Yellow Journalism

1. Yellow 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/StreetAndSmith/YellowKid/yellow6.jpg

2. The Yellow Kid • In the late 1800’s, 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.jpg

3. Newspaper 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_fair_projects_encyclopedia/upload/a/a8/YellowKid.jpeg

4. The artist who created the Yellow Kid, R.F. Outcalt, first sold his comic in 1895 to Pulitzer’s World. http://library.syr.edu/digital/images/s/StreetAndSmith/YellowKid/yellow5.jpg

5. The comic was set in New York’s 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/StreetAndSmith/YellowKid/yellow10.jpg

6. Comic Strips • Newspaper comics were new at the time, and Pulitzer’s 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/the%20yellow%20kid.jpg

8. Yellow 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

9. Yellow 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-pulitzer.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 world’s leading sugar producers. • Hundreds of thousands of slaves worked on its plantations. http://amistad.mysticseaport.org/library/images/people/blockson.slave.trade.jpg

12. For over three centuries, Cuba was part of Spain’s 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/281780506/

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/black%20slaves1.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/slavery2-125.jpg

15. Meanwhile, Cuba was coming under the economic influence of the United States. • By the mid-1890s, American investment in Cuba’s sugar plantations had reached millions of dollars. • American investors were therefore nervous about the island’s political instability. http://www.historyofcuba.com/images/race/Cane.jpg

16. Cuba 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-marti-34.jpg

17. “Like bones to the human body…so is liberty the essence of life. Whatever is done without it is imperfect.” – Jose Marti http://www.vacances-sejour.ch/cuba/marti/jose-marti-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.htm

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/3americanrevolutiondrum.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/554272740/

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_/mckinley-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/pdil145/pdil145028.jpg http://www.iphotocentral.com/Photos/VintageWorks_Images/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

27. “Please remain. You furnish the pictures and I'll furnish the war.” - Replied William Randolph Hearst, when war correspondent and illustrator Frederic Remington telegraphed from Cuba reporting that no war was imminent. Hearst 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” Wyler’s brutality. http://www.bsu.edu/web/ksmith/images/sp-amwarcubacartoon.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. http://www.995.ca/images/surprised.jpg newspaper.jpg

31. De Lome Letter • On February 9, 1898, Hearst’s 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

33. “Remember 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

34. USS 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/World98.jpg

35. An official navy investigation began immediately, but the Journal and other newspapers immediately blamed Spain. • Hearst’s 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/MaineHeadline.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/resampled/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.jpg

38. Despite McKinley’s 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

40. Declaration 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. Nastylittle printer's devils spew forth from the Hoe press in this Puck cartoon of Nov. 21, 1888.

42. The short war begins: A Splendid Little War