Citizen Kane is often hailed as the greatest film of all time for it's game changing cinematography that revolutionized filmmaking. But it also highlights the emergence of yellow journalism. In the film, main character Kane begins a career in yellow journalism and quickly becomes the most powerful newspaper tycoon. In the movie, Kane rises to power by manipulating the public's opinion on the Spanish-American war. While this movie is fictional, it is actually based on a real person. Orson Welles based Citizen Kane on William Randolph Hearst, a politician known for creating the nation's largest newspaper company. The paper's goal was to provoke American outrage against Spain using various rhetorical strategies. These so-called "yellow papers" would include rumors and propaganda. In an article from https://daily.jstor.org/to-fix-fake-news-look-to-yellow-journalism/ , it is argued that fake news in today's society stems from yellow journalism during this time period in America with the quote, "History being made by an unscrupulous press, driven to sensationalize stories and fabricate facts in a quest for eyeballs and dollars….yep, sounds familiar." (Samuel 1)
[1 image, 1 link, 1 quotation, 173 words]
Comments