Yellow journalism is a type of journalism that contained exaggerated stories paired with eye-catching photos, drawing many readers. Historians throughout the years have postulated that this is the cause for the Spanish-American War; however this is deceitful. Although many articles were intentionally made to anger Americans, thus causing war, the yellow press had no effect on the decision to declare war against Spain. William Randolph Hearst, a person often credited with beginning the yellow press genre, made an unsuccessful attempt to start a war. President Mckinley had his own reasons to announce war with Spain that were completely unrelated to yellow journalism.
The term-yellow journalism was first used to describe William Randolph
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Newspapers that did not fit the genre, yellow journalism, also covered stories of the ongoing fight between Spain and Cuba. Two examples are New York Herald and the New York Sun. These newspapers were known for sometimes surpassing even the Journal in the amount of aggressiveness. An excerpt from one of their articles proves without a doubt how antagonistic they could write. They claimed the Spanish were, “guilty of deeds which no other modern army would perpetrate. If there be an American whose blood does not boil when he reads them, or who would not take up arms to put a stop to them, his Americanism is bogus, and is manhood is a mockery of the world.” The yellow press was also not the only one that spread rumors. The New York Press claimed that the first move by the American Navy would be to capture Havana if there were to be war with Spain. Both the New York Press and New York Sun published an article of Weyler’s possible dismissal and departure from Cuba. It is completely unfair to only credit the yellow press for being the only type of newspaper to continuously write aggressively about Spain’s control over Cuba, and then saying they could actually shape the opinions of
The Spanish-American War was a war focused on control over Cuba. As previously stated, Spain touted a powerful navy, victory would cause the entire world to notice and give the United States a seat at the international table. Americans took notice of Spanish brutality to Cuban uprisings attempting to gain freedom and were sympathetic to the Cuban people. Fighting for our independence was fresh on the minds of Americans who began to support Cuban freedom from Spain. Dispatching the USS Maine off the coast of Cuba proved to be a fateful strategic move made by President McKinley because just days after on February 15th 1898 the ship was destroyed, killing over 250 sailors. Although believed to be an accident, yellow journalists ran with the story of war receiving overwhelming support from the public. War was declared in April of 1898 and just after
The era of yellow journalism initiated the role of influencing public opinion on outside affairs in Spain. Document 5 illustrates two largely known
The greatest cause of the Spanish American War was “Cuba’s heartfelt request for freedom” (pg. 616). America tried not to become embroiled in the conflict, but several events and the usage of propaganda turned the United States against Spain. “Propaganda such as the yellow press further fueled tensions between the two sides. The yellow press displayed negative messages and images which reached large audiences and proved effective in demonizing the enemy and turning others against Spain” (pg. 616). “American sympathy was one of the largest factors that contributed to the decision for war” (pg. 616).
In the mid-1800s, Spain ruled the island of Cuba. the United States, at that time, received most of Cuba's exports, and they supported the Cuban independence movement; if Cuba was independent, then the United States would benefit from the country. Soon, the big U.S. presses, such as The New York Journal and The New York World, knew that the event was in the people's feelings. They sensationalized their headlines and graphic features to attract readers, which soon was known as "yellow journalism". The press also knew a lot of the reader's interests, and they exaggerated their news. During the January of 1898, the United States sent the USS Maine, which is a battleship, to Havana, which is the capital of Cuba, in order to halt the riots between
Assess the importance of TWO of the following in the US decision to declare war against Spain in 1898: yellow journalism, sinking of the Maine, US business interests, Cuban revolution
Yellow Journalism follows this because that is what William Randolph Hurst and Pulitzer were using to persuade the audience, the idea of overdoing a story so it will make the public feel a certain way and in this case it made the public want to help Cuba.
