Yellow Journalism is a pejorative reference to journalism that features scandal-mongering, sensationalism, jingoism, or other unethical or unprofessional practices by news media organizations or individual journalists.
Yellow journalism traditionally refers to news organizations for which some combination of sensationalism, profiteering, propaganda, journalistic bias takes dominance over factual reporting and the profession’s public trust.
The term “yellow journalism” was born from a rivalry between the two newspaper giants of the era: Joseph Pulitzer’s New York World and William Randolph Hearst’s New York Journal. Starting in 1895, Pulitzer printed a comic strip featuring a boy in a yellow nightshirt, entitled the “Yellow Kid.”
Hearst then poached the cartoon’s creator and ran the strip in his newspaper. A critic at the New York Press, in an effort to shame the newspapers’ sensationalistic approach, coined the term “Yellow-Kid Journalism” after the cartoon. The term was then shortened to “Yellow Journalism.”
We’ve come a long way from the banner headlines, color comics, and illustrations that were considered sensationalist in the early 1900s. Now, television and the internet make good use of yellow journalism by running sensationalized headlines typed in big, vivid fonts, consisting of news that is less than well-researched.
It has been said that freedom of the press belongs to the person who owns the press. With social media access, billions of people have the potential to “own a press.” Any one can say anything they want. And if it goes viral—it’s “news.” Opinions become “fact.” “Facts” are carefully selected to make a point.
The Internet version of yellow journalism is the same old sensationalism modernized with enticing headlines that lure you to click to see the rest of the story. It’s called click bait.
Conflict gets clicks, for sure.
Yellow Journalism has made an impact on society for hundreds of years. With yellow journalism the truth is usually misrepresented or concealed, and negative point is that people start to believe whatever publishing or broadcasting and it is harmful for society. Due to the yellow journalism problems like Culture of sensationalization, Gender Discrimination, Human security issues, and Violent Behaviors are increasing.
The disgusting technique of over-dramatizing a story, in the name of ‘Journalism’ focusing on the most negative aspects of what is going on in our world to engage more followers is equal to spreading hatred and venom.
There is a dire need to discourage yellow journalism and for this, we all should remember that the same switch that turns your TV/radio/computer on turns it off.