William Randolph Hearst Failures

“You furnish the pictures and I'll furnish the war" (Wierichs). In the late 19th century William Randolph Hearst revolutionized the media and helped build the newspapers through what came to be known as yellow journalism. Hearst said this to his own illustrator Frederick Remington, who said it was peaceful in Havana during the Spanish-American War. Hearst was able to manipulate the papers to say what he wanted; all he needed was an illustration. William Hearst was a businessman whose interests and accomplishments were not only in the media, but also in politics and popular culture at that time. Although William Randolph Hearst manipulated the power of the media to help instigate and gain support for the Spanish American War, he belongs in the

Hearst was competing with Joseph Pulitzer in New York, and Hearst had to sell more papers in order to make money. Hearst and Pulitzer were in a vicious competition to sell more and more newspapers. In the late 19th century, there were high tensions between America and Spain. Cuba revolted against Spain for independence, and Spain brutally crushed the revolt. Hearst knew that the American people bought his papers when they were on something interesting. This was the development of yellow journalism. Hearst started publishing exaggerated stories against Spain, in order for the American people to support war with Spain. Hearst was able to sell more newspapers during wartime. This is the intention of Hearst’s quote “You furnish the pictures and I'll furnish the war" (Wierichs). One of Hearst’s reporters intercepted a letter from the Spanish minister Dupuy de Lome, who was in Washington at the time. The letter was published in Hearst’s Morning Journal; in it the letter criticized and insulted President McKinley. This letter increased the anger of the American public toward Spain. On February 15, 1989 USS Maine, which was docked in Havana, Cuba, mysteriously exploded leaving 260 sailors dead. Today, it is believed that the ship most likely exploded due to combustion next to

Williams Hearst’s father, George Hearst was a senator for California, his son William Hearst also became involved in politics. In William Hearst’s early life he supported the Democratic Party. Hearst supported Populist Party ideas along with William Jennings Bryan and his bimetallism campaign. Although William Hearst openly supported the Democratic Party, his papers and publishings were not solely one sided. Hearst criticized both Democrats and Republicans, which was different from the biased papers of Hearst’s time. Hearst was elected to the House of Representatives in 1903. He ran for governor of New York in 1906, but failed because Tammany Hall did not support him. Tammany Hall was a corrupt, democratic organization that did not agree with Hearst’s ideas. Hearst was also against America entering World War I and the creation of the League of Nations. He used his paper in opposition of it. Hearst’s political views changed as he aged. In the 1930s, Hearst supported Franklin D. Roosevelt and his policies for the New Deal. Along with his change in political views, Hearst’s papers also moved from sensationalized stories to realistic and true stories as Hearst became older. Hearst supported World War II in his papers even though he was opposed to World War I. One of Hearst’s most famous interviews was a personal interview with Adolph Hitler, in which Hitler says he does not know why he is so