Customer Reviews

Pulitzer

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Joseph Pulitzer was born in Hungary and came to the United States to fight in the Civil War. After the war, he got involved in the newspaper field in St. Louis, establishing the "Post-Dispatch" as one of the most dominent newspapers in the West. He came to NYC after his chief editorial writer shot and killed a lawyer, which caused the paper to lose money and reputation. In NYC he bought the "World" and increased its circulation and revenue many times over.

Pulitzer promoted the kind of journalism that would be categorized as "sensationalism" today. His paper was on the side of labor in what was probably the biggest issue (trust-busting) of the day. He also engaged in fierce competition with the Hearst papers, which produced some of the sleaziest journalism of all time. He went blind later in life and spent much of his time as a semi-invalid aboard his yacht. He, of course, established the prizes that are named after him.

Swanberg's biography is full, detailed, and well written. In some instances he writes in a way that would have pleased Pulitzer's stylistic tastes perfectly: Pulitzer in his NY paper was a big supporter of Grover Cleveland for President, but before that, he almost refused to pay Jay Gould's inflated price for purchasing the "World" until Pulitzer's wife changed his mind. Thus Swanberg writes: "Here is where the charming Mrs. Pulitzer unwittingly saved Grover Cleveland and the Democratic party, at the same time striking a fatal blow at Blaine and the Republicans." It was that kind of inflated writing that Pulitzer specialized in. Swanberg deals fairly and honestly with his subject, and the result is an excellent biography on one of journalism's great giants.

From the dustjacket,'Mr. Swanberg accomplishes three difficult things in Pulitzer. He vivdly renders the social and political background. He shows precisely how Pulitzer made the World a great paper, how he fought his competitors, and how he affected the nation's affairs. The third and most difficult accomplishment is the portrait of Joseph Pulitzer.'
The Pulitzer code was used for secrecy in communication, and filled about 250 pages of at least 20,00 coded names and terms.