Spanish American War

I chose to write about was “yellow journalism” responsible for the Spanish American
War? Because this topic interested me very much, I am not knowledgeable about American
History like I want to be and this topic intrigued me because I didn’t know what it was and choose it to learn something about the history of the country I live in.
U.S. Diplomacy and Yellow Journalism, in 1895–1898 Yellow journalism was a style of newspaper reporting that emphasized sensationalism over facts. During its heyday in the late
19th century it was one of many factors that helped push the United States and Spain into war in
Cuba and the Philippines, leading to the acquisition of overseas territory by the United States
(U.S. Diplomacy). The Spanish-American War was …show more content…

The Spanish-American War is often referred to as the first "media war." During the
1890s, journalism that sensationalized—and sometimes even manufactured—dramatic events was a powerful force that helped propel the United States into war with Spain. Led by newspaper owners William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer, journalism of the 1890s used melodrama, romance, and hyperbole to sell millions of newspapers--a style that became known as yellow journalism (Yellow Journalism)
The term yellow journalism came from a popular New York World comic called
"Hogan's Alley," which featured a yellow-dressed character named the "the yellow kid (Yellow
Journalism).”The peak of yellow journalism, in terms of both intensity and influence, came in early 1898, when a U.S. battleship, the Maine, sunk in Havana harbor. The naval vessel had

YELLOW JOURNALISM 3 been sent there not long before in a display of U.S. power and, in conjunction with the planned visit of a Spanish ship to New York, an effort to defuse growing tensions between the United
States and Spain.
On the night of February 15, an explosion tore through the ship’s hull, and the …show more content…

naval investigation later stated that the explosion had come from a mine in the harbor, the proponents of yellow journalism seized upon it and called for war.
By early May, the Spanish-American War had begun (U.S. Diplomacy).
The rise of yellow journalism helped to create a climate conducive to the outbreak of international conflict and the expansion of U.S. influence overseas, but it did not by itself cause the war. In spite of Hearst’s often quoted statement—“You furnish the pictures, I’ll provide the war!”—other factors played a greater role in leading to the outbreak of war (U.S. Diplomacy).
The two kingpins of the press at the time were William R. Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer, who were embroiled in a vicious circulation war, in which Hearst even "stole" Pulitzer's most popular writers by convincing them to defect through promises of money and positions. Hearst's major publication was the New York Journal and Pulitzer's publication was the New York
World. In order to grow their circulations, both men were willing to go so far as to make up stories (Spanish