Yellow Journalism on The Spanish American War

Spanish American War

$1.25

Monday, April 25, 1898

Vol XCIII, No. 311

Destruction of the War Ship Maine Was The Work of An Enemy

Crisis is at Hand, Spanish Treachery

Yellow Journalism is...

Spain Fires Her First Gun

Yellow Journalism Peak

Display of U.S. power and, in conjunction with the planned visit of a Spanish ship to New York, an effort to defuse growing tensions between US and Spain.

On February 15 1898 an explosion tore through the U.S. battleship, Maine and sunk it in the Havana harbor.

Initial reports by the colonial government of Cuba concluded that the explosion had occurred on board, but Hearst and Pulitzer, who had been selling papers by fanning anti-Spanish public opinion in the United States, published rumors of plots to sink the ship.

Later a U.S. naval investigation stated that the explosion had come from a mine in the harbor, yellow journalism seized upon it and called for war.

By early May, the Spanish-American War had begun.

Style of newspaper reporting that emphasized sensationalism over facts.

Originated in the competition over the New York City newspaper market between major newspaper publishers Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst.

• Richard F. Outcault - Yellow Kid

Cuba had long been a Spanish colony with sparks of revolutionary movements. Many in the US called upon Spain to withdraw from the island, and some even gave material support to the Cuban revolutionaries. Hearst and Pulitzer devoted more and more attention to the Cuban struggle for independence.

Printed false rousing stories.

This sort of coverage, complete with bold headlines and creative drawings of events, sold a lot of papers for both publishers.

We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people. - J.F.K.

Peace Treaty is Ratified. Awful Slaughter

The Spirit of War Prevades The Breasts of All Americans

You furnish the pictures, I'll provide the war!

-William Randolph Hearst

Yellow journalism of this period is significant to the history of U.S. foreign relations in that its centrality to the history of the Spanish American War shows that the press had the power to capture the attention of a large readership and to influence public reaction to international events.

The dramatic style of yellow journalism contributed to creating public support for the Spanish-American War, a war that would ultimately expand the global reach of the United States.

The rise of yellow journalism helped to create a climate conducive to the outbreak of international conflict and the expansion of U.S. influence overseas.

Moreover, influential figures such as Theodore Roosevelt led a drive for U.S. overseas expansion that had been gaining strength since the 1880s.

La Epoca

Thesis...

Yellow journalism expanded in the 1890-1900s as more newspapers became desperate to sell copies and make money. As a result, editors went so far as to feed on the nationalistic emotions and create a crisis with Cuba all in a quest to sell newspapers.