Nationalism was another major factor in declaring war against Spain. Nationalism emerged in the United States and all of its people seemed to support the war. The “yellow press” printed multiple stories of scandals, including the explosion of the Maine in the Havana harbor. The yellow press printed that the Spanish were responsible for this action, which led to the slogan “Remember the Maine.” Nationalism and pride surged within the United States and war became imminent. The “rough riders,” who were volunteers from the United States, invaded the Santiago harbor in order to drive out Spanish ships. They paved the way for the American army and forced Spain to sign an armistice. After the war was over and the Cubans were free, The Platt Amendment was passed. It provided that Cuba had to state in its own constitution that the US might intervene with troops in Cuba in order to restore order and to provide mutual protection. It also promised to sell or lease naval stations to the US. The doctrine of Manifest Destiny also played a major part in the war. The US wanted to expand its country and spread its Anglo-Saxon culture. Imperialism was also part of this objective.
While public tensions before August 1898 were surely high, nothing turned the public against Spain like the tragic blowing up of the USS Maine in Havana Harbor. The lives of 260 American officers and men were lost. The yellow press and American investigators quickly blamed spanish officials in Cuba for the mysterious wreck. Although it is extremely unlikely that the spanish had anything to do with the Maine’s sinking, the War-Mad American public accepted this conclusion out of rage, overwhelmingly persuading President Mckinley to begin the war. McKinley personally did not want to fight a war against Spain, for he had seen enough bloodshed as a General in the Civil War. But the public, encouraged by the Cuban patriotic cause, yellow journalism, and the sinking of the Maine, clamored for a war. Finally, President McKinley yielded and gave the people what they wanted. He believed that the people should rule, even if they don’t know what’s best for themselves. Public pressure was the main reason we went to war with Spain, and the biggest cultivator of public unrest was the blowing up of “The Maine”.
my grandfather Ronald Alan Woodward was born in 1943 he grew up in a small county in oregan called hay county. There in hay county he grew up on a farm milking cows.He lived in hay county with his four sibilings.While my grandfather lived on the farm the only way he would get to eat dinner was to milk the cows.So everyday he would wake up at 4 o’clock and milk cows with his brothers and sister. He moved 5 times from county to county until his family decided to stay in hay.My grandfathers family wasnt rich so every year my grandfather got to play one sport and he would always choose to play football.Because he was always working anything else like playing football would be his most favorit thing to do.
Radio was a very important transmission mode. The radio’s main function was to deliver citizens the necessary information in a way that was easy to understand, while at the same time making sure the news agencies earned sufficient ratings and to profit. The radio companies had to make the radio programming easy to understand to the average citizen, because “[t]he education of many Americans had ended after freshman year in high school. (Horten, p.
The major underlying reasons behind the Spanish-American War were simply extensions of the jingoism and slandering journalism trends in the U.S. during the late 19th century. Although the Spanish
Around the late 1800s, Spain was having a hard time with preventing Cuban’s from fighting for their independence. The revolts led Spain to send over General Valeriano Weyler, to put a stop to the protests. Consequently, he had anyone suspected of supporting independence, removed from the general population, and sent to concentration camps. Newspaper publishers, William R. Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer, gave the word out to the American people, with the use of a little Yellow journalism--journalism based upon sensationalism and crude exaggeration, in an attempt to create disgust towards the Spanish government's actions. The American people, with their moral beliefs, and pride in their military might, decided to put into action the long-dormant
There were a plethora of important events that took place that prompted the beginning of The Spanish American war. The war was officially started in 1898, bringing joy to the citizens of America and dismay to then president William Mckinley. Before the war, Cuba had been fighting for independence from Spain. The Cuban’s had already lost in the ten year war earlier, which had been fought to gain their independence from Spain. In the state's, newspapers and other media sources were greatly exaggerating the horrors and atrocities being
According to an article written in (His.state.gov), Yellow journalism was a style of newspaper reporting that emphasized sensationalism over facts. In the late 19th century it was one of many factors that persuaded the United States and Spain into war in Cuba
Yellow Journalism is a type of publishment in the newspaper that seems to be nothing more than a huge exaggeration to grab the reader's attention. An article like this is meant to catch the eyes of a customer and increase newspaper sales. The document I reviewed was an article in a newspaper from late in the 1800’s. The newspaper headline is titled, “Maine Explosion caused by Bomb or Torpedo?” There were many debates about who blew up the Battleship of Maine and how it happened.