Yellow Journalism Project
Instructions
Assignment
Specifications
 You are a Historian with particular expertise in The Spanish-American War. For your latest
project, you seek to uncover today’s “Yellow Journalism” by analyzing 2 recent news
stories and writing a report that explains what makes them “Yellow Journalism.”
1. One news story must be printed media (magazine, newspaper, etc.). The other must be a
T.V. News Story. Both must be recent (less than one week old).
2. You must reference the source of each story by documenting the following information in
your report: For the printed media: Name of newspaper/magazine, date, and Title of the
story. For the T.V. News Story: Name of the show & channel, time and date story aired.
3. The original or copy of the printed media article must be paper-clipped to your report.
4. A minimum one-page report, double-spaced, 12-pt font, analyzing the 2 news stories with
the following framework:
 Intro paragraph, Paragraph 1 – summary of printed media story
and details on what makes it “Yellow Journalism”
 Paragraph 2 – summary of T.V. News Story and details on what
makes it “Yellow Journalism”
 Conclusion paragraph – Hearst once said, “The news is the
greatest force in civilization. It controls legislation and declares
wars. It punishes criminals, especially the powerful. It rewards the
good deeds of citizens. It controls the nation because it represents
the people.” Tell me if you agree or disagree with him and explain
your answer. Finally, tell me what you think of Yellow Journalism
and the media in general.
5. Report due: JANUARY 17th, 2017
What makes
Journalism,
“Yellow
Journalism”
Joseph Campbell, author of, Yellow Journalism: Puncturing the Myths, defines Yellow
Journalism Newspapers as having daily multi-column front-page headlines covering a
variety of topics, such as sports and scandal, using bold layouts (with large illustrations
and perhaps color), heavy reliance on unnamed sources, and unabashed self-promotion.
The term was extensively used to describe certain major newspapers around 1900 as they
battled for circulation.
American Historian and Journalist, Frank Mott (1941), defined yellow journalism in terms
of five characteristics:
1. Scare headlines in huge print, often of minor news
2. Lavish use of pictures, or imaginary drawings
3. Use of faked interviews, misleading headlines, pseudo-science, and a parade of
false learning from so-called experts
4. Emphasis on full-color Sunday supplements, usually with comic strips
5. Dramatic sympathy with the "underdog" against the system.
Mr. Hamilton
Yellow Journalism Project
Mr. Hamilton