17 December, 2022 by Eric Dunkelberger
Yellow journalism is the sensationalization of news solely to gain circulation. It refers to a period in time between 1895 and 1898 when two New York newspapers, Pulitzer’s New York World and Hearst’s New York Journal were in competition with each other. Both papers served the same city and both were the same price. Customers would look at both papers and buy the one with the headline that screamed at them or a picture that claimed their attention. Facts took a back seat to embellishment.
Skip ahead 60 years and you have a different look. Television news is cutting into the profits of the newspapers. Back then, there were only three channels from which to choose. To attract an audience, news stations adopted the policy, “If it bleeds, it leads”. That’s pretty much the same thing as yellow journalism. They show something gruesome to lock you into watching. Again, truth takes a backseat.
Today, the same struggle goes on. Print news, although there are still newspapers, most news has gone online. Television news has gone from three channels to a myriad of channels, many of them 24/7 news. There is a lot of competition for your attention. You can always get a news update. It’s simple. You can turn on the TV, the computer or check your phone. You’re connected. With so much information out there, it’s a shame so many are so ill-informed.
Much like the two newspapers in New York in 1895, which favored Democrats, so too do the vast majority of newspapers and probably 95% of news programming. The problem is, journalism has gone out the window. There’s little need for investigating if your information comes from the Democrat Party. Even writing news copy is almost a lost art. This is evidenced by the news, no matter your source, using the exact same adjectives for a subject of a story. Every story or program you look at uses the same words or phrases.. A noteworthy example is the use of insurrection for a protest. Or “a peaceful protest” when thugs (Democrats or Anarchists) are burning down a city. Next time you watch CNN or MSNBC or any of the others, check it out.
In times gone past, people used to go to college to take journalism classes. They used to teach you a story requires a who, what, when, where and why.. Experience tells you to check your sources. Being able to put a sentence together is helpful. That was then; this is now! I’m sure that very little journalism is taught in college classes now. It’s more indoctrination into Socialism. That’s what happens in college now, with very few exceptions.
I don’t read most newspapers. Maybe an occasional article. I don’t watch the Sewer Stream Media. It’s mostly garbage and agenda-driven. I have a couple of news channels I watch (Newsmax and OAN). There are several websites I check. If I am checking out a story to see if it’s real, I’m not going to use a leftist source. I don’t trust it! I’ve been watching the various releases from Twitter. I’ve seen the crushing of Conservative opinions by the media and Big Tech and Big Government. One thing I have learned is that WE are the new journalists.
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