yellow journalism writing assignment

Writing: Yellow Journalism

History: USA

Grade 9, 10, 11, 12

Microsoft Word

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This Writing: Yellow Journalism is a unique teaching resource designed to facilitate advanced learning among students in grades 9 through 12. This product provides an effective tool for school educators and homeschooling setups, focusing on Social Studies.

The core of our module dwells into the sub-subject of USA History, delving deep into "Yellow Journalism". This platform offers students a chance to broaden their perspectives and advance their knowledge.

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The assignment starts with engagement through an online article used for students to gain a nuanced understanding of yellow journalism in U.S. history.

It blends technology with traditional learning by providing an integrated internet link

The students are then asked to apply journalism techniques in writing a two-paragraph narrative about another unique U.S. historical event.

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The Spanish American War and the Yellow Press

February 6, 2024

Posted by: Malea Walker

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125 years ago today, the U.S. Senate ratified the Treaty of Paris , officially ending the Spanish-American War and giving the U.S. control over Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines. What began as a dispute over a mysterious explosion was inflamed by the American “yellow press,” which pushed for the country to go to war.

The Start of the Yellow Press

With improvements to printing presses and the invention of the linotype machine , it was easier than ever before to print newspapers by the 1890s. This led to more and more newspapers being published with multiple editions every day. The newspaper market in New York was especially saturated with dailies including the New York Times, the New York Evening Post, the World, and the New York Journal. With fierce competition among them, some papers began looking for ways to stand out.

Two publishers in particular are known for their rivalry at that time: Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst . Pulitzer purchased the New York World in 1883 and was known for recruiting Nellie Bly and launching a color Sunday supplement in 1895. Hearst purchased the New York Journal in 1895 which began the rivalry with Pulitzer, with Hearst even stealing away the popular Yellow Kid cartoon from the World the following year. As the two pushed for higher circulation numbers, the headlines became bigger and more outrageous.

The term “yellow journalism” began as a reference to Richard F. Outcault’s “Yellow Kid” cartoon. Because it was published in both The World and the New York Journal, “yellow kid journalism” or “yellow journalism” was a way to refer to the sensationalism that they were both known for. The Scranton Tribune questioned if “the American people really do read such trash in newspaper guise as is produced by Hearst, Pulitzer and the other members of the yellow-kid guild.”

The Sinking of the Maine

In January 1898 the battleship USS Maine was sent to Havana, Cuba, to watch over American interests during the Cuban uprising against Spain. On the evening of February 15, 1898, an explosion on the Maine caused it to sink in the harbor, killing 266 of the crew on board. Although the exact cause of the explosion is still unknown, within days of the explosion, newspapers were blaming Spain. Evidence was misreported or even fabricated, published with large headlines and gruesome images, shocking readers.

Once the blame was laid onto Spain, headlines in newspapers including the New York Journal and the World began calling for action. They even went as far as goading President William McKinley and the U.S. military to try and force a military response.

Other newspapers and magazines of the time noted the rivalry between Pulitzer and Hearst and openly commented about their influence on the war. The San Franscico Call satirically noted the “prompt and able fashion in which Hearst and Pulitzer took charge of the Government at a critical period.” The New York Times wrote a scathing editorial on March 1, 1898, about the “shameless public lying” in the “yellow journals,” even suggesting that they should be suppressed: “It would be criminal negligence for the authorities to permit the public sale of the dangerous literary explosives which the yellow journals make and vend.”

Coverage of the War

Congress and President McKinley sent an ultimatum to Spain to withdraw from Cuba on April 20, 1898. From there things moved quickly as Spain severed diplomatic ties the next day and then declared war on the U.S. on April 23. Newspapers continued to cover the war with large headlines and exaggerated patriotic imagery. The Indianapolis Journal in explaining “Our Yellow Journals” described how a “war extra” edition of a newspaper should be made: “The recipe for making a war extra is to get a line of fact or rumor and charge it with the carbonic acid gas of imagination until it fills three columns, half made up of headlines in poster type.”

Conflict spread from Cuba into Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and Guam. The war did not last long, however, and a peace protocol was agreed to on August 12, with the treaty signed on December 10 and ratified February 6, 1899.

