The power of journalism

 In the Book Mightier than the Sword by Roger Streitmatter, the first chapter I wrote about had to do with how journalism was able to bring down corruption in New York City. In the next chapter that interested me  I read that journalism was able to influence a war to happen that may not have occurred if journalists didn't publish certain information. The two chapters focus on how journalism can be powerful. In the first chapter with William Marcy Tweed, the power of journalism was beneficial to society because it eliminated corruption however in the second chapter which focused on the Spanish American war, the influence of journalism may have caused a war that was negative for society. The second chapter I have decided to write about introduces two journalists who were all about the profit of their work. Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst. Joseph Pulitzer was born in 1847 in Hungary. He eventually came to America as a young man and fought for the North during the civil war. One of the newspapers he started to write for was in St. Louis. He also can be credited with creating his own paper which was called the St. Louis Post Dispatch.  William Randolph Hearst was born in California. He was born into a wealthy family and attended Harvard University after his father payed his way into the University however  Hearst eventually was expelled. Hearst's early work can be credited with working on the San Francisco Examiner which at the time was a paper that lacked money. Hearst worked to decrease the rate of the city water and also wanted to weaken the power of the Southern Pacific Railroad which influenced the republican party.  

Image: 'Newspaper'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9619972@N08/2781329487

So how do these two men come together????

Pulitzer and Hearst come together because they began a competition that was fierce between their newspapers. The two man were obviously trying to sell more papers than the other to increase their profit. During the time of this competition, Spain had ruled Cuba and at the time rebels from Cuba were starting to rebel. Once Pulitzer and Hearst got wind of this they started to write about the rebellion. Hearst compared the rebels in Cuba to the rebels in the thirteen colonies who rebelled against British rule. He tried to show the U.S. government how they were just like our country as we rebelled against another country's rule to become independent. Hearst began to publish information that he either exaggerated or that just didn't make sense because he lacked the truth. A U.S. Navy ship named the U.S.S. Maine had exploded as it was stationed in Cuba. The ship was there to protect the American business that was going on in Cuba. Two Hundred and sixty U.S. sailors died form the incident. Hearst who did not know how the ship exploded, published an article explaining how the Spanish were responsible for exploding the ship.Pulitzer had looked into the situation and by seeing that Hearst blamed Spain, Pulitzer said the ship was blown up by a submarine mine planted by Spain. So here we have two of the most powerful papers at the time publishing information that Spain is responsible for the explosion of the Naval ship when in fact neither of the two (Hearst or Pulitzer) knew this for a fact. How do you think society reacted? Society read what these two powerful papers wrote and they believed in them. Hearst and Pulitzer began to publish more and more articles that pushed for war but showed how President McKinley would not take action. Eventually, the president gave in and on April 19th the U.S. declared war on Spain. 

                             http://www.pbs.org/crucible/frames/_journalism.html

Yellow Journalism 

According to the public broadcasting system (PBS), yellow journalism is the use of melodrama, romance, and hyperbole to help create headlines which attracts readers by the way they right their work. An example of yellow journalism can be exaggerated stories that journalists come up with and yellow journalism can definitely be a reason for why the United States went to war with Spain. After Hearst had accused Spain of sinking the U.S.S. Maine without any evidence to do so, it raised awareness in the United States and the people pushed for war. If we think about it today in our society there are many that aren't happy with the government. Some people will believe everything they read even if nothing backs up the information that is given. Today, people want to hear something different and they may look to the fourth estate when politicians and people with power fail. Sometimes the fourth estate has the power to influence society more so then the government and we see that this happened during the late 1800's. 

http://www.pbs.org/crucible/frames/_journalism.html 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Abzd41k_OhQ&feature=fvst

-Just a video summing up what I had said. The man being interviewed is Kenneth Whyte who actually wrote a book about William Randolph Hearst. The book is called The Uncrowned King: The Sensational Rise of William Randolph Hearst. 

A man who could manipulate because of his power...

In the book Mightier Than The Sword, by Roger Streitmatter I came across a chapter that went into the history of William Marcy Tweed who is also known as "Boss" Tweed. I really did not know much about Tweed until reading the chapter. According to the book he is responsible for scams that he and his associates comprised together which resulted in him earning 200 million dollars from tax payers. He was a robber, but not a robber who took money from you right where you stood. Tweed robbed people by using the strong connections that he possessed within the government. Tweed became apart of the infamous Tammany Hall which was a political organization. Tammany hall back then can be related to political organizations that exist today which try to push for what the organization would like to see.  Tammany hall was a democratic force that was able to influence other politicians. The reason why Tweed became so powerful was because he held so many positions in politics. His highest position was being a member of the New York State Senate. It seems as though back during the 1800s, the ones with money and close relationships with political figures seemed to have the biggest say. It seems now in the year 2012 nothing has changed and the people with money and close political ties still seem to have the biggest vote. William Marcy Tweed was able to prove that his money got him what he wanted.

                                          http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLDI7Gb2FrY



Just a clip from the movie Gangs of New York. The movie is about gangs in the 1800s in New York City that had pull in the political world because of their power. In this scene we see William Marcy Tweed negotiating with one of the heads of a gang. We can get an idea that Tweed would sit down with politicians and people with power to discuss business.

Tammany Hall...

Tammany Hall can be described as the home of Tweed’s operations. Tammany hall once was an organization that rebelled against New York's interests in money however it turned into the home base for "Boss" Tweed. Tammany Hall used a democratic theme and many high officials were apart of the organization. At the time of when Tweed was apart of the organization, he did business with the former Mayor of New York A. Oakey, Richard B. Connolly the City Controller and Peter B. Sweeny who was the director of the Cities Parks. These three men and Tweed can be all put into Tweed’s ring of corruption. The reason why Tweed got everything his way was because of the enormous pull that these men had. They had the money, which gave them the power.

                                                           Image: 'United State of Art' 

                                                              http://www.flickr.com/photos/55943778@N00/3658781959

So how did this man’s power come to an end? How could the untouchable be harmed? Thomas Nast was able to expose the corruption to New York. Thomas Nast was a cartoonist who focused his efforts towards exposing the political corruption to the public. He did this by directly placing Tweed and his associates in cartoons that showed these men taking money. Eventually Nast was able to expose enough images that the public viewed his pictures and believed in what he was saying. I think that it was great that Nast used no words in order to get his point across. All he needed was to draw a sketch and it can describe corruption in the simplest terms. One of Nast’s drawings showed a picture of “Boss” tweed with a head that was a moneybag instead of his actual head. This showed how he was full of money.

         

 It is important to learn from what Nast did. He utilized his freedom of the press and published drawings that helped take out corruption. He did what he could as a citizen. He raised awareness by doing what he could. We can learn from this as a society. As citizens, we have the role of providing information from what we witness in our daily lives. All we have to do is take a picture with our camera phone and we have true information from a valuable source. We learn from Thomas Nast that if you want to end political corruption, you must turn the public against the corrupted by exposing corruption. Nast exposed corruption through his images. We could do the same thing if we feel that something is being taken from us.  

Chapter that interests me

The chapter that interested me the most so far in Mightier Than the Sword was the fourth chapter which is attacking municipal corruption. What I like about the chapter is that it shows how the Fourth estate and journalism is able to take down corruption in the United States government by using cartoons and journalism despite the amount of power that was held within these corrupt officials. In the chapter we see the corruption influenced by William Marcy Tweed and how his power fades away by the power of the press. Today we can look back on how Thomas Nast and the techniques of journalism were able to uncover the truth to eliminate corruption. The reason why I chose this chapter was because I wanted to learn more about William Marcy Tweed and how his power was lost from journalism.

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