Category: Yellow Journalism

• Yellow Journalism War Room

  The Yellow Journalism War Room theory held that William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer did not simply run sensational newspapers that influenced public opinion, but maintained a literal planning room in which editorial and political operatives decided which countries would be driven toward war next. The theory emerged from the real history of yellow journalism in the 1890s and its role in inflaming public feeling during the run-up to the Spanish-American War. In its strongest form, the theory treated Hearst and Pulitzer not as publishers competing for circulation, but as strategic war-managers using press campaigns to choreograph international conflict. Because the actual press influence was dramatic enough to be historically memorable, later rumor could escalate influence into orchestration.