Yellow Journalism Today

Yellow journalism and the sensational headlines of the Journal and the World raged into the early 1900s, but eventually people began to mistrust what they read. This led some newspapers to go in the opposite direction, emphasizing that their reporting was “unbiased” and fact-based. The New York Times set itself apart from its competitors in 1897, introducing their slogan “All the News That’s Fit to Print” on February 10, 1897, which they still use today.

Now the terms “yellow press” and “yellow journalism” have entered the vernacular and refer to sensational reporting, where facts have not been checked and may be grossly exaggerated. New terms such as “fake news” and “clickbait” have become popular to describe some of the exaggerated and poorly researched articles that can be found online. Does this mean that we have entered into a new era of yellow journalism?

Additional Resources:

• Sinking of the Maine: Topics in Chronicling America
• Spanish-American War: Topics in Chronicling America
• Yellow Journalism: Topics in Chronicling America
• Today in History – February 15: Remember the Maine!
• New York Journal and Related Titles, 1896 to 1899
• Find additional articles about the Spanish American War, yellow journalism, Pulitzer, Hearst, and more in Chronicling America .*

* The  Chronicling America  historic newspapers online collection is a product of the  National Digital Newspaper Program  and jointly sponsored by the Library and the  National Endowment for the Humanities .

Follow Chronicling America on X @ChronAmLOC

Click here to subscribe  to  Headlines & Heroes –it’s free!

In answer to the last question, a resounding YES. And just as one sided on the Right proclaiming a “stolen election.”

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What Is Yellow Journalism And What Does It Have To Do With The Spanish American War?

What is yellow journalism, the yellow kid, yellow journalism and the spanish-american war, yellow journalism today.

Yellow journalism is the term used for a style of journalism based on presenting sensationalized news to try and make the newspaper more exciting, with the ultimate aim of luring more readers and increasing circulation.

Imagine opening the newspaper in the morning to find a myriad of stories splashed across its pages. You see a lot of crime headlines and think, “Our city has become so unsafe”. Over the next few weeks, they stop printing as many stories about crime and you suddenly feel safer again.

The media, in its various forms, is a time capsule—it captures the world in words and images at one particular moment. It shows us the current situation of the city, country and world we live in, while also shaping the way we feel about everything. In addition to reporting the news to the current audience, it also captures the moment for posterity. Thus, the media is not only in a position to shape what we believe today, but is also capable of perpetuating a distorted image of today’s events for generations to come.

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Yellow journalism is the term used for a style of journalism based on presenting sensationalized news to try and make the newspaper more exciting, with the ultimate aim of luring more readers and increasing circulation. It uses eye-catching, multicolumn headlines, oversized pictures and dominant graphics, and is often based on distorted or incomplete facts. It often cooks up fake stories and interviews that tap into emotions and entertain, rather than educate.

The question is, why is this sensational style of reporting called yellow journalism? The answer lies, as it so often does, in history.

Also Read: Can History Be Changed By People?

The concept of a sensational press expanded considerably during the late nineteenth century. Media moguls wielded a lot of power and influenced politics in a major way through their newspapers. They painted a picture of national and global events in a way that would ensure that the public took a particular side.

The two men accredited with the rise of this type of journalism were arch-rivals, Joseph Pulitzer of the New York World and William Randolph Hearst of the New York Journal. In a heated battle for the readers’ dollar, the two men printed exaggerated headlines loaded with excitement and semi-fabricated stories.

Pulitzer’s publications came with a cartoon strip called “Hogan’s Alley”, created by the cartoonist R.F. Outcault, of whom Hearst was a huge fan. This cartoon, and especially the main character ‘Yellow Kid’, became one of the many objects fought over between Hearst and Pulitzer during their long rivalry. Hearst later hired Outcault away from Pulitzer. However, unwilling to give up his trademark cartoon, Pulitzer hired another cartoonist to imitate the character, resulting in two Yellow Kids, perfectly symbolizing the rivalry between the two papers.

With so much competition, the news became more and more dramatized, so as to stir the most interest in the public and sell more newspapers. The Yellow Kids were used to sensationalize news and bring disrepute to other newspapers.

This widely publicized rivalry led to the label ‘Yellow Journalism’.

Also Read: Why Are Photographs From The Past Sepia Toned?

Cuba had long been a Spanish colony, but the revolutionary movement in Cuba, which had been simmering gently for most of the nineteenth century, intensified during the 1890s.

