Yellow journalism is a type of journalistic practice, while a muckraker is a type of journalist. The former downplayed the realities of an event and instead included only details of pith and interest, making for better headlines, but rather inaccurate stories. Many of William Randolph Hurst's publications were associated with the yellow press. It had its rise during the Spanish-American War, when newsmen embellished every detail of conflict and battle, occasionally making stories up altogether. Frank Luther Mott described yellow journalism with these 5 characteristics:
1. scare headlines in huge print, often of minor news
2. lavish use of pictures, or imaginary drawings
3. use of faked interviews, misleading headlines, pseudo-science, and a parade of false learning from so-called experts
4. emphasis on full-color Sunday supplements, usually with comic strips (which is now normal in the U.S.)
5. dramatic sympathy with the "underdog" against the system.
A muckraker, usually a journalist associated with the progressive movement, sought to expose corruption in all its forms. Their works are usually urban oriented, and could span anything from government scandal to the wretched conditions in the factories of the day. Lincoln Steffens, Ida Tarbell, and Upton Sinclare are some rather popular muckrakers, while McClure's, Cosmopolitan, and the Independent were publications often associated with muckraker writing. This movement predates that of yellow journalism.
Yours truly,
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