him. Backed by his family's wealth, Hearst bought a cheap newspaper, the Other editors condemned the sensationalist approach of the two New York Journal. He began to mold the paper, honing it to a media giants. The World and the Journal, known for the colorful cutthroat edge. Yellow Kid strips they both ran, were soon labeled the "yellow papers." The melodramatic brand of reporting that screamed from He used the same tactics as he had in San Francisco. Journal the pages of both papers became known as yellow journalism. The readers got their news mixed with a heaping helping of term came to be used for sensationalized reporting used to entertainment. To Hearst, winning was everything. The Journal had manipulate people's feelings toward a certain end. sold for a penny a copy when Hearst bought it. He kept the penny price and added pages. That cinched the deal for working class The goal both Hearst and Pulitzer seemed passionate to achieve patrons. The Journal's circulation soared. Hearst was beating was war. They wanted the U.S. to muscle Spain out of the way and Pulitzer at his own game. rush to the rescue of Cubans. Many in the U.S. agreed with them. Americans had long been hot under the collar about Spanish bullies The battle was on. Pulitzer chopped the price of his paper to a in Cuba. That smoldering anger was fanned into a roaring inferno by penny. After all, he'd made money in the newspaper game. He could newspaper stories of events in Cuba. Public opinion favored U.S. weather a cut in profits. But could his wealth outlast the Hearst military intervention. family fortune? Then Hearst attacked from a different angle. Offering generous salaries, he began luring World staff to the Critics pointed out that the deepest motives of the two news Journal. Pulitzer, plagued by stress and health problems, wasn't the giants probably didn't have much to do with the plight of Cubans. The Great American Newspaper War, Part 2 - Yellow Journalism Name Questions

What mattered most to Hearst and Pulitzer, skeptics said, was 1. Explain the meaning of the term "investigative reporting." bragging rights. Each was striving to make his paper the biggest. Give an example of this type of journalism. What better way to boost circulation than riveting stories of danger, bravery, guts, and glory? And what better source of those ingredients than a good, lively war? The rival newspaper giants were determined to bring it about.

Illustrator Fredric Remington went to Cuba to sketch pictures for Hearst's Journal. The young artist arrived during a lull in the ongoing battle between Spain and the rebels. In the calm, Remington saw nothing to inspire him. There was no blood, no glory. Spain 2. What was Hearst's ambition as he took his newspaper career seemed to have its affairs under control. Remington telegraphed from San Francisco to New York? Hearst for a new assignment. There would be no war, he assured his boss. According to some sources, Hearst wired back: "You furnish the pictures, I'll furnish the war."

Some experts doubt that Hearst really said those words. Hearst and Pulitzer didn't really start the war between Spain and America, they point out. The two papers sold only in the New York City area. The majority of Americans never saw them. Officials who made high level decisions were hardly likely to rely on the newspapers for information. One thing is certain, however. The "yellow paper" 3. List the methods Hearst used to climb to the top in the New tycoons did their best achieve their goal: to catapult the U.S. into war York publishing world. with Spain through the power of the printed word. 8. Fredrick Remington was sent to Cuba by Hearst for the Name purpose of ______. A. negotiating with the Spanish for better treatment of Cubans B. spying out Spanish troop strength and locations 4. What was The Yellow Kid? C. gauging the likelihood of a U.S. war with Spain so Hearst A. a term for reporters who wrote embellished, could be prepared to send reporters sensationalized stories of the war in Cuba D. sketching illustrations for news stories of the conflict in B. a serialized melodrama that ran in two New York papers, Cuba telling the story of a child dying of yellow fever C. a comic strip that ran in two New York papers featuring a breezy tot in a yellow shirt It is now common to see news crews "embedded" with troops to D. a cartoon that used racial slurs in an attempt to bring report on every aspect of a military action. Do you think this is a good about immigration quotas for Asian people coming to the practice? What benefits result? What cost could there be to news U.S. people? To soldiers? 5. True or false? The Journal and the World were called the "yellow papers" because both bowed to government intimidation in reporting on American involvement in Cuba. A. true B. false 6. Each of the following is an actual headline. Which is most likely to belong to an article that is an example of yellow journalism? A. Surgery Removes Electric Blanket from Python B. Hungry, Frantic Flames Leap Madly Upon Splendid Pleasure Palace...Running Madly Riotous Through Cornice, Archway, Façade-Rushing in Upon Trembling Guests with Savage Fury-Appalled and Panic-Stricken, Breathless Fugitives Gaze Upon Scene of Terror C. House OKs Minimum Wage Increase D. Woman Torches House Trying to Kill Spiders 7. Describe the feelings of the American public toward the conflict in Cuba. How were they affected by the sensational stories in the newspapers? Name

In your opinion, what role should news media play in determining political direction in a nation? Explain your answer.