What is Yellow Journalism: History, Characteristics, Positives & Negatives, Best Examples

Journalism is a vast subject and it has different types and forms, one such type is Yellow Journalism. It is a style of news reporting that uses sensationalism and eye-catching headlines to attract readers and viewers. Yellow Journalism includes techniques like exaggeration, scandal-mongering, and sensationalism. In this article, we have covered What is journalism, its characteristics, negatives, and positives as well as the best examples.

What is Yellow Journalism

What is Yellow Journalism: In simple terms, Yellow Journalism is a style of journalism that prioritizes sensationalism over facts. Now what is sensationalization, and how does it happen? It is different from routine journalism, which we will cover in this article on what is yellow journalism.

Have you ever heard of the term sensationalization in news reporting? Sensationalization means reporting news and stories to excite readers and viewers. In sensationalization, the focus is more on catchy headlines, loud music, background scores, sharp visuals, the top graphic representation. This makes even the simple news, catchy and view-worthy. In sensationalization, facts and data are often ignored. In other words, it can also be said to present information and news to make it shocking or exciting. 

As per Wikipedia, Yellow Journalism was first coined in the 1890s by Erwin Wardman as a tactic by two New York City newspapers, the World and the Journal, to compete with each other. In the Yellow journalism, the techniques used while reporting the news are -

• Exaggerating news events
• Scandal-mongering
• Sensationalism
• Using eye-catching headlines

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What are the Characteristics of Yellow Journalism?

As we have already discussed what is yellow journalism, certain characteristics define yellow journalism in a better way, some of them are mentioned below - 

In yellow journalism, the reporters or the news presenters include scare headlines that are written in huge print. This is done to often sensationalize minor news. Journalists who follow the yellow journalism pattern, utilize lavish use of pictures, or imaginary drawings to present the news. As a tactic, they often use fake interviews, misleading headlines, pseudoscience, and a parade of false learning from so-called experts on various matters like defense, politics, entertainment, etc. Journalists emphasize full-color Sunday supplements, which consist of page 3 news, feature articles, paparazzi content, superficial articles, or comics.

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What is Yellow Journalism - Positives and Negatives

Now that we have learned about Yellow Journalism and understand its characteristics and tactics, let's delve into its positives and negatives and understand how yellow journalism fares in society.

Positives of Yellow Journalism

Creativity - One should give it to yellow journalism to raise the bar for creativity. The headlines, the punch lines, and the language have all sorts of creativity, they are copywriting-esque standards, and incorporate trends very well to attract major viewerships.

Over-the-top headlines that are eye-catching - The headlines in yellow journalism oozes creativity to its core. They are trendy, they are short, crisp and say a hundred sentences in a few words.

Read-worthy news - The news content in yellow journalism is read-worthy as it is short, crisp, and to the point and might also include a visual representation, unlike the regular article pieces which are descriptive, detailed, and lengthy.

Visually appealing - In yellow journalism the focus is more on how to make news visually appealing by using images, infographics, videos, or colorful highlights

Negatives of Yellow Journalism

Propaganda technique - Due to its sensationalization, yellow journalism can often be used as a propaganda technique by political parties or corporations to create a wave in favor of them and woo the readers.

Sharing Clickbait News - Yellow journalism is often discredited for sharing clickbait content where the outside showcases a piece of important news, but the inside has a completely different story or mediocre content. This technique is majorly followed by media houses that share content through YouTube. It is done to bring in more views, although this technique is successful at the start slowly with awareness, users stop falling bait to such technique.

Promoting Fake News - Through yellow journalism, there are chances of spreading fake news and information. This promotion of fake news can lead to misinformation among the viewers and create a law and order situation.

What is Yellow Journalism's Best Example?

The best example of yellow journalism is the afternoon news shows which focus on daily soaps. During these TV shows, the production team uses flashy edits, and catchy headlines to present "day-to-day activities" from popular TV shows with high ratings. These news shows are developed by including scare headlines, melodrama, hyperbole, exaggerated or unsubstantiated reports. Another example can be said of TV shows which are created on the backdrop of any controversial statement given by a politician or a celebrity.

What is Yellow Journalism in the Present Scenario?

In the present scenario, the tactic of yellow journalism is used on a major scale by various news websites and channels to sensationalize even the smallest event of national or international importance. This can be seen in politics, the entertainment sector, as well as sports. This large-scale adoption of yellow journalism can be attributed to so the high competition among the publications, to create news that has to be altered in such a way that it fits the needs and demands of the current situation. In the past also, editors used to feel that by changing the story idea in a certain manner, it would gain some traction in society and catch the attention of the readers, as a result of which more and more newspapers could be sold by the publication, websites used to get users, videos used to get viewership and TV shows go TRP.

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What is the Impact of Yellow Journalism?

Today, in the era of high-scale content consumption yellow journalism has created a major impact. In today’s world, with the rapid scale advancement in technology,  even technology has not been able to change the principles of Yellow Journalism. A very common example of this is the kind of promotions that are done on television that promise the audience a particular update on a story, which may not be the case in the actual sense. By doing this, users get hooked to their screens, which helps them achieve viewership but morally it is not correct and often faces criticism. This rapid use has also given strength to the spread of fake news, misinformation, and the creation of fast news to get ahead of the competition however, all this is just to gain quick traction, but in the long run, it is just NOTHING.

Future of Yellow Journalism?

The future of yellow journalism is promising, only if it is done ethically. Everybody loves creativity, however with a pinch of salt, not the whole salt bottle. Yellow Journalism if done in a pinch-like portion, can spice up things, gain readers, and increase viewership, but if the whole news is built on yellow journalism, it will not gain long-term momentum, and slowly audience will lose the momentum.

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