Starting in the 1890s, yellow journalism was a way to make newspaper companies earn more followers. It is an exaggerated way of informing and reporting stories. The two companies that used it the most were New York World and New York Journal. Joseph Politzer purchased the New York World in 1883 and started using colorful words with deeper meaning, which was new at the time. His new method of reporting created a lot of circulation between his competitors. His biggest competitor, William Randolph Hearst, moved to New York from San Francisco, and he was in charge of the New York Journal. His main goal was to be better than World, so he decided to try something new and hired a cartoonist. The Yellow Kid was the main character, who skyrocketed to fame, for being a ‘new idea’ of entertainment. 

The feud between Pulitzer and Hearst rose into trying to make the most outrageous stories and attracting more readers than the other. It all started with the Cuban difficulties in Spaniard rein. Hearst’s first story was about 18-year-old Evangelina Cisneros, who was imprisoned without a trial. She had attempted to rebel against the Spaniards, so they imprisoned her immediately. Hearst published an extremely dramatic story about her imprisonment saying that they beat her, didn’t feed her, declothed her, and left her with nothing. In reality, she was given basic needs such as food, clothing, and water. Hearst decided to try and add onto his dramatic story by sneaking her out of prison, disguised as a man smoking a cigar. He designated a parade to her when she arrived in New York and had an elaborate dinner and invited the most fancy people. This was the true beginning of yellow journalism and its influence on people.