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.