Pulitzer and Hearst dedicated a great deal of attention and effort towards the Cuban struggle for independence, at times accentuating the harshness of Spanish rule by printing inflammatory stories of brutality, cruelty and inadequate facilities. They stationed reporters and photographers in Cuba to better understand the situation and monitor the events more closely. Among them was the eminent artist Fredrick Remington, who sent a telegram to his boss, Hearst, after arriving in Cuba, stating that there was not much going on there and requesting recall. Hearst denied the request with this famous reply: “You furnish the pictures, I’ll furnish the war.”

Hearst played a major role in the American involvement with Cuba, as the war was a prime opportunity to boost newspaper sales. He published a stolen private letter (the Dupuy de Lôme letter) on February 9, 1898, written by the Spanish Ambassador to the Foreign minister of Spain, which contained unflattering remarks about then-President McKinley. This increased the hatred of the American people towards Spain, feeding their willingness for war.

On February 15, an explosion tore through the hull of a U.S. battleship, the Maine, causing it to sink in the Havana harbor. More than two hundred men lost their lives in the incident. The cause of the explosion was undetermined, but Pulitzer and Hearst, who had been thriving for years by fanning anti-Spanish public opinion in the United States, published rumors blaming the Spanish for plotting the explosion.

The rise of yellow journalism created an environment conducive to an international conflict. Prompted by increased pressure for intervention, President McKinley declared war against Spain in April. Pulitzer and Hearst finally reached their goals—increased circulation, higher profits and war.

Yellow journalism in the late nineteenth century was characterized by headlines that often stretched across the front page, the generous and imaginative use of pictures, graphic representations, the Sunday supplement, bold and experimental layouts sometimes enhanced by the use of color and other innovative techniques. There was a huge tendency to rely on anonymous sources and fake stories, as well as a penchant for self-promotion.

However, most of these characteristics faded after the turn of the twentieth century. A formal code of conduct for print journalism was introduced in 1911 to ensure more ethical media coverage. Objectivity became a formal term in journalism following World War I, which began an era of independence, factuality and impartiality in news reporting.

In spite of this, the characteristics of yellow journalism have not been completely lost. It progressed past its blatant and dishonest ways of reporting, but some of its other contributions remain, such as banner headings, heavy use of pictures, tabloids and the Sunday supplement.

Yellow journalism, which originated in the nineteenth century, continues to live on today, particularly in the “fake news” crisis of the past few years. Reading multiple sources of information and seeking the truth from reliable news outlets is the personal responsibility of every single person, provided you wish to be knowledgeable and avoid looking ignorant in front of your peers!

• Yellow Journalism - iml.jou.ufl.edu
• (2014) Its Yellow Beginnings, the Nineteenth " by Jessica E. Jackson. Notre Dame Law School
• De Lôme Letter (1898) - National Archives |. This result comes from www.ourdocuments.gov
• WORLD WAR II NEWSREELS: THE LEGACY OF YELLOW .... California State University, Fresno
• The Yellow Press - iml.jou.ufl.edu
• U.S. Diplomacy and Yellow Journalism, 1895–1898. The Office of the Historian
• Yellow Journalism | The First Amendment Encyclopedia. Middle Tennessee State University

Sushmitha Hegde is a Commerce graduate from University of Pune. She can say “hello” in 61 different languages, but she is learning Spanish so she can say more. She loves to talk about topics ranging from taxation and finance to history and literature. She is just a regular earthling who laughs at her own jokes, cries while watching movies and is proud of her collection of books!

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Did Yellow Journalism Fuel the Outbreak of the Spanish American War?

By: Lesley Kennedy

Updated: August 22, 2019 | Original: August 21, 2019

The Spanish American War , while dominating the media, also fueled the United States’ first media wars in the era of yellow journalism. Newspapers at the time screamed outrage, with headlines including, “Who Destroyed the Maine? $50,000 Reward,” “Spanish Treachery” and “Invasion!”

But while many newspapers in the late 19th century shifted to more of a tabloid style, the notion that their headlines played a major part in starting the war is often overblown, according to W. Joseph Campbell , a professor of communication at American University in Washington, D.C.

“No serious historian of the Spanish American War period embraces the notion that the yellow press of [ William Randolph] Hearst and [Joseph] Pulitzer fomented or brought on the war with Spain in 1898,” he says.

