Throughline

The original clickbait king

44 snips
Apr 16, 2026
Karen Roggenkamp, a professor of English who studies 19th-century journalism, guides listeners through William Randolph Hearst’s theatrical newsmaking. Hearst’s daring stunts, creation of yellow journalism, participatory “murder squad,” and the Evangelina Cisneros jailbreak are highlighted. The conversation traces how spectacle reshaped news and set up later debates about objectivity and media trust.
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ANECDOTE

Hearst's Bay Rescue Turned Reporters Into Heroes

  • William Randolph Hearst staged a dramatic rescue in San Francisco by sending Examiner reporters to save shipwreck survivors and then front‑paged their heroism.
  • The stunt tripled local circulation and established Hearst's model of reporters as active protagonists in news stories.
INSIGHT

How New Journalism Made News Feel Like Fiction

  • New Journalism mixed fiction techniques into reporting with big headlines, pictures, characters, and narrative arcs to make news more accessible.
  • Hearst demanded stories that provoked escalating reactions across pages, prioritizing spectacle over dry facts.
INSIGHT

Yellow Journalism Turned News Into Spectacle

  • Yellow journalism amplified New Journalism into sensationalism that blurred fact and fiction, using color comics and self‑promotion to attract readers.
  • Rivals coined 'yellow journalism' after Hearst's Yellow Kid comics to criticize his flamboyant, fact‑flexible style.
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