William Randolph Hearst
American newspaper publisher (1863–1951)
AI overview
William Randolph Hearst was an American newspaper publisher who built a massive media empire in the late 1800s and early 1900s, becoming one of the most powerful and influential figures in American journalism. His life and career matter historically because he shaped how news was reported and consumed in America, pioneered sensationalist journalism tactics, and demonstrated the enormous power that media ownership could wield over public opinion.
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Person · Open Library
- Born
- 1863
- Died
- 1951
- Works
- 32
Top works
- My First Book
- William Randolph Hearst on the foreign war debts, the war debt moratorium, financial supremacy of American dollar, and Mr. Hoover's action in the crisis
- Two editorials from the Boston American on Mexico and the Philippines
- William Randolph Hearst on taxation
- William Randolph Hearst on Communism and fascism, government and business and excessive taxation
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Listeners · Last.fm
- Listeners
- 2
- Total plays
- 5
Article
William Randolph Hearst (/hɜːrst/; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American newspaper publisher and politician. He laid the foundation for the Hearst family's mass media empire via his control of the Hearst Corporation. His extravagant methods of yellow journalism influenced the nation's popular media by emphasizing sensationalism and human-interest stories. Hearst entered the publishing business in 1887 with Mitchell Trubitt after being entrusted with The San Francisco Examiner by his wealthy father, Senator George Hearst.
After moving to New York City, Hearst acquired the New York Journal and fought a bitter circulation war with Joseph Pulitzer's New York World. Hearst sold papers by printing giant headlines over lurid stories featuring crime, corruption, sex, and innuendos. Hearst acquired more newspapers and created a chain that numbered nearly 30 papers in major American cities at its peak. He later expanded to magazines, creating the largest newspaper and magazine business in the world. Hearst controlled the editorial positions and coverage of political news in all his papers and magazines, and thereby often published his personal views. He sensationalized Spanish atrocities in Cuba while calling for war in 1898 against Spain. Historians reject his subsequent claims to have started the war with Spain as overly exaggerated.
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1863 births1951 deaths19th-century American newspaper publishers (people)19th-century art collectors20th-century American art collectors20th-century American newspaper founders20th-century United States representativesAmerican animated film producersAmerican magazine foundersAmerican magazine publishers (people)American nationalistsAmerican Nazis