Chapter 5 Journalism: as Warmonger The Spanish American war

                Through out American history journalism has played a pivotal role of serving the public good and the public conscience. By providing the people with information that enable them to be free and self governing, but in February of 1898 journalism turned into sensationalism. Instead of reporting fact newspapers such as the New York Journal ran by William Randolph Hurst, and The New York World ran by Joseph Pulitzer reported fiction. Their actions were not done in the interest of serving the public good, but rather in the interest of increasing circulation and profits of their newspapers. The end result was a manipulation of the public trust that forced the United States into an unnecessary war with Spain that cost 5,000 American lives.  The Spanish American war of 1898 was not triggered by any kind of provocation on the part of the Spanish in Cuba, but was a calculated business decision made by two greedy men who were only interested in out doing the others news paper.