Jack Shafer – entertaining as ever – mounts a spirited defence of yellow journalism: “Being rambunctious to the extreme, yellow journalism is misunderstood. At its best, yellow journalism was terrific, and at its worst, it really wasn’t all that bad.”
Quite so. Newspapers are an entertainment just as much as they’re a source of, like, news. That’s one reason why you can make a decent argument that, taken on its own terms, the News of the World – the yellowest of our papers – is also the best paper in Britain.
Shafer adds this:
One of the biggest enemies of yellow journalism in the 1890s was Adolph Ochs, who purchased a controlling interest in the New York Times in 1896. He prided himself in publishing the journalism of restraint and impartiality (aka anti-yellow journalism). Upon acquiring the Philadelphia Times in 1901, Ochs had a list of newspaper “don’ts” drawn up, which aims squarely at the yellow papers.
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in