[lbo-talk] reavealed: Obama really really is a socialist, really

c b cb31450 at gmail.com
Fri Oct 8 10:02:14 PDT 2010


[WS:] This is a good example of what I was ranting about in my other posting - the dominant form of discourse in this country is infotainment. It does not matter how ridiculous it is as long as it is entertaining and it sells.

Wojtek

^^^^^^^^ CB: Yeah. The old name is "Yellow Journalism", very American. Also, sensationalizing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_journalism

Yellow journalism

See also: tabloid and supermarket tabloid Nasty little printer's devils spew forth from the Hoe press in this Puck cartoon of November 21, 1888.

Yellow journalism or the yellow press is a type of journalism that presents little or no legitimate well-researched news and instead uses eye-catching headlines to sell more newspapers. Techniques may include exaggerations of news events, scandal-mongering, or sensationalism. By extension "Yellow Journalism" is used today as a pejorative to decry any journalism that treats news in an unprofessional or unethical fashion.

Campbell (2001) defines Yellow Press newspapers as having daily multi-column front-page headlines covering a variety of topics, such as sports and scandal, using bold layouts (with large illustrations and perhaps color), heavy reliance on unnamed sources, and unabashed self-promotion. The term was extensively used to describe certain major New York City newspapers about 1900 as they battled for circulation.

Frank Luther Mott (1941) defines yellow journalism in terms of five characteristics:[1]

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.



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