Yellow journalism, also known as the "Yellow Press", is a type of journalism that downplays legitimate news in favor of eye-catching headlines that sell more newspapers. It may feature exaggerations of news events, scandal-mongering, sensationalism, or unprofessional practices by news media organizations or journalists. Campbell (2001) defines Yellow Press newspapers as having daily multi-column front-page headlines covering a variety of topics, such as sports and scandal, using bold layouts (with large illustrations and perhaps color), heavy reliance on unnamed sources, and unabashed self-promotion. The term was extensively used to describe certain major New York City newspapers about 1900 as they battled for circulation. By extension the term is used today as a pejorative to decry any journalism that treats news in an unprofessional or unethical fashion, such as systematic political bias. Yellow journalism can also be the practice of over-dramatizing events.
Frank Luther Mott (1941) defines yellow journalism in terms of five characteristics:[1]
- scare headlines in huge print, often of minor news
- lavish use of pictures, or imaginary drawings
- use of faked interviews, misleading headlines, pseudo-science, and a parade of false learning from so-called experts
- emphasis on full-color Sunday supplements, usually with comic strips (which is now normal in the U.S.)
- dramatic sympathy with the "underdog" against the system.
Present day (successful) exponents of the yellow journalistic style would include the British red top tabloids, notably The Sun and the German Springer owned Bild.
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