Yellow Journalism

Paper Summary:

Yellow journalism, a term used for the use of negligent and flamboyant newspaper reporting without regard to facts, is examined in this paper. Its history and development, its purpose in the media and its impact on history are discussed.

From the Paper:

"Yellow Journalism is a term used for the use of negligent and flamboyant newspaper reporting, without regard to facts. With yellow journalism the truth is usually misrepresented or concealed, more often than not, there may be no truth to the story at all. In its infancy, the term yellow journalism was used to describe the writing tactics used by William Hearst's New York Journal and Joseph Pulitzer's New York World. These men used yellow journalism to exaggerate and misguide the American public on happenings in Cuba; such reporting may have even sparked the Spanish-American war. Yellow journalism is by no means a memory in America's distant past; even the most conservative newspapers still practice it in a refined form today. Tabloids such as the Star and the Inquirer are notorious for sensationalizing and even falsifying headlines. Additionally, every once in a while straight edged newspapers papers such as the Wall Street Journal may get into the act as well. In 1996, ABC News was singled out for reporting that Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu had called then Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin a traitor, further investigation revealed that the accusation was false."

More papers on Yellow Journalism:

• Research Paper # 56993 : "The Commercial Nature of Journalism"
• Essay # 89300 : "'The Yellow Wallpaper'"
• Essay # 29880 : "William Randolph Hearst"

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