EOTO #1 Reaction Post

 EOTO #1 Reaction Post

During my peers EOTO presentations one specific presentation that caught my eye was the history of the penny press and yellow journalism. This presentation highlighted the history of the two topics and went on to teach us about them and why they are deems important.

History of The Penny Press

The penny press was a type of inexpensive newspaper that become very popular in the 1830's and earned it's name because it only costed a penny. It was made by Benjamin Henry Day to make newspapers more accessible and affordable to people who were working or middle class citizens. They published stories that grabbed the publics attention, crimes, scandal, and gossip. 

The was known to be the birth of modern journalism and had issues written by reporters who gathered firsthand news instead of using secondhand sources. People like Benjamin Day who launched the New York Sun, James Gordon Bennet who landed the New York Herald, and Horace Greeley who landed the New York Tribune all wrote for the penny press. 

Yellow Journalism

Yellow Journalism used sensationalism instead of straight facts when writing in papers. This concept started in the late 1800's and used exaggerated headlines and dramatics to capture the attention of readers. The term yellow journalism came from the popular comic strip called Yellow Kid which appeared in the New York World and the New York Journal.

Yellow Journalism peaked during the build up to the Spanish American War and contributed to the conflicts between the United States, Spain, and Cuba due to false claims in the papers. One of the memorable moments of yellow journalism is the sinking of the USS Maine which was published and spun to the public as an attack from Spain against the United States. Although that wasn't the truth due to yellow journalism and the nature of their dramatics it was made to seem that way.