William Randolph Hearst

• In 1846 New York Newspapers set up 'the association press.' They were required to be objective, as they supplied content for a variety of papers which covered all sides of the political spectrum.


• In 1887, William Randolph Hearst took over the 'San Francisco Examiner' and revolutionized it.


• Hearst was a big exponent of the front page of Newspapers, previously front pages were filled with text and very little illustration, however Hearst, who had a background in art, reduced the length of stories, expanded the size of headlines, and eliminated advertisement.


• Hearst included many illustrations, stating that they 'attract the eye and stimulate the imagination of the lower classes, and materially aid comprehension.'


• New York at the time was a city dramatically on the rise, because of a number of factors including; cheap labour, urban concentration, very low commodity prices, capital accumulation, and vast investment in infastructure.
• In 1896, Hearst brought the New York morning journal and poached the 'Yellow Kid' from under Joseph Pulitzer's nose. Pulitzer however, tried to stay in the game and hired his own cartoonist to produce the 'Yellow Kid' for his own newspaper. So for a while, there were two major New York newspapers running the same cartoon. Due to a lack of copyright laws at this time, there was never a legal battle about the ownership of the 'Yellow Kid.'
• The 'Yellow Kid' was vastly popular among the working class due to the language used and attitude towards the upper classes.
• The 'New York Morning Journal' and the 'New York World' were constantly at loggerheads, and even went head to head in solving crimes.
• The American - Spanish war led to great oppurtunities for stories for the newspapers, and in particular Hearst who sent reporters over to cover the story.
• In short, Hearst directly influenced modern journalism by creating the models for modern and popular tabloid journalism. The style of 'yellow papers' was later copied in the UK by Northcliffe, Rothermere (Daily Mail and Daily Mirror), as well as Rupert Murdoch (The Sun).