The Year That Defined American Journalism: 1897 and the Clash of Paradigms

The Year That Defined American Journalismexamines the 1897 conflict between the activist "yellow journalism" of William Randolph Hearst and its objective antithesis represented by the New York Times. No other year, arguably, has produced more memorable, singularly important, or defining moments in American journalism. This exceptional year brought the establishment of the White House Press Corps; the introduction of half-tone photographs to newspaper printing; the publication of American journalism's most famous editorial, "Is There A Santa Claus?"; and the inauguration of newspaper history's longest-running comic strip, the "Katzenjammer Kids." Moreover, the outcome of this conflict reshaped the profession and gave American journalism its modern contours. This work enriches not only our understanding of this decisive moment in journalism history, but also our understanding of how to do media history.

W. Joseph Campbell is an Associate Professor at American University's School of Communication