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.
Although Eric Burns in his book "Infamous Scribblers" demonstrated that the press in early America could be quite raucous, yellow journalism is generally perceived to be a late 1800s phenomenon full of lore and spin, fact and fiction, tall tales, and large personalities. It was aided by advances in technology that allowed faster turnarounds in getting printed news to readers.
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.
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.
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."
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.
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
An artist's illustration of the sinking of the USS Maine in the harbor of Havana, Cuba, was featured largely on the front page of the New York World, which was published by Joseph Pulitzer. The use of large, dramatic images to attract newsstand buyers is one of the characteristics that came about during the age of yellow journalism.
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 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."
Supreme Court has set high bar for restraining the press
Although modern journalistic standards are arguably as high as they have ever been, some Supreme Court decisions have allowed room for sensational coverage and criticism, 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.
