A History of Yellow Journalism

Yellow journalism was a style of newspaper reporting that emphasized sensationalism over facts in the late 19th century. The term originated in the competition over the New York City newspaper market between major newspaper publishers Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst. Pulitzer and Hearst competed fiercely for the New York City newspaper market, using lurid features and crusades against corruption and injustice to attract readers and increase circulation. Some historians argue that yellow journalism influenced the United States to enter the Spanish-American War by exaggerating the conflicts in Cuba and the Philippines. The original use of the term “yellow journalism” came from the vicious circulation wars that the New York papers engaged themselves in during the late 1800s. In 1883, Joseph Pulitzer moved to New York and purchased the New York World after a successful stint in St. Louis. Pulitzer’s New York World and William Randolph Hearst’s New York Journal competed fiercely for readership by sensationalizing news stories with headlines that were designed to provoke outrage or shock.