Today’s mass media has been molded by hundreds of years of...

Today’s mass media has been molded by hundreds of years of reporting, journalism, and personal opinions. America’s mainstream media thrives upon stretching the truth and ‘creating’ interesting stories for the public. Tactics like this can be credited to people such as William Randolph Hearst, a newspaper mogul from the late 19th to the 20th centuries. Hearst greatly influenced the practice of American journalism through his wealth, short political career, and use of unorthodox reporting methods such as yellow journalism. Born in San Francisco in 1863 to California gold rush millionaire George Hearst, William Randolph displayed a love for journalism at young age. While attending Harvard College, he wrote for the Harvard Lampoon, the†¦show more content†¦When first using this method, the Examiner mainly reported on government corruption, public institution issues, and ethics controversies. During this time period, writing articles that so greatly stretched the truth was not only legal, but captured readers and immensely increased newspaper sales. Hearst quickly rose to the top in the newspaper world and bought Pulitzer’s New York Morning Journal in 1895 (pbs.org). By this time, competition between Pulitzer and Hearst was so intense that they both lowered the prices of their papers (Pulitzer followed Hearst on this move). To gain the upper hand, Hearst set upon Pulitzer’s staff at the New York World and offered the best writers higher salaries to come work for him in San Francisco (pbs.org). Hearst’s frequent use of yellow journalism continued to contribute to his rise to the top of the media world. His coverage of the Cuban Revolution of 1895 notably increased his newspapers’ popularity by supporting the Cubans and calling for the support of the U.S. government. Even Hearst himself did not personally agree with many of the articles in his papers; however, he published them because the American public loved to read them and his newspaper sales skyrocketed. For example, Hearst’s political party (democrats) harshly opposed U.S. involvement in Cuban Revolution; yet, to sell more papers, Hearst published stories strongly supporting AmericanShow MoreRelatedDeveloping Management Skills404131 Words   |  1617 PagesInterior Design: Suzanne Duda and Michael Fruhbeis Permissions Project Manager: Shannon Barbe Manager, Cover Visual Research Permissions: Karen Sanatar Manager Central Design: Jayne Conte Cover Art: Getty Images, Inc. Cover Design: Suzanne Duda Lead Media Project Manager: Denise Vaughn Full-Service Project Management: Sharon Anderson/BookMasters, Inc. Composition: Integra Software Services Printer/Binder: Edwards Brothers Cover Printer: Coral Graphics Text Font: 10/12 Weidemann-Book Credits and acknowledgments