WCC COMM 101 chapter #4 power point LUTHER

1. Chapter 4
Newspapers &
Yellow Journalism

2. NEWSPAPERS
•What is the “penny press?”
• In 1833 came the introduction of one cent newspapers
(the first was The New York Sun)
• A large readership created a large audience to sell to
advertisers
• The advent of the penny press also brought along a new
kind of newspaper; one that was full of police and crime
stories, entertainment news, and human interest stories.
This is when the newspaper took a more populist turn
and less of an elite business and political approach. In
essence, the birth of the modern newspaper
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3. NEWSPAPERS
•What is “yellow journalism”?
• A type of journalism typified by sensationalism, sex,
violence and heavy use of illustrations, color and
cartoons
• Sensationalism = the use of exciting or shocking
stories or language at the expense of accuracy, in
order to provoke public interest or excitement
• Fueled by the populist approach of the penny press,
named for “The Yellow Kid”, a popular cartoon
character of the time
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4. NEWSPAPERS & YELLOW JOURNALISM
•Most famous example is that of the
sinking of the Maine and how it was
exploited by newspaper magnate
William Randoph Hearst in his New
York World newspaper
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5. NEWSPAPERS & YELLOW JOURNALISM
•Recent research suggests that the explosion
may have been an accident, involving a
spontaneous combustion fire in the coal bunker.
Some conspiracy theorists have even suggested
that sensational journalist William Randolph
Hearst may have set the explosion in order to
precipitate a war. While historians will never
know exactly what happened the night the Maine
went down, it is clear that the incident was a
significant force that propelled the United States
into the Spanish-American War.
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6. INTERNET KILLED THE
NEWSPAPER STAR
•What does the Daily Show clip linked above
say about modern journalism and how it
relates to “yellow journalism”?
•How would you describe the tone and
approach to this story? How might a
program like The Daily Show enhance
viewers’ media literacy as a result of this
tone and approach?
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7. What does this Daily Show clip say about modern
journalism and how it relates to “yellow journalism”?
•IT’S ALIVE AND WELL IN OPERATIONS LIKE
GAWKER WITH THEIR MAJOR FOCUS ON
CLICKABILITY & SENSATIONALISM, NOT
“TRUTH”
•USE OF DECEPTIVE HEADLINES REQUIRED
FOR PEOPLE TO EVEN BE INTERESTED
•“NOWADAYS IT’S NOT IMPORTANT IF A
STORY’S REAL, THE ONLY THING THAT REALLY
MATTERS IS WHETHER PEOPLE CLICK ON IT.” ~
Neetzan Zimmerman
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8. How would you describe
the tone and approach to this story?
•WHY DOES THE DAILY SHOW REPORTER
SEEMINGLY MOCK THE STUDENTS AND THEIR
STUDIES BY HIGHLIGHTING THAT, WHEN IT
COMES TO “REAL” JOURNALISM, THERE’S A
DISCONNECT BETWEEN EDUCATION AND THE
“REAL WORLD”?
•In a word, SATIRE.
•THE SHOW MOST OFTEN USES SATIRE TO
EXPLORE CURRENT ISSUES, ALMOST ALL
MEDIA-RELATED – THE SHOW GETS THE
AUDIENCE TO PAY ATTENTION TO IMPORTANT
ISSUES BY MOCKING THEM 4-8

9. WHAT IS SATIRE?
•DICTIONARY DEFINTION:
the use of humor, irony,
exaggeration, or ridicule to
expose and criticize people's
stupidity or vices, particularly
in the context of contemporary
politics and other topical
issues.
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10. WHAT IS SATIRE?
•In other words, satire is a way
of communicating how silly or
“bad” things are – often by
making us laugh at them
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11. TYPES OF SATIRE
•EXAGGERATION:
•When something is
exaggerated (maximized to a
ridiculous level) it can
emphasize how far it is from
reasonable/culturally
acceptable standard
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12. TYPES OF SATIRE
•One common type of
EXAGGERATION is
CARICATURE:
•A visual exaggeration of a person’s
features.
•Justin Bieber’s haircut for example
•It’s not that long – it’s a caricature
satirizing extremes of his fashion
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13. TYPES OF SATIRE
•PARODY:
•An exaggerated direct copy
•Person (either specific or type of
person)
•Song/Video
•Film
•Artwork
•Commercial
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14. TYPES OF SATIRE
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15. TYPES OF SATIRE
•EXAGGERATION OF
LANGUAGE:
•Exaggerated figurative language*
is called HYPERBOLE
•*FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE = similes,
metaphors, other comparisons and non-literal
language in general
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16. IRONY AS SATIRE
•DEFINITION: the expression of
one's meaning by using
language (or visuals) that
normally signifies the opposite,
typically for humorous or
emphatic effect.
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17. IRONY AS SATIRE
•For example, pretending that silly or
stupid things are sensible or
valuable is IRONIC
•Likewise, pretending that morally
bad things are morally good
(virtuous) is also IRONIC
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18. IRONY AS SATIRE
•IRONY EMPHASIZES HOW
VERY FAR THE TARGET IS
FROM THE ACCEPTED
STANDARD/EXPECTATION
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19. IRONY AS SATIRE
•SITUATIONAL IRONY
•When a difference in/the opposite of the
expected result happens
•VERBAL IRONY
•Saying the opposite of what you mean
•Sarcasm is verbal irony + attitude
•DRAMATIC IRONY
•Dramatic irony occurs when the audience knows
something that the characters don’t.
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20. How might a program like The Daily Show enhance
viewers’ media literacy?
•BY TAKING A CRITICAL, AND YET STILL
ENTERTAINING, APPROACH TO
EVALUATING MEDIA/NEWS AND HOPING
IT ALL HAS INTELLECTUAL RESONANCE
AFTER WE LAUGH AT IT
•THE DAILY SHOW USES SATIRE TO
ENCOURAGE VIEWERS TO NOT SIMPLY
ACCEPT MASS MEDIA/NEWS PASSIVELY
•THE DAILY SHOW IS ALSO HAS A “MEDIA
WATCHDOG” FUNCTION
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21. How might a program like The Daily Show
enhance viewers’ media literacy?
•12% of online Americans cited The Daily
Show as a place they got their news. This
audience share was on par with that of USA
Today (12%) and The Huffington Post (13%)
among 36 different news outlets Pew
Research Center asked about in a 2014
survey. http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/08/06/5-facts-
daily-show/
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22. INTERNET KILLED THE NEWSPAPER STAR
•DO YOU GET THE REFERENCE OF
THE TITLE OF THE STORY?
•Released in 1979, the song “Video
Killed the Radio Star” by The Buggles
directly referenced a then-current shift in
culture and mass media
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