116 years ago on an eerie night on the 16th of February when tensions between Spain and the US was at

its peak, the USS Maine was sunk off the coast of Havanna, Cuba. Upon hearing about this disaster, two
rival newspaper publishers, William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer, published multiple twisted and
bias stories that incriminated Spain for the sinking. Such stories had overly exaggerated headlines like,
Destruction of the War Ship Maine was the work of an enemy. The public went into an uproar and
demanded for war. By April 25, 1898, the US and Spain were at war.
The publishing of such biased and outrageous stories goes against current journalistic ethics, but just a
hundred years ago, this form of news reporting was called Yellow Journalism. Made famous by William
Randolph Hearst, this form of journalism fully relied on the use of exaggerated headlines and sensational
text to sell more news. Active mostly during the late 19th century and early 20th century, Yellow
Journalism has been out favored by the truthful reporting methods of todays society but, Yellow
Journalism is still remembered as an influential stage in the development of modern journalism.
William Randolph Hearst was born to George Hearst and Phoebe Apperson Hearst in San Francisco,
California on April 29, 1863. Opportuned with the wealth and riches of his parents, Hearst was able to
receive education from private schools and later attended Harvard University. While at Harvard, Hearst
was inspired by the New York Worlds leading publisher, Joseph Pulitzer, to start a journalistic career. In
1887, Hearst was allowed to run the failing San Francisco Examiner that his father acquired while Hearst
was attending Harvard. Investing heavily in the newspaper, Hearst upgraded the equipment and hired
multiple top-notch writers of the time including Ambrose Bierce, Jack London, and the ever-so-famous
Mark Twain. As an editor, Hearst adopted Yellow Journalism which appealed to the public with its
sensationalized content and in turn increased the circulation of the Examiner.
These early successes kindled Hearsts greed for money and motivated him to go after his former role
model, Joseph Pulitzer. Purchasing the New York Journal, Hearst entered the circulation war against
Pulitzer. Competition was fierce, with Hearst cutting down the price of his newspapers to 1 cent to make
his newspaper readily available for the mass, Pulitzer retaliating by matching the price, and then Hearst
sabotaging the Worlds staff by buying them off one by one. Topping Pulitzers World in 1897, Hearst
emerged as a publishing tycoon with his newspapers having a circulation of around 1.5 million.
In between fighting the circulation war, Hearst started his short lived career as a politician. Although he
was elected into the House of Representatives in 1902 and 1904, his 1906 election for the New York
governance was an utter failure as his attempts to run both his media empire and his political career
proved to be too burdensome for him. Following objection from angered voters, Hearst went back to
solely devoting his time to his newspapers.
By the 1920s, Hearsts media empire grew so large that one out of every four americans read a Hearst
controlled newspaper. His corporation encompassed 20 daily and 11 sunday newspapers in 13 cities,
King Features Syndicate and the International News Service, as well as six magazines including the
Cosmopolitan. At its peak, Hearsts empire had made news readily available to many throughout the
country.
His later years, were full of decline and loss as the Great Depression brought Hearst to his knees. At the
age of 88, William Randolph Hearst died in Beverly Hills, California leaving behind a legacy that would be
well remembered by many.
Hearst, throughout his long and fruitful life revolutionized journalism in ways nobody before had even
thought to be possible. The concept of Yellow Journalism, although considered unethical by modern

journalistic ethics, was nevertheless able to establish that the press held immense power in the
persuasion the public. Back in 1897, if it wasnt for Hearsts biased news controlling the public to demand
war, the Spanish-American War would likely not have happened. With the precedent set by Hearst, the
media is used even in modern times to indirectly sway the public from one side of an issue to the other.
Although William Randolph Hearst was a man motivated by the greed of profit more so than informing the
public, he is nevertheless a well respected revolutionary of journalism.

Sources:
http://www.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_importance_of_yellow_journalism_today
http://www.biography.com/people/william-randolph-hearst-9332973#early-life-and-career