The Yellow Kids: Foreign Correspondents in the Heyday of Yellow Journalism [Hardcover]

Joyce Milton (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Students of newspaper history are familiar with the era of yellow journalism (1895-1905), which was closely associated with New York City and spurred on by a battle for circulation between Joseph Pulitzer's World and William Randolph Hearst's Journal . The best-known correspondents, called traveling commissioners, were Richard Harding Davis and Stephen Crane; less famous, but possibly more influential, was Sylvester "Harry" Scovel, Pulitzer's top overseas reporter. In this informative and insightful volume, Milton ( The Rosenberg File ) writes Scovel's biography and a history of the Spanish-American War, while stealing glances at the Greco-Turkish War and the Klondike gold rush, keeping these events and the journalists who covered them in conscientious perspective.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Milton's book mainly chronicles the exploits of reporters during the Spanish-American War when "yellow journalism" flourished. Spurred by a circulation battle between William Randolph Hearst's New York Journal and Joseph Pulitzer's New York World , reporters, including Richard Harding Davis, Frederick Remington, Stephen Crane, George Rea, and Harry Scovel, sneaked in and out of Cuba, sometimes as rebels, sometimes as spies, but always creating their own stories and becoming the news themselves as they were arrested, thrown out, or killed in battle. The Pulitzer-Hearst rivalry remains the most insightful and entertaining slice of this era. This story is also told in W.A. Swanberg's Citizen Hearst ( LJ 8/61), but Milton provides the reporters' perspective. Recommended.
- Melinda Stivers Leach, Precision Editorial Svces., Wondervu, Col.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 412 pages
• Publisher: Harpercollins; 1st edition (July 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060161159
• ISBN-13: 978-0060161156
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,861,151 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Heroes of the Yellow press., December 12, 2004

By 

M. Robson (Northumberland.England) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Yellow Kids: Foreign Correspondents in the Heyday of Yellow Journalism (Hardcover)

The rivalry between America's press barons in the 1890's-especially Hearst and Pulitzer in New York,led to the rise of so-called "Yellow journalism"(named after the rascally cartoon character the "Yellow Kid").This was characterized as sensationalist reporting,with an emphasis on exaggeration,and a none too high regard for accuracy and the truth.This book deals specifically with how Hearst and Pulitzer's papers(the "New York Journal,and "New York World" respectively),dealt with foreign news-especially in relation to the wars of the period.The main emphasis is on the Spanish-American war of 1898,which the "yellow press" are often accused of instigating,to boost circulation.This thesis is shown here to contain an element of truth,and many American reporters were highly prejudiced against Spain's regime in Cuba,and there was a lot of wild misrepresentations of the situation in the American press.However,it is clear that the U.S correspondents were largely justified in their condemnation of the situation in Cuba as oppressive and intolerable,giving support to the Cuban insurrectionists,and in many cases advocating American military intervention.
Joyce Milton's book is a well researched,enjoyable work.She is especially to be congratulated in bringing the fascinating Sylvester "Harry" Scovel,back to life.A minor character in books on the Spanish-American war(he gained notoriety when he punched General Shafter at the capitulation ceremony in Havana,at the close of the hostilities in Cuba!),Scovel also flits thru biographies of Stephen Crane,as a colleague when the novelist was reporting from Cuba on the war.Joyce Milton,deals with the well known novelist reporters Crane and RIchard Harding Davis in the book,but it is Scovel,"black sheep" of a religious family, and Pulitzer's leading war reporter for the "New York World",who is the "star" of "The Yellow Kids".Scovel's daring,breathtaking adventures as a partisan of the Cuban guerillas are highly entertaining,and it is sad to learn that,like his pal Crane,the colorful and attractive Harry Scovel went to an early grave,probably due to the experiences he went thru for the disease ridden island he grew to love,and where he eventually would die.

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A tale of astounding escapades & unpredictable characters, April 10, 2001

By 

Dr Abdelfattah Toukan (Amman,Jordan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Yellow Kids: Foreign Correspondents in the Heyday of Yellow Journalism (Paperback)

Under the shadow of notorious newspaper titans Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst lurks the astonishing story of their reporters in the field. Harry Scovel, Stephen Crane, Cora Taylor, Richard Harding Davis, and James Creelman, among others, risked their lives to "get the story" in Cuba during its struggle for independence, some of them even becoming spies duuring the Spanish-American War.

A tale of astounding escapades, unpredictable characters, wit, humor, and tragedy, The Yellow Kids shows that it was often editors and publishers in New York who added the "yellow" to journalism.