Even before that, it was the newspapers who got us into the Spanish-American War.







The USS Maine was destroyed by a coal bunker fire spreading to a magazine and the US government knew it fairly early on, but by that point, the media had whipped the population into such a frenzy, that if Congress hadn't declared war, there probably would have been an actual insurrection.

Top one is either the New York Times, the Washington Compost, or Ketch/Chip gone back in time.

Danger and fear get human attention like nothing else. We're biologically compelled to give it attention, so it is incredibly useful if you are in the business of seeking attention to then advertise to an audience. Inspire and create a sense of threat or danger, and then feed in advertisements.

The present day's Media has finally matched the era of that Yellow Journalism. They very much simply caused the Spanish American War, and our media today with its "Republicans want to defund the police" level lying on the behalf of Democrats may cause a race war or a civil war, and it will be all that profession's fault.

It took Teddy Roosevelt, more competition opening up in the press, and public scorn to correct the media of the 1890's. What will do it today?

Krautag81 said:

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They're all partisan hacks. The Yellow-press is still alive.

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Nina Totenberg gave a talk a few years ago at the Aspen's Idea's Festival where she admitted she was more of an activist than a journalist.

John Lansing, the head of NPR used to be the head of Voice of America (propoganda wing of the State Department) and a rumored employee of the CIA

George Stephanopolis was the Press Secretary for Bill Clinton

You can't watch 20 minutes of the M5M without stumbling across someone who used to be a former political or government operatative.

Now, the enemy is embedded into our government.

tk111 said:

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No one knows history anymore. This event just came up in conversation a few days ago talking about crazy stuff woke college kids do and someone was arguing that they're just making noise and it's 'silly' to worry about that - I said "world wars have been started due to dumb college kids falling for the same kind of stuff"...and their reaction was basically 'lol wut you're insane'. Well...history.

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Those dumb college kids are the parents and grandparents of the leftist posters on here lol.

Joseph Pulitizer basically invented and became rich off Yellow Journalism, which is sensationalism and in many cases making up stories in order to sell newspapers. But even more so, he was a young politician turned newspaperman. From out of the gate he saw the benefit of using newspapers as a way to influence politics and bend it toward his viewpoint(which had become Democrat after starting as a Republican).

The highest award in journalism is named after the person that was one of the most successful at making money on fake and politically slanted news.

Pulitizer would further try to legitimize what had become a dirty business but taking all of this money selling fake news and funding schools of journalism at Columbia and Mizzou, making these two schools, even to this day, two of the most prestigious journalism schools in the world.

Journalism has always been a bit of a seedy business, even during the days of the Constitutional Convention, but starting during the Pulitizer/Hearst era of journalism, it became unworthy of 1st Amendment protections in my opinion.

policywonk98 said:

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Joseph Pulitizer basically invented and became rich off Yellow Journalism, which is sensationalism and in many cases making up stories in order to sell newspapers. But even more so, he was a young politician turned newspaperman. From out of the gate he saw the benefit of using newspapers as a way to influence politics and bend it toward his viewpoint(which had become Democrat after starting as a Republican).

The highest award in journalism is named after the person that was one of the most successful at making money on fake and politically slanted news.

Pulitizer would further try to legitimize what had become a dirty business but taking all of this money selling fake news and funding schools of journalism at Columbia and Mizzou, making these two schools, even to this day, two of the most prestigious journalism schools in the world.

Journalism has always been a bit of a seedy business, even during the days of the Constitutional Convention, but starting during the Pulitizer/Hearst era of journalism, it became unworthy of 1st Amendment protections in my opinion.

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I have no issue with yellow journalism being permitted to exist. If they print false information they should be able to be sued. The issue I have is with silencing other voices and not allowing alternative viewpoints. If you allow people to freely choose between yellow journalism and fact based journalism the facts win, unfortunately they are doing everything possible for that not to happen. There are also plenty of right wing outlets that are far from beacons of truth and facts.

You have to work really hard to get factual information and stay informed today and most people simply don't have the energy or will to do so with so much misinformation traded off as truth.

The other big shift is education has moved from the concept of teaching people how to think for themselves and instead tells them what to think.

Fun fact for the younger crowd who may not be aware. The Spanish American War was funded through creation of the Federal Excise Tax and siphoned from you through your phone bill. Originally meant to punish wealthier citizens who could afford to have phones. It wasn't repealed until 2006.

So, just one example of how taxes live on long after their original intention.

YouBet said:

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Fun fact for the younger crowd who may not be aware. The Spanish American War was funded through creation of the Federal Excise Tax and siphoned from you through your phone bill. Originally meant to punish wealthier citizens who could afford to have phones. It wasn't repealed until 2006.

So, just one example of how taxes live on long after their original intention.

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Fun fact indeed! I did not know that. Another reason any tax should have a sunset clause. If people want it to continue, they can renew it. And not automatic unless voted down renew crap either--has to be full chamber re-instated.

If you don't read the newspaper you are uninformed.
If you do read the newspaper you are misinformed.

Mark Twain

Business Wars is a great podcast and they do one on Hearst v Pulitzer and it discusses the history of the press and where Yellow Journalism began. Had to do with a popular cartoon back in the day and when the author of the cartoon went to the rival paper it heated up the rivalry more so. They talk about the history of how the press always carried the water for the government. Spanish American war was a prime example. I realized after listening to it we have never really gotten unbiased news. I guess it wasn't so in your face as it is today.

cypress-ag said:

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Business Wars is a great podcast and they do one on Hearst v Pulitzer and it discusses the history of the press and where Yellow Journalism began. Had to do with a popular cartoon back in the day and when the author of the cartoon went to the rival paper it heated up the rivalry more so. They talk about the history of how the press always carried the water for the government. Spanish American war was a prime example. I realized after listening to it we have never really gotten unbiased news. I guess it wasn't so in your face as it is today.

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Did it say what was the main reason tamped back a little after the turn of the (20th) Century? Something reeled them back a bit.