The supposed vow of William Randolph hearst to reform spain at the end of the 19th century. This is become over the years an allpurpose media anecdote. Useful in describing any number of media sins and short comings, including the scourge of fake news. Including the scourge of fake news. So what are we talking about here . What are media myths . These are prominent stories about and or by the news media that are widely known and often retold, but which under scrutiny, under examination, dissolve as wildly exaggerated. Media myths. And in a way, media myths are cousins to fake news. We thought of cases of fake news that have mass car aided as accurate for many years media myths. And also they could be thought of sort of the junk food of journalism. The junk food of journalism. Appealing, alluring, delicious, perhaps, but not terribly wholesome and not terribly healthy. The junk food of journalism. Some of the features of media myths, these invariably are pithy tales, suck sink and short and to the point. Theyre almost always simplistic and media centric. They involve around media, actors, journalists. Theyre easily remembers, easily retold, theyre almost too good not to be true. These are some of the defining characteristics, some of the defining features of media myths. They almost always place journalists at the center of the action, at the center of important events. And do so in a decisive way, for good or evil. For good or evil. And this anecdote that were discussing today, this media myth that well be deconstructing is often cited as evidence that William Randolph hearst, a young newspaper publicer in new york city fomted or brought about the spanish american war. It is a tenacious and often invoked media myth. What are some examples of other media myths. The furnish the war anecdote is hardly the only media myth out there. One of the most tenacious and popular is the notion that woodward and bernstein, through their dogged reporting, brought down the corrupt presidency of Richard Nixon in 1974. Another wellknown media myth is the notion that Walter Cronkite is an on air assessment in the war of vietnam declared the United States military to be mired in stalemate in february of 1968. Mired in stalemate. An assessment that supposedly swung Public Opinion in the United States against the war. Another example of a media myth resolves around the famous photograph of the napalm girl. Taken by an associated photographer named nick oot in june of 1972. The image showed the effects on civilians, particularly young children, of an errant bombing of their village in south vietnam. The photograph was supposedly so powerful and so vivid that it helped hasten an end to the vietnam war. And of course the media myth today, de jure is that surrounding William Randolph hearst purported vow to furnish the war with spain. Now this is an important anecdote. This is an Important Media myth to address and de bunk because if this tale is true, if this is accurate, it suggests and point to powerful effects by the news media. So powerful that they could bring about a war that the country otherwise wouldnt have fought. That is the implication of this tale, of this anecdote, of this claim, this purported vow to furnish the war. The war with spain did take place. Over about four months in 1898, beginning in april and ending in august. It is a brief but decisive conflict that ushered the United States on to the world stage. It confirmed the United States as an international power. The United States defeated spanish forces in the philippines and in the caribbean. The effects of the war was to oust spain from cuba and its other caribbean possessions. And to leave the United States a colonial power, ruling far away lands such as the philippines, puerto rico, guam. The United States became a colonial power after the spanish american war. This is a decisive conflict for the country. This anecdote about furnish the war with spain. Hearst purported vow pops up often. Pops up often. Just earlier this month fox news in an article about fake news declared that the granddaddy of dishonest journalist, William Randolph hearst wrote to an illustrator, you furnish the pictures and ill furnish the war. The history news network, a few months ago invoked this anecdote as if it were true. So too did the pittsburgh postgazette, and cnn recentlyin voted this tale. And over the years the washington post, politico, forbes are among the publications that have used this quote in a fashion as if it were true. Famous authors, james fallows, garrison keeler are among those who have also invoked this anecdote. So before we get into the deconstruction of this media myth, it is important to understand whos whom here. Who are the actors. Who are the principal players . Who are the individuals would really mattered in this making of a media myth . And well start with William Randolph hearst. William randolph hearst, at the time was a 32yearold newspaper publisher in new york city. He had come to new york in 1895 after a successful stint in san francisco. He was the son of a wealthy california miner. A guy who had struck it rich in the silver mines out west. Hearst was welltodo. Privileged we would say today. And came to new york to run, to acquire and run the new york journal, then a mora bound newspaper. And under hearsts control, the newspaper took off. It became one of the most popular daily newspapers in new york city. Hearsts plan was to begin or expand his emergent media empire. He realized that he had no chance of establishing himself as a media barron unless he was able to be successful in new york city. Success in new york signaled success elsewhere for hearst. And by the 1930s, William Randolph hearst is a big time newspaper barron with newspapers across the country as well as radio stations and interests in Film Production companies. Hearst start into the big time came in new york at the end of the 19th century. While in new york, he developed what came to be called yellow journalism. Yellow journalism. Often yellow journalism is characterized these days as synonymous with sensational treatment of news. As it was practiced in the late 19th century, yellow journalism was more than the statement of the news, it is a genre characterized by a number of