Yellow Journalism

(Yellow Journalism)

The USS Maine exploded in Havana Harbor February 15th, 1889. The cause of the detonation was ultimately determined to be a fire in the coal bunkers but at the time, there had been speculation that the Maine had been sunk by a Spanish mine or torpedo. That had been the theory advocated by two newspaper publishers, William Randolf Hearst of the New York WORLD and Joseph Pulitzer of the New York JOURNAL pushed the external mine theory and in a practice which has been known since as "Yellow Journalism." These papers were powerful at the time and an anti-Spanish sentiment was worked to a frenzy and the ultimate result was a Declaration of War on Spain, the Spanish American War.

It would seem that the coverage of the Israeli-Hamas War is being covered by the same type pf yellow journalism as promulgated by Hearst and Pulitzer in 1889. Like the explosion of the Maine, similar conclusions were initially drawn about the strike on that Gazan hospital. It was the IDF had an errant munition hit the facility and some 500 innocent people were killed. The Palestinians in most of the media are a sympathetic people and Israel in the operations to defend itself are basically committing war crimes.

The truth is less sanguine. The hospital was hit by a Hamas rocket and the attack was deliberant and the death toll was not as severe. But the episode did deliver images that are pablum for media consumption. Even such publications like the New York TIMES accepted the Israel strike story. Why ? Because it wanted to believe it. Over the years, the New York TIMES has delivered its own sense of antisemitism.

While the Maine was a sensational episode, there were still journalistic ethics, even in the time of Hearst and Pulitzer. Those classic beat reporters in the fedoras with a badge reading "Press." These were the individuals who went after a story without bias. Letting the things being covered without regard for an outcome.

That is not the case any more. Practices of a note pad or tape recorder to "get the facts" have given way to activism. Instead of just covering the news, journalists today seek to shape the news. If the Israelis did indeed create all those casualties, support for their actions would diminish, even to the point where Israel could have been forced into a cease fire, well before the destruction of Hamas.

The media, as well as other left-wing institutions, have taken the Palestinian side. Virtually all demonstrations in progress are in solidarity with Palestinians and, by extension, Hamas. Which means there is tacit approval of Hamas actions, including the most severe. Human life it would seem is very cheap but leave it to Hamas to tally a bill.