Title: Yellow Journalism
1Yellow 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/StreetAndS
mith/YellowKid/yellow6.jpg
2The Yellow Kid
- In the late 1800s, 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.j
pg
3Newspaper 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_f
air_projects_encyclopedia/upload/a/a8/YellowKid.jp
eg
4- The artist who created the Yellow Kid, R.F.
Outcalt, first sold his comic in 1895 to
Pulitzers World.
http//library.syr.edu/digital/images/s/StreetAndS
mith/YellowKid/yellow5.jpg
5- The comic was set in New Yorks 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/StreetAndS
mith/YellowKid/yellow10.jpg
6Comic Strips
- Newspaper comics were new at the time, and
Pulitzers World enjoyed a huge jump in sales.
http//www.komix.it/images/fumetto/Yellow_Kid.jpg
7- 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/the20yellow20ki
d.jpg
8Yellow 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
9Yellow 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-pulit
zer.jpg
10- 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
11- 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
worlds leading sugar producers. - Hundreds of thousands of slaves worked on its
plantations.
http//amistad.mysticseaport.org/library/images/pe
ople/blockson.slave.trade.jpg
12- For over three centuries, Cuba was part of
Spains 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/2817805
06/
13- 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/black20sl
aves1.jpg
14- 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/slavery2-12
5.jpg
15- Meanwhile, Cuba was coming under the economic
influence of the United States. - By the mid-1890s, American investment in Cubas
sugar plantations had reached millions of
dollars. - American investors were therefore nervous about
the islands political instability.
http//www.historyofcuba.com/images/race/Cane.jpg
16Cuba 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-mart
i-34.jpg
17- Like bones to the human bodyso is liberty the
essence of life. Whatever is done without it is
imperfect. - Jose Marti
http//www.vacances-sejour.ch/cuba/marti/jose-mart
i-47.jpg
18- 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.ht
m
19- 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
20- 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
21- Many Americans sympathized with the rebellion,
seeing it as a struggle for freedom, like the
American Revolution.
http//courses.fresno.edu/tbese/ntaylor/3americanr
evolutiondrum.jpg
22- 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
23- 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/55427
2740/
24- 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_/mckinle
y-150p.jpg
25- 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/pdil1
45/pdil145028.jpg
http//www.iphotocentral.com/Photos/VintageWorks_I
mages/Thumb/6791VandorPaperBoy.jpg
26- 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
27Please 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/
28- 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
29- 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 Wylers brutality.
http//www.bsu.edu/web/ksmith/images/sp-amwarcubac
artoon.gif
30- 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.
newspaper.jpg
http//www.995.ca/images/surprised.jpg
31De Lome Letter
- On February 9, 1898, Hearsts 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
32- Americans were offended by this criticism of
their president. - The publishing of this letter intensified
anti-Spanish feelings in the U.S. and underscored
the power of the press to inflame public opinion.
http//www.humboldt.edu/jcb10/spanwar.shtml
33Remember 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
34USS 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/Worl
d98.jpg
35- An official navy investigation began immediately,
but the Journal and other newspapers immediately
blamed Spain. - Hearsts 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/MaineHeadl
ine.gif
36- 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/resamp
led/JournalCoverMil211b.JPG
37- 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.j
pg
38- Despite McKinleys 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
39- 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
40Declaration of War
- On April 25, 1898, Congress declares war on Spain.
http//static.hcrhs.k12.nj.us/images/mcjournalism/
NewYorkJournall.jpg
41- 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.
42The short war begins
A Splendid Little War