Yellow Journalism
The role of U.S. newspapers in
the Spanish-American War.
Power point created by Robert L. Martinez
http://library.syr.edu/digital/images/s/StreetAndSmith/YellowKid/yellow6.jpg
The Yellow Kid
• In the late 1800’s, one of the best-known New
Yorkers was not a person at all. He was the
Yellow Kid, a character in a wildly popular
newspaper comic strip.
• For a time, the Yellow Kid appeared in 2
newspapers at once, the New York World and
the New York Journal.
http://www.homines.com/comic/comic_01/yellow_kid.jpg
Newspaper War
• The struggle over the Yellow Kid was
part of a larger “newspaper war” in
New York City during the 1890s.
• Joseph Pulitzer, the publisher of the
World faced off against William
Randolph Hearst.
http://www.all-science-fair-projects.com/science_fair_projects_encyclopedia/upload/a/a8/YellowKid.jpeg
• The artist who created the Yellow Kid,
R.F. Outcalt, first sold his comic in 1895
to Pulitzer’s World.
http://library.syr.edu/digital/images/s/StreetAndSmith/YellowKid/yellow5.jpg
• The comic was set in New York’s poor,
rough-and-tumble ethnic neighborhoods and
featured a bald-headed street urchin dressed
in a bright yellow nightshirt.
• The Yellow Kid was an instant success.
http://library.syr.edu/digital/images/s/StreetAndSmith/YellowKid/yellow10.jpg
Comic Strips
• Newspaper comics were new at the
time, and Pulitzer’s World enjoyed a
huge jump in sales.
http://www.komix.it/images/fumetto/Yellow_Kid.jpg
• Not to be outdone, Hearst lured Outcalt
to the Journal by promising him more
money.
• In response, Pulitzer hired another
cartoonist to draw his own version of
the cartoon.
http://www.babyboomers.it/images/the%20yellow%20kid.jpg
Yellow Papers
• Before long, the two newspapers were
flooded with images of the Yellow Kid
and became known as the “Yellow Kid
Papers” or “Yellow Papers.”
http://www.spanamwar.com/Hearstpulitzer.JPG
Yellow Journalism
• The rivalry between the World and the
Journal extended beyond the Yellow Kid
cartoons.
• In their struggle to attract readers, the two
“Yellow Papers” developed an exaggerated
style of reporting.
• Their sensational news stories soon became
known as yellow journalism.
http://www.guiadecuba.com/images/subs/joseph-pulitzer.jpg
• Among these stories were news reports
about other countries.
• One favorite subject was the brutal
suppression of a rebellion in Cuba against
Spanish rule.
• Yellow journalism helped inflame public
support for going to war against Spain.
http://www.historyofcuba.com/gallery/gal5.htm
• The island of Cuba lies just 90 miles off the
coast of Florida, in the Caribbean Sea.
• It was founded as a Spanish colony by
Christopher Columbus in 1492 and later
became one of the world’s leading sugar
producers.
• Hundreds of thousands of slaves worked on
its plantations.
http://amistad.mysticseaport.org/library/images/people/blockson.slave.trade.jpg
• For over three centuries, Cuba was part of
Spain’s vast empire.
• But by the late 1800s, there were just two
Spanish colonies in the Americas: the
islands of Puerto Rico and Cuba.
• A growing independence movement was
threatening Spanish rule in Cuba.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/alphadesigner/281780506/
• During the 1800s, many Cubans had voiced a
desire for self-rule.
• In 1868, a revolutionary group made up of
poor whites, free blacks, and slaves
demanded independence from Spain,
including the end of slavery.
• Spain rejected these demands, eventually
crushing the revolt.
http://www.cuba-junky.com/foto-algemeen/black%20slaves1.jpg
• Spain tried to ease tensions by agreeing to
limited government reforms.
• It gave Cubans some representation in the
government, and it abolished slavery in 1886.
http://www.cubacultura.org/images/cats/slavery2-125.jpg
• Meanwhile, Cuba was coming under the
economic influence of the United States.
• By the mid-1890s, American investment in
Cuba’s sugar plantations had reached
millions of dollars.
• American investors were therefore nervous
about the island’s political instability.
http://www.historyofcuba.com/images/race/Cane.jpg
Cuba Libra
• In 1895, Cubans rebelled again.
• This 2nd struggle for independence was
led by Jose Marti, a Cuban poet,
journalist, and statesman.
http://www.vacances-sejour.ch/cuba/marti/jose-marti-34.jpg
“Like bones to the human body…so is
liberty the essence of life. Whatever is
done without it is imperfect.”
– Jose Marti
http://www.vacances-sejour.ch/cuba/marti/jose-marti-47.jpg
• Forced to leave Cuba because of his
revolutionary activities.
• Marti lived in the U.S. from 1881 to 1895.
• Even while leaving in exile, Marti inspired his
fellow Cubans with calls for liberty.
• In 1895, Marti sailed back to Cuba to lead the
revolt but was soon killed in combat.
http://www.sharlot.org/exhibits/1898/makingawar.htm
• The Cuban rebels engaged in guerilla
warfare, launching surprise attacks against
Spanish forces and fading back into the
countryside.
http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/cubanpatriots.gif
• In 1896, Spain sent a new commander,
General Weyler, to eliminate public support
for the rebels, Weyler forced thousands of
Cubans into concentration camps.
