How Journalism Caused the Spanish-American War
The term Yellow Journalism was coined in the 19th century to refer to a situation where newspaper companies were fighting each other to produce the most sensational stories, by overhyping events to present a biased impression and cause manipulations to the truth of a story. Newspapers were designed to provide reading material for a mass of audience. However, this need led to the use and abuse of journalism by newspaper companies, and eventually ‘caused’ the first media-driven war. Because of this, it can be said that the Spanish-American War, and today’s media culture, would not have been possible if Yellow Journalism did not exist.
Benjamin Day revolutionized the American newspaper business in 1833 when he created the first penny press newspaper, The Sun. Day concluded that individuals would be attracted to his paper if they could afford it, and consequently sold his paper for only a penny ($0.01). The Sun comprised of human-interest stories, entertainment, crime and much more. Since the paper only cost a penny, The Sun’s revenue depended on advertisements. Day said: “The objective of this paper is to lay before the public, at a price within the means of everyone, all the news of the day, and at the same time offer an advantageous medium for advertisements.” (Mahamarzouk).
