Yellow Journalism

Yellow journalism refers to the style of journalism that features scandals, sensationalism, and unethical or unprofessional practices by news media organizations or journalists. The term originated during the newspaper battles between Joseph Pulitzer's New York World and William Randolph Hearst's New York Journal. It was another newspaper, New York Press, that coined the term yellow journalism in 1897, apparently arising from The Yellow Kid comic strip that both papers featured in their Sunday editions. From 1895 to about 1989, these two papers were accused of sensationalizing news, exaggerating news, and, even, creating news to increase circulation, although both papers reported serious news as well.

In regard to the New York World, Pulitzer's strategy of low cost, high volume, and a mixture of crime stories, games, and ...