Chapter 5: "The Newspapers Control the Nation"

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Yes, it is extremely prevelant that in modern-day society, the American news media continually influences the society in which it inhabits; specifically its people. We have all heard of, and more than likely personally experienced cases on a wide spectrum in severity in which either we or individuals in our society have been influenced by the media. This influence, particularly in American news media, has the tendency to have negative connotations, due to the extreme pressure placed upon individuals by the news media to achieve the American standard of beauty through a large focus on celebrity-coverage.

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These issues, although affecting the esteem of thousands of individuals around the world, seem utterly insignificant when they are held up against the journalistic events beginning in 1895, leading to The Spanish-American War. As discussed by Rodger Streitmatter in his book, Mightier Than the Sword, the media that instigated The Spanish-American War was spearheaded by William Randolph Hearst, who was closely shadowed in immoral and falsified journalism by Joseph Pulitzer, in their respective publications The New York Journal and The New York World. The idea of "yellow journalism" was born, and was identified as a brazenly immodest cartoon, "The Yellow Kid."

Publishing half-truths to gain the attention of conflict-thirsty readers, yellow journalism was one of the largest influences a media has ever proven to have had on its society. Perhaps the most significant event and coverage which led to warfare was the explosion of the U.S.S. Maine, which while anchored to oversee Cuba was blown up, killing hundreds of American soldiers. Pointing the blame on the Spanish government, pro-war headlines were to follow the explosion, and eventually the newspapers literally swayed the public into overpowering then-President McKinley's anti-war stance. In reality, the explosion is attributed by many experts to have been an accident aboard the ship, and some fingers even pointing at Hearst himself.

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Below is the illustration originally printed in the New York Journal by Frederic Remington of Spanish officers forcing a gang-like strip search on a young Cuban woman. Portraying this occurrence in such a light was purely propaganda, fueling American citizens to support what would soon become war with the Spanish. In reality, the women of this ship had been searched by a female officer in a private room. This is just a small example of falsified publication in the age of yellow journalism.

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Literally waging a war, it is no wonder Yellow Journalism is referred to as “journalism without a soul.” Hearst became so wealthy off of the soul-less publications, that he was able to afford paying $3,000 per month for reporters and photographers to get first-hand stories, versus the usual $120. One journalist reported back to Hearst, “Everything is quiet… there will be no war…” In response, Hearst allegedly stated, “You furnish the pictures and I’ll furnish the war.” (Streitmatter 75)

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When Hearst fooled Pulitzer and his paper into publishing a completely false story about “Col. Ordonez’s death” just to prove Pulitzer was plagiarizing information, Hearst actually won the trust of the consumers over Pulitzer. In reality, if any newspaper, no matter how credible to begin with, were to publish falsified information just to decrease the circulation of its competitor, that newspaper would be brought to naught, with its entire credibility ruined. It is just one of the responsibilities of any journalist to serve its consumers with the most accurate information; although it is at the end of the day a business, publishing adulterated “news” for the profit of a company is simply unethical.

As an aspiring young American journalist, I find the fact that two extremely successful journalists of the 1800’s were so wrongly influential on their society to be astounding. Although the motive behind these events, the “all-mighty dollar” holds to be the same today, I don’t believe that something to this extent would ever happen again. Although the public has the freedom to choose which information to believe, tabloids and other such publications should be considered more as a source of entertainment than news; as consumers we must be “media literate,” deciding which sources are credible within our heads, and therefore deciding which information we choose to believe.