GEN. VALERIANO WEYLER,SPANISH SCOURGE OF THE CUBAN
REBELS, IN A 19TH-CENTURY OIL PAINTING BY JOAN FUSTER. FORT
OF SAN CARLOS, PALMA DE MALLORCA, SPAIN
Hearst’s ace correspondent, James Creelman,
who included it in a memoir full of examples
of such creative embroidery and lavish praise
for Hearst. (The Remington-Hearst exchange
was so irresistible that it had a thrilling cameo
appearance inCitizen Kane, Orson Welles’1941
film based on Hearst’s life,further cementing it
in the public’s imagination.)
And yet, the story contains a truth greater
than it purports to tell. Curiously, where Creel-
man’s dramatic story falls short is in understate-
ment—the suggestion that the yellow press
alone was responsible for starting the war. In
fact, conservative newspapers, staid business
journals, book publishers, and fledgling film-
makers alike were swept up in the wild melee
that created an overwhelming go-to-war sen-
timent.Reporters of all stripes were responsible
for outrageous fakes that rival some of today’s as
competition over readership and power pushed
the boundaries of journalism.
American Intervention
Cuba began its fight for independence from
Spain in the mid-19th century,with a major in-
surrection from 1868 to 1878 and another revolt
in 1879.The final flare-up began in 1895,but the
resistance’s early efforts were met with brutality.
Spanish general Valeriano Weyler rounded up
insurgents and held them in horrific conditions,
leading some to credit him with the invention
of modern civilian concentration camps. The
Spanish government’s harsh treatment of Cuban
HEARST VS. PULITZER
William Randolph Hearst and Joseph
Pulitzer created publishing empires through
sensationalism, but neither one invented this
style of storytelling. Instead, Hearst, who built
’s largest news conglomerate out
Francisco newspaper his father
him in 1887, and Pulitzer, a poor
arian immigrant with an eye for a
story, followed the legacy of James
rdon Bennett. Fifty years earlier,
nnett won readers for the New York
ald with his gruesome and fact-
llenged crime coverage.80 MARCH/APRIL 2019
TOLO BALAGUER/ALBUM
ORONOZ/ALBUMACIGRANGER/ALBUMD////