"Yellow Journalism is a distinctly American idiom that has found
expression in an astonishing variety of internatonal
settings."-Joesph Campbell
William Randolph Hearst (Picture on left) emerged the term "Yellow Journalism" in 1897. William
has been awarded by many historians as the benefactor of irresponsible reporting and sensationalism. William gained control of a popular paper called the Journal
in 1895 and from there he gained much attention from his unique style of news reporting. Hearst studied journalism at Harvard, where he was influenced
by Pulitzer, who would later become his biggest rival. The Pulitzer, a
prestigious award in American journalism, is most often linked to William Randolph Hearst.
Joseph Pulitzer (Picture on right) was a determined man who never gave up without a fight.
Joseph was born in Hungary, as the eldest son of a prosperous grain merchant. In 1864
he moved to the United States where he later purchased the New York Sun. Two years
later Joseph purchased another paper named the New York World. This purchase would
make him one of the most talked about reporter of all time. The World was Hearst's
biggest competitor in New York City. Both men would go to extremes to try and out do the
other paper. With their egos and the public's appetite for scandals, the World and the Journal continued to
deliver what we now call, "Yellow Journalism."
In a sad attempt to increase newspapers sales the two men found an opportunity to capitalize
on America's patriotism when there was a slight conflict with Spain. To read on more about
the Spanish war go on to my Yellow Press page.
Reporters should avoid using bad styles of reporting which could ultimately
lead to law suits and a loss of a job.
The road to successful News Reporting
When interviewing, Journalists should set a method like the one below when going out into the world. This method is called the GOAL method.
G-Goal (What's your goal)
O-Obstacle (Obstacles you may face)
A-Achievements (How did you overcome these obstacles)
L-Logistics (How did you get to this point)
Nut Graph- Explains the point of the story. What the
story's about.
Inverted Pyramid- This is a technique used by
journalist's in how they organize their story. Its
usually organized like the following:
Convergence- Delivering Information through more
than one media platform.
Beat- A inside person that gets his information from
a number of people in high places.
1.) Why am I concerned about this story?
2.) What is the news? What good would publication
do?
3.) Is the information complete and accurate?
4.) Am I missing a an important point of view?
5.) What does my reader need to know?
6.) How would I feel if the story or photo were a
about me or family member?
7.) What are the likely consequences of
publication?
8.) What are my alternatives?
9.) Will I be able to clearly explain my decision
to anyone who challenges it?
Journalism Definitions Used in Journalism
Lead-there are two general types of leads for a news
story.
a. Summary- Summarizes in the first sentence what
the story is going to be about, It will
answer who, what, when, where and why.
b. Soft- this takes a delayed approach where the
writer tries to draw the reader in.
Here is an another important model that Journalists
should follow when comming up with a story:
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