Yellow Journalism: Puncturing the Myths, Defining the Legacies [Paperback]

W. Joseph Campbell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 30, 2003 | ISBN-10: 0275981134 | ISBN-13: 978-0275981136

This offers a detailed and long-awaited reassessment of one of the most maligned periods in American journalism—the era of the yellow press. The study challenges and dismantles several prominent myths about the genre, finding that the yellow press did not foment—could not have fomented—the Spanish-American War in 1898, contrary to the arguments of many media historians. The study presents extensive evidence showing that the famous exchange of telegrams between the artist Frederic Remington and newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst—in which Hearst is said to have vowed to furnish the war with Spain—almost certainly never took place. The study also presents the results of a systematic content analysis of seven leading U. S. newspapers at 10 year intervals throughout the 20th century and finds that some distinguishing features of the yellow press live on in American journalism.

The yellow press period in American journalism history has produced many powerful and enduring myths-almost none of them true. This study explores these legends, presenting extensive evidence that:

· The yellow press did not foment-could not have fomented-the Spanish-American War in 1898, contrary of the arguments of many media historians

· The famous exchange of telegrams between the artist Frederic Remington and newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst-in which Hearst is said to have vowed to furnish the war with Spain-almost certainly never took place

· The readership of the yellow press was not confined to immigrants and people having an uncertain command of English, as many media historians maintain

The study also presents the results of a detailed content analysis of seven leading U.S. newspapers at 10-year intervals, from 1899 to 1999. The content analysis—which included the Denver Post, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Raleigh News and Observer, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, San Francisco Examine and Washington Post—reveal that some elements characteristic of yellow journalism have been generally adopted by leading U. S. newspapers. This critical assessment encourages a more precise understanding of the history of yellow journalism, appealing to scholars of American journalism, journalism history, and practicing journalists.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Yellow Journalism, Puncturing the Myths, Defining the Legacies is an extensively researched, well-written, and myth-shattering study of the phenomenon of yellow journalism. W. Joseph Campbell uses a careful reading of the newspapers and periodicals of the era to create the best picture to date of the yellow journalism era. He corrects errors in interpretation and establishes a clearer, more accurate picture of the time period and the phenomenon. This is a must read' for all interested in this topic."-Dr. Margaret Blanchard William Rand Kenan Jr. Professor University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Book Description

Challenges conventional wisdom and punctures the prominent myths about an important, but much-misunderstood, period in American journalism history.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Praeger (March 30, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0275981134
• ISBN-13: 978-0275981136
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,415,843 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars The difficulty with this book..., December 20, 2005

By 

Hallie - See all my reviews

This review is from: Yellow Journalism: Puncturing the Myths, Defining the Legacies (Paperback)

The people who would most likely purchase this book should heed caution for a few reasons.

To the scholar/student/historian looking to write a paper about the yellow press, Spanish-American war, or effects of the media on the public during times of war:
First of all, the book is so topic-specific that it serves very little purpose other than to describe the circumstances of the yellow press during the Spanish-American war. Not only does it go into great depths to explain (in hundreds of pages) what happened over the course of 3 months, but it works to disproves conventional wisdom. Considering this is one of the only resources out there that disagrees with the notion that the media caused the public to rally for war against Spain, writing a paper agreeing with this book means that the scholar will have few other sources to back their claim.

To any reader:
The language of this book is so verbose that it loses the reader's attention. Maintaining focus on the message becomes difficult when in every sentence the reader must recall vocabulary words not studied since prepping for the SATs. Sometimes the author seems to be writing purely for the sake of deperately trying to prove his intelligence instead of wanting the reader to understand his points. Indeed, his points are so muddled in bombast that comprehending main themes is virtually impossible. The author would do best remembering that persuading the audience is done correctly by validity of ideas, not by how well they are packaged.

I can think of no reason this book would be of use to anyone-- too few sources exist that support the premise of this book for scholars to use it as research, and anyone else who would use this book to learn more about the conditions of the late 1800's should turn to other books that are more reader-friendly.

2 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book!!, April 17, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Yellow Journalism: Puncturing the Myths, Defining the Legacies (Hardcover)

this book gave a really good perspective on yellow journalism. the book also gave very good and detailed information. i reccomend this book to anyone doing any sort of research on yellow journalism