Question

Explain the difference between yellow journalism and traditional journalism. Identify two major newspaper or figures in journalism history, one that represents yellow journalism and one that represents traditional journalism.

Answer 1

Yellow journalism is a pejorative term that refers to the making, placing and distribution of articles in newspapers, weeklies and other periodicals that are not so much made from real journalism, but are more of a mishmash of gossip, baseless claims and half-truths. The main purpose is almost always to promote the sales of the magazine in which the articles are printed. After all, people like to read stories like this. In contrast, traditional journalism really seeks to convey a story to the public, regardless of the commercial interest of the media to sell their products. A clear historical example of yellow journalism was the New York World.