“The Yellow Kid” was the first to create yellow journalism in cartoon strip, by Richard Frank Outcault was ran from 1895 from 1898. “Yellow Kid” named Mickey Dugan was created from areas and culture of life in the slums of New York called Hogan’s Alley. The cartoon also created a balloon style comics for the future. “The Yellow Kid” was to create a medium of racial tension, to depict situation if you were to living in the ghetto. “Yellow Kid” was not just a character but a route for yellow journalism. Richard F. Outcault became widely known while under Pulitzer but was hired away to the New York Journal and was hired under William Randolph Hearst. Soon after it created conflict with America and Spain in which they battled. With the newspapers deciding over Cuba instead of Spain the American- Spain war was on front page of newspapers.

R.F. Outcault (1863-1928)

Richard Outcault is an important part of “Yellow Journalism.” He was born in Ohio and later moved to Cincinnati to attend the McMicken University’s School of Design. Outcault was first hired by Pulitzer with New York World where he was the cartoonist and created Hogan’s Alley. Later he left to the New York Journal with Hearst and created “The Yellow Kid.” In theory, Outcault ignited the feud between Hearst and Pulitzer. They both fought for him or specifically for their circulation. With the help of Outcault “Yellow Journalism” became more than sensational stories it was also known for it’s incredible comics that depicted common man issues as well as political issues. Let’s not forgot that Outcault’s comic “The Yellow Kid” is also responsible for the title of “Yellow Journalism.”

Founder of “Yellow Journalism” (1847-1911)

Joseph Pulitzer, another founder of “Yellow Journalism”, was actually Hungarian-born. He traveled from Hungary to Boston where he then moved to New York. When Pulitzer acquired enough money he was able to purchase the New York World. Pulitzer was the first to publish a comic in color which was the famous Yellow Kid. This gained his newspaper huge circulation and so the war between him and Hearst began. They are the founders of “Yellow Journalism” because without their need to outdo each other they gave birth to a new form of journalism. They created entertainment, shared views with the common man, and a new culture.

Citizen Kane, an acclaimed drama film actor Oren Welles and producer. The film was praised for its cinematography, music, and also for its narrative. The film is about a William Randolph Hearst a pioneer of yellow journalism. Unlike Pulitzer, Hearst was known to be in the public eye distributing newspaper and also being the first to produce visual mass media, such as television and film. the film is the imitation of William Randolph Hearst life played by Oren Welles as Charles Foster Kane. Welles also depicted situations from his life as well. The film was not received well by Hearst so it was to be publicized in his newspaper. Citizen Kane nominated for several academy awards and winning one for Academy award Best Writing (original screenplay). Citizen Kane is known to some to be the greatest film of time.

Modern day yellow journalism is being used today in tabloids, known for their exaggerating headlines, falsely written statements and interviews. Tabloids expose famous and political people and also encourage reality personalities to instant fame. Tabloids use big bright letters and intriguing headlines and usually for sell at the check stands for impulse buys . Tabloids  goal is captivate the reader by using bold bright letter and headlines that are exaggerated by editors. the sole purpose is to have a high circulation then the previous day. The bold caption catches the eye of an unwanted reader. Tabloids only purpose is to sell copies and save stories for the next day. All tabloids use these methods just like newspapers started in the early 1890s, but with the vast learning in technology yellow journalism can become a viral epidemic all on its own.

Founder of “Yellow Journalism”(1863-1951)

William Randolph Hearst was one of the founders of “Yellow Journalism”. He inherited the San Francisco Examiner in 1887 from his father, George Hearst. Later after moving to New York, Hearst purchased the New York Journal. He encountered problems with another competing newspaper, New York World. This competition was the start of “Yellow Journalism”. Hearst battled for circulation with eye-popping titles and scandalous stories. He was even able to hire his competitors’ top editors who supposedly preferred Hearst way of handling the newspaper. Without the rivalry between Hearst and his competitor one might say the “Yellow Journalism” could not have existed.

The peak of yellow journalism, in terms of both intensity and influence, came in early 1898, when a U.S. battleship, the Maine, sunk in Havana harbor. The naval vessel had been sent there not long before in a display of U.S. power and, in conjunction with the planned visit of a Spanish ship to New York, an effort to defuse growing tensions between the United States and Spain. On the night of February 15, an explosion tore through the ship’s hull, and the Maine went down. Sober observers and an initial report by the colonial government of Cuba concluded that the explosion had occurred on board, but Hearst and Pulitzer, who had for several years been selling papers by fanning anti-Spanish public opinion in the United States, published rumors of plots to sink the ship. When a U.S. naval investigation later stated that the explosion had come from a mine in the harbor, the proponents of yellow journalism seized upon it and called for war. By early May, the Spanish-American War had begun.

Yellow journalism was a style of newspaper reporting that emphasized sensationalism over facts. During its heyday in the late 19th century it was one of many factors that helped push the United States and Spain into war in Cuba and the Philippines, leading to the acquisition of overseas territory by the United States.

Frank Luther Mott defines yellow journalism in terms of five characteristics:^[3]

1. scare headlines in huge print, often of minor news
2. lavish use of pictures, or imaginary drawings
3. use of faked interviews, misleading headlines, pseudoscience, and a parade of false learning from so-called experts
4. emphasis on full-color Sunday supplements, usually with comic strips
5. dramatic sympathy with the “underdog” against the system.

The rise of yellow journalism helped to create a climate conducive to the outbreak of international conflict and the expansion of U.S. influence overseas, but it did not by itself cause the war. In spite of Hearst’s often quoted statement—“You furnish the pictures, I’ll provide the war!”—other factors played a greater role in leading to the outbreak of war. The papers did not create anti-Spanish sentiments out of thin air, nor did the publishers fabricate the events to which the U.S. public and politicians reacted so strongly. Moreover, influential figures such as Theodore Roosevelt led a drive for U.S. overseas expansion that had been gaining strength since the 1880s. Nevertheless, yellow journalism of this period is significant to the history of U.S. foreign relations in that its centrality to the history of the Spanish American War shows that the press had the power to capture the attention of a large readership and to influence public reaction to international events. The dramatic style of yellow journalism contributed to creating public support for the Spanish-American War, a war that would ultimately expand the global reach of the United States.(historystate.gov)