Yellow Journalism - Present and the Past 

What is Yellow Journalism? “Yellow Journalism is a term first coined during the great newspaper wars between William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer II. Pulitzer's paper the New York World and Hearst's New York Journal changed the content of newspapers adding more sensationalized stories and increasing the use of drawings and cartoons." According to Kathryn Mott Yellow journalism can be portrayed in a few different ways. It can be a very biased story that only covers one side without pointing out pertinent and even detrimental facts. It can also be a story that has been published strictly for the "shock factor" and have no basis behind it. When the truth isn't there, and the facts are missing or twisted, this is when we have yellow journalism.

Today's fast paced world revolves around technology. It's everywhere; in our cars, phones, watches, even mirrors. Everywhere we go we expect to have access to the Internet. We want to check our emails, our friend's Facebook status and we want to know today's news yesterday. It could be because of our need for instant gratification that journalists may justify "tweaking" their story a bit, making sure that they get it out first. Whatever their reasoning, the internet makes yellow journalism even easier. You can post anything you want without checking facts.There are many examples of yellow journalism in the news today. A recent story that was circulating on all the top news channels and websites was a court case between Samsung and Apple. 

According to American History USA, the day after the judge ruled for Apple, a story was published on Snopes that claimed Samsung paid their $1.2 billion dollar fine in nickels. The story was complete with quotes and numbers. But, if we do the math, the numbers are completely wrong. They stated that 30 trucks showed up at Apple headquarters with all the money in nickels. It would take well over 2,500 vehicles and all the coins that have been struck by the U.S. Mint over the last several decades to pay the $1.2 billion dollars in full. They posted false stories, like this one, just as a source of comedic relief. If the person who picked this story had been checking the website and not just focusing on the article, this whole mess wouldn't have happened. 

In conclusion, Before believing everything we read, we should check multiple sources. Our world revolves around technology and information. The ease of the internet makes it very easy to publish false or misleading material. While the web can be used to spread false stories, it can also be used to find the truth.