Evolving Media:
New Forms of Journalism
Throughout the century, techniques of yellow journalism have re-emerged through various new forms as mediums evolve.
Tabloid journalism
1920s
"Let's say you’re walking out from the supermarket and there's a tabloid and there's some sensationalist news on the cover ... you read the headline, you walk on ... maybe a week later you kind of remember the headline, but you don’t know where you read it, and so you might not discredit it ... we might lose that caution, because we ... no longer remember the source might be a little iffy.”
~ Hernando Rojas, University of Wisconsin-Madison professor of journalism
{University of Kansas}
Tabloid journalism features sensationalized reporting of sex and crime through headlines, photographs and stories.
(Proving the Obvious? What Sensationalism Contributes to the Times Spent on News Video)
Radio and television
1950s
"Congress must turn to the media... Broadcasters, reporters, producers"
~ Barbara C. Jordan, "The Media: Improving the Human Condition", 11/02/1975.
wsbn36268.mp4{Digital Public Library of America}
In this broadcast clip, President John F. Kennedy urges reporters to exercise caution when reporting about war to protect confidentiality.
"The mass communication media have great potential as a vehicle for social change and could exercise a significant influence in helping to remove prejudices and stereotypes"
~ Report of the World Conference of the International Women's Year, 1975
Radio and television enabled wider audience reach. This simultaneously empowered activists and raised concerns regarding national security.
Magazines
1980s - Present
Magazines gained popularity over newspapers as a source of entertainment. They tend to present misleading information and provocative questions to attract readers. (The All-American History of Fake News)
{Bloomberg Businessweek}
Clickbait and social media
Present
The development of the internet signified an era of free speech and global reach.
While yellow journalism relied on selling newspapers, journals today profit from clicks on the Internet.
Some call present day form of journalism "click journalism."
(To Fix Fake News, Look To Yellow Journalism)
{New York Post, Health Feedback}
{CNN}
Social media has made it easier for news sources to send their products to audiences Printed news would take time and money for consumers to get access to the materials.
(History of American Journalism)