“Newspapers, after all, did not create the real policy differences between the United States and Spain over Spain's harsh colonial rule of Cuba.”

Newspapers Shift to Feature Bold Headlines and Illustrations

The media scene at the end of the 19th century was robust and highly competitive. It was also experimental, says Campbell. Most newspapers at the time had been typographically bland, with narrow columns and headlines and few illustrations. Then, starting in 1897, half-tone photographs were incorporated into daily issues.

According to Campbell, yellow journalism, in turn, was a distinct genre that featured bold typography, multicolumn headlines, generous and imaginative illustrations, as well as “a keen taste for self-promotion, and an inclination to take an activist role in news reporting.”

In fact, the term "yellow journalism" was born from a rivalry between the two newspaper giants of the era: Joseph Pulitzer’s New York World and William Randolph Hearst's New York Journal. Starting in 1895, Pulitzer printed a comic strip featuring a boy in a yellow nightshirt, entitled the “Yellow Kid.” Hearst then poached the cartoon’s creator and ran the strip in his newspaper. A critic at the  New York Press, in an effort to shame the newspapers' sensationalistic approach, coined the term "Yellow-Kid Journalism" after the cartoon. The term was then shortened to "Yellow Journalism." 

“It was said of Hearst that he wanted New York American readers to look at page one and say, ‘Gee whiz,’ to turn to page two and exclaim, ‘Holy Moses,’ and then at page three, shout ‘God Almighty!’” writes Edwin Diamond in his book, Behind the Times .

That sort of attention-grabbing was evident in the media’s coverage of the Spanish American War. But while the era’s newspapers may have heightened public calls for U.S. entry into the conflict, there were multiple political factors that led to the war’s outbreak.

“Newspapers did not cause the Cuban rebellion that began in 1895 and was a precursor to the Spanish American War,” says Campbell. “And there is no evidence that the administration of President William McKinley turned to the yellow press for foreign policy guidance.”

“But this notion lives on because, like most media myths, it makes for a delicious tale, one readily retold,” Campbell says. “It also strips away complexity and offers an easy-to-grasp, if badly misleading, explanation about why the country went to war in 1898.”

The myth also survives, Campbell says, because it purports the power of the news media at its most malignant. “That is, the media at their worst can lead the country into a war it otherwise would not have fought,” he says.

Sinking of U.S.S. Maine Bring Tensions to a Head

According to the U.S. Office of the Historian , tensions had been brewing in the long-held Spanish colony of Cuba off and on for much of the 19th century, intensifying in the 1890s, with many Americans calling on Spain to withdraw.

“Hearst and Pulitzer devoted more and more attention to the Cuban struggle for independence, at times accentuating the harshness of Spanish rule or the nobility of the revolutionaries, and occasionally printing rousing stories that proved to be false,” the office states. “This sort of coverage, complete with bold headlines and creative drawings of events, sold a lot of papers for both publishers.”

Things came to a head in Cuba on February 15, 1898, with the sinking of the USS Maine in Havana harbor.

“Sober observers and an initial report by the colonial government of Cuba concluded that the explosion had occurred on board, but Hearst and Pulitzer, who had for several years been selling papers by fanning anti-Spanish public opinion in the United States, published rumors of plots to sink the ship,” the Office of the Historian reports. “... By early May, the Spanish American War had begun .”

Despite intense newspaper coverage of the strife, the office agrees that while yellow journalism showed the media could capture attention and influence public reaction, it did not cause the war.

“In spite of Hearst’s often quoted statement—’You furnish the pictures, I’ll provide the war!’—other factors played a greater role in leading to the outbreak of war,” the office states. “The papers did not create anti-Spanish sentiments out of thin air, nor did the publishers fabricate the events to which the U.S. public and politicians reacted so strongly.”

The office further points out that influential figures like Theodore Roosevelt had been leading a drive for U.S. expansion overseas. And that push had been gaining strength since the 1880s.

In the meantime, newspapers’ active voice in the buildup to the war spun forward a shift in the medium.

“Out of yellow journalism’s excess came a fine new model of newspapering,” Geneva Overholser writes in the forward of David Spencer’s book, The Yellow Journalism: The Press and America , “and Pulitzer’s name is now linked with the best work the craft can produce.” 

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