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William Randolph Hearst was a journalist for the New York Journal and Joseph Pulitzer was a journalist for the New York World. Both are known for their use of "yellow journalism", which was the name given to the comic strip The Yellow Kid, and propaganda to promote imperialism.

Hearst and Pulitzer were rivals in their industry however they both favored imperialism. Both papers used headlines to sell their newspapers. When the Maine sank in Havana Harbor, Hearst stated in his papers, without evidence, that the Spanish were to blame. This story outraged the public who demanded intervention. Both Hearst and Pulitzer painted pictures of Cuban oppression under Spanish rule in their papers. They described the Spanish containing Cubans in concentration camps, which the journalists referred to as death camps. All of these sensational stories and comic strips fueled the American people's passion for war.

The reasons both Pulitzer and Hearst were interested in writing about imperialism are that the stories were devoured by the public, resulting in more copies sold and more circulation of the paper; they wanted to liberate Cuba from Spanish rule and knew that their newspapers were the main source of information on the war; and both journalists competed against each other, they tried to write the better story, print the better comic strip, and sell more papers than the other. These are the reasons William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer were for imperialism.

Bibliography

//Annals of American History//. Web. 14 Nov. 2010. . "Crucible Of Empire : The Spanish-American War - PBS Online." //PBS: Public Broadcasting Service//. Web. 14 Nov. 2010. . "Hearst, William Randolph." //Info:Main Page - New World Encyclopedia//. Web. 14 Nov. 2010. . "Remember the Maine." //Small Planet//. Web. 14 Nov. 2010. .