• These overcrowded, unsanitary prison
camps provided little food or shelter, causing
thousands of deaths from disease and
starvation.
http://www.humboldt.edu/~jcb10/spanwar.shtml
• Many Americans sympathized with the
rebellion, seeing it as a struggle for
freedom, like the American Revolution.
http://courses.fresno.edu/tbese/ntaylor/3americanrevolutiondrum.jpg
• Meanwhile, investors feared that the
political unrest was putting their Cuban
investments and property at risk.
http://web.usf.edu/~lc/MOOs/cuba/cuba01.jpg
• Despite public calls for the U.S. to
intervene in Cuba, President Cleveland
followed a policy of strict neutrality.
President Cleveland
http://www.flickr.com/photos/piedmont_fossil/554272740/
• When William Mckinley was elected
president in 1896, he hoped to maintain
neutrality.
• But that would be difficult as the public
increasingly called for the U.S. to help
the rebels.
President McKinley
http://www.tcapsule.com/y2k/Hear_a_Sample_/mckinley-150p.jpg
• Most Americans learned about the events in
Cuba through newspapers and magazines.
• At the time, these were the only forms of
mass media – methods of communicating to
a mass (large) audience.
http://www.inmagine.com/thumbnails/photodisc/pdil145/pdil145028.jpg
http://www.iphotocentral.com/Photos/VintageWorks_Images/Thumb/6791VandorPaperBoy.jpg
• Many newspapers were not as careful in their
reporting as they are today.
• To sell newspapers, publishers like Joseph
Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst
sensationalized the news.
http://www.humboldt.edu/~jcb10/Nekkid.jpeg
“Please remain.
You furnish the
pictures and I'll
furnish the war.”
Hearst
-
Replied William Randolph Hearst, when war
correspondent and illustrator Frederic Remington
telegraphed from Cuba reporting that no war was
imminent.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pantufla/334585126/
• Both the New York World and the New York
Journal saw reporting on the Cuban rebellion
as a good way to gain new readers.
http://static.hcrhs.k12.nj.us/images/mcjournalism/NewYorkJournal.jpg
• Reporters and artists were encouraged to
stretch the truth about the bravery of Cuban
rebels and the horrors of Spanish rule,
especially General “the Butcher” Wyler’s
brutality.
http://www.bsu.edu/web/ksmith/images/sp-amwarcubacartoon.gif
• Many readers were shocked by these
reports.
• Some demanded that the U.S. help Cuba win
independence.
• In this way, yellow journalism helped stir
public support for U.S. intervention to aid the
rebels.
http://www.995.ca/images/surprised.jpg
newspaper.jpg
De Lome Letter
• On February 9, 1898, Hearst’s New York
Journal published a stolen letter written by
Spanish Ambassador de Lome, calling
President McKinley “weak and catering to
the rabble and, besides, a low politician.”
http://www.spanamwar.com/delome.JPG
• Americans were offended by this criticism of
their president.
• The publishing of this letter intensified antiSpanish feelings in the U.S. and underscored
the power of the press to inflame public
opinion.
“Remember the Maine”
• Not long after the De Lome affair, a much
more alarming incident occurred: the sinking
of the battleship USS Maine in Havana
harbor.
• Newspapers around the country responded
with calls of vengeance.
http://www.humboldt.edu/~jcb10/spanwar.shtml
USS Maine
• On February 15, a tremendous explosion
rocked the battleship.
• More than 260 sailors died form the blast.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e8/World98.jpg
• An official navy investigation began
immediately, but the Journal and other
newspapers immediately blamed Spain.
• Hearst’s paper published articles under such
headlines as “The Maine Was Destroyed by
Treachery” and “The Whole Country Thrills
with War Fever.”
http://www.socialstudieshelp.com/Images/MaineHeadline.gif
• In March, the navy issued its report on the
sinking of the Maine. Though the evidence
was sketchy, navy investigators concluded
that the explosion was caused by an
underwater mine.
• The report did not suggest who was
responsible.
http://www.sharlot.org/exhibits/1898/images/resampled/JournalCoverMil211b.JPG
• In 1976, navy researchers who studied the
incident concluded that heat from a fire in a
coal bin exploded a nearby supply of
ammunition.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jsnphotos/482097945/
http://www.uoregon.edu/~caguirre/maine_explosion.jpg
• Despite McKinley’s attempt to avoid war by
armistice (a cessation of hostilities), under
great public pressure, he asks Congress to
declare war.
http://www.whitehousemuseum.org/floor2/treaty-room-1898.jpg
• Congress passed a resolution, a formal
statement about a course of action, recognizing
Cuban independence and authorizing military
force, if necessary, to liberate Cuba.
http://www.humboldt.edu/~jcb10/spanwar.shtml
Declaration of War
On April 25, 1898, Congress declares war
on Spain.
http://static.hcrhs.k12.nj.us/images/mcjournalism/NewYorkJournall.jpg
• American newspapers exaggerated stories
about the Cuban revolt to play on public
sympathies and sell newspapers.
• Yellow journalism helped push the country
toward war.
Nasty little printer's devils spew forth
from the Hoe press in this Puck cartoon
of Nov. 21, 1888.
The short war begins: