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Yellow journalism is a pejorative reference to journalism that features scandal-mongering, sensationalism, jingoism or other unethical or unprofessional practices by news media organizations or individual journalists.

The term originated during the circulation battles between Joseph Pulitzer's New York World and William Randolph Hearst's New York Journal from 1895 to about 1898, and can refer specifically to this period. Both papers were accused by critics of sensationalizing the news in order to drive up circulation, although the newspapers did serious reporting as well. The New York Press coined the term "Yellow Journalism" in early 1897 to describe the papers of Pulitzer and Hearst. The newspaper did not define the term, and in 1898 simply elaborated, "We called them Yellow because they are Yellow."

In popular culture

In many movies, sitcoms and other works of fiction, reporters often use yellow journalism against the main character, which typically works to set up the reporter character as an antagonist.

For instance in the Spider-Man franchise, publisher J. Jonah Jameson spitefully and constantly smears the superhero in his Daily Bugle despite having his suspicions repeatedly proven wrong. Likewise, in the 1997 James Bond movie Tomorrow Never Dies, an evil media magnate tries to start a war between Great Britain and China via sensationalized news stories; in the movie, the villain even alludes to Hearst's role in the Spanish-American War. In Thomas Harris's novel Red Dragon, from the Hannibal Lecter series, a sleazy yellow journalist named Freddy Lounds, who writes for the National Tattler tabloid, is tortured and set aflame for penning a negative article about serial killer Francis Dolarhyde.

In the movie Bob Roberts, Senator Roberts characterises media investigations into his business dealings (and particularly the links between his anti-drugs charity and CIA drug trafficking) as "yellow journalism".

Currency

The term has largely fallen into disuse as the media world has grown both in scope and in complexity.

The gentler pejorative "infotainment" was coined more recently to refer to generally inoffensive news programming that shuns serious issues, but blends "soft" journalism and entertainment rather than emphasizing more important news values. When infotainment involves celebrity sex scandals, dramatic (or dramatized) "true crime" stories and similar trivia, it borders on the tricks of old-fashioned yellow journalism.

Corporate media is another recent pejorative, when applied to news conglomerates whose business interests critics see as counter to the public interest. For example, such media may avoid incisive reporting on influential corporations or limit public information about proposed government regulation of media industries. Collusion between political, business and media worlds sometimes brings allegations of illegal or unethical practices ranging from fraud to antitrust violations.

While bland infotainment and unethical corporate media practices may be considered "yellow" in the sense of "cowardly," the term yellow journalism traditionally refers to news organizations for whom some combination of sensationalism, profiteering, propaganda, journalistic bias or jingoism takes dominance over factual reporting and the profession's public trust. Yellow journalism is not as subtle a concept as media bias.

With some exceptions, most journalists have built their careers and reputation through consistent and thorough professionalism, gaining respect and prominence. Although presentation, appearance and personality is important for News anchors, a perceived lack of journalism skills (as with Peter Jennings during his first stint as an ABC News anchor in the 60s, or more recently in Connie Chung's stint behind the desk at CBS) will ultimately hinder a career.

A current perceived rift is therefore more akin to a segmentation according to definitions of "news." The public still attaches to "news" the connotations of "journalism." Because of these developments, the common definition of "news" no longer belongs in the domain of journalists, but to wider television and internet media outlets over a vast spectrum of target issues and audiences. The proliferation of web media has in a certain sense re-validated journalistic ethics: reports that conform best tend to be treated as more authoritative. "Pseudo-news" organizations draw general audiences, who tend to fall into market demographics that each favor particular blends of issues-based entertainment along with their "news."

Reputation and ethics do not necessarily coincide at all times. Well-established institutions such as the New York Times can be at fault. Many journalists find conflicts between their employment and their professionalism as journalists.

See also

• Parachute journalism
• Supermarket tabloid
• Culture of Fear
• Moral Panic
• James Creelman

References

1. Campbell, W. Joseph, The Spanish-American War: American Wars and the Media in Primary Documents, Introduction

• George W. Auxier, "Middle Western Newspapers and the Spanish American War, 1895-1898," Mississippi Valley Historical Review, 26 (March 1940):
• Procter, Ben. William Randolph Hearst: The Early Years, 1863-1910 (1998)
• Emory, Edwin and Michael. The Press and America. 4th ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ; Prentice Hall, 1984
• Joyce Milton, The Yellow Kids: Foreign correspondents in the heyday of yellow journalism." New York: Harper & Row, 1989).
• Nasaw, David, The Chief: The Life of William Randolph Hearst. Boston; Houghton Mifflin, 2000
• Morton M. Rosenberg and Thomas P. Ruff, Indiana and the Coming of the Spanish-American War, Ball State Monograph, No. 26, Publications in History, No. 4 (Muncie: Ball State University, 1976) who say Indiana papers were "more moderate, more cautious, less imperialistic and less jingoistic than their eastern counterparts."
• W. David Sloan and James D. Startt, The Gilded Age Press, 1865-1900 (2003)
• Harold J. Sylvester, “The Kansas Press and the Coming of the Spanish-American War, ” The Historian, 31 (February 1969) finds no Yellow journalism influence on the newspapers in Kansas.
• Swanberg, W.A. Pulitzer. New York; Charles Scribner's Sons, 1967.
• Mark M. Welter, "The 1895-1898 Cuban Crisis in Minnesota Newspapers: Testing the 'Yellow Journalism' Theory," Journalism Quarterly, 47 (Winter 1970): 719—24.

External links

• Not likely sent: The Remington-Hearst 'telegrams' from W. Joseph Campbell's web site.

• Dictionary definition.

Notes

• Criticism of journalism
• American media history
• Pejorative political terms
• News media