distinctive features. Including large headlines. Sometimes they would stretch across the page, the front page. Imaginative use of graphics was another character feature of yellow journalism was it was practiced in new york and elsewhere in the late 19th century. Use of illustrations was another feature of this genre. The time, most newspapers were very dull, very boring. Theyre layouts were very gray. Did not make use of big headlines, did not make use of graphic images or later photographs. Yellow journalism was characterized by a tireless selfpromotion indicated by the use of the newspapers name prominently in the newspaper. Particularly on a front page. This is a copy of the new york journal from october 1897 in which the newspaper is announcing the successful jail break in havana of a 19yearold political prisoner named Evangelina Cisneros. It has been lost to history but it was a big deal event back them. Because hearst and his new york journal helped to organize the jail break of Evangelina Cisneros. Breaking her out of jail in havana and smuggle her aboard a passenger steamer dressed as a boy, and the steamer arrived in new york city where she was received in a tumultuous reception organized by hearst and his newspaper. The case of Evangelina Cisneros was a big time example of the activism of William Randolph hearst and his newspapers. And this characterized some of the defining features of yellow journalism. Big, bold display, photographs, selfpromotion, attendancy toward activism. In fact hearst called his journalism, the journalism of action. Thinking it had more of a responsibility than just reporting and commenting on news, no he said that journalism has a role, an important function in stepping in and taking a role, an active role to write the wrongs of society. The journalism of action. Also in the lineup of who was whom is frederick remington. A wellknown artist of the american west. A painter, sculptor, sketch artist. He sometimes did newspaper work. Newspaper illustrations. But he didnt think that reproduction quality in newspapers at the time in the late 19th century was all that good, was all that good. Also in the lineup, of who is whom, around this media myth is Richard Harding davis. Richard Harding Davis. Hes a conceited but wellknown writer and playwright who becomes the most famous correspondent in the spanish american war in 1898, a year or so after this myth took hold. He was a writer and one of his first books was titled soldiers of fortune. Still in print. You could still get it through amazon. It is a book of sort of a romance novel in which he sort of depicted himself as a central character. Richard Harding Davis. He was the son of a newspaper editor and his mother was a writer. Rebecca Harding Davis was her name. Remington and davis were assigned by hearst to go to cuba in early 1897 and they were there to cover the rebellion on cuba against Spanish Colonial rule. That is their assignment. Hearst, as he would want to do, paid generously for the talent. He paid Richard Harding davis 3,000 for one months work. In 1897 money, that was a lot. Today it is worth about 90,000. 90,000 for a months work. Hearst pays generously for top line talent. Also in the lineup is james cerealman. James cerealman, canadian born and cigar chomp and admirer of wide receiver hearst, he was the first to mention the anecdote, the telegram between hearst and remington. The first to mention you furnish the pictures and ill furnish the war. Did he so in a book of reminiscent, a memo he brought out in 1901. Here is a passage from the book. Titled on the great highway. It is an anecdote he doesnt make a big deal about. Just mentioned it in passing as a way to pay tribute to, as a way to sing the praises of hearsts activist journalism, of hearsts yellow journalism. So this is the passage. Cereal man writes that remington was instructed to remain in cuba until the war began but after a short while he said a cable saying everything is quiet, there will be no war, i wish to return. In reply, according to creelman, please remain. You furnish the pictures and ill furnish the war. Creelman said he was about as as his word and creelman offers no anecdote with no footnotes or citations. He does not explain then or ever after that how he learned about this anecdote, hower learned about this purported exchange between hearst and remington. This is important because creelman at the time had a reputation for being a no notoriously unreliable journalist. He claimed in 1894 that he witnessed a massacre of chinese civilians by a japanese forces, an episode that was later investigated by the u. S. State department and found to be a gross exaggeration. A gross exaggeration. During the spanish american war in 18 i798, creelman claimed th he led a climactic charge of u. S. Forces, head of the charge of forces against a spanish position near santiago near cuba and he claimed he was the guy leading the way. An account that nobody really embraced. But nonetheless is emblematic of his tendency to exaggerate, his embrace of hyperbole. He was pompous, this guy, james creelman. One of his specialties was interviewing prominent people. The pope, heads of state, european royalty. And often in these interviews his writeups, they were not q a, but it was a long lengthy account of the interview in which creelman would talk more about himself than about the subjects of his interview. In 1897, january 1897, when this exchange between remington and hearst would have taken place, creelman is not with remington. He is not with hearst in new york city. Creelman is in spain. Hes in madrid on a on assignment for the flrk journal. That tells us he could not have learned about this purported exchange of telegrams firsthand. That he only knew about it secondhand or that he made it up. That he exaggerated this account. It really is ironic that one of american journalisms best known anecdote and most repeated tales are based on and owes its existence to the unsubstantiated rulination of a journalist, creelman. If this exchange took place, it would have taken place in january of 1897, which was the only time that remington was on cuba before the spanish american war which began in april 1898. At the time, at the time that remington and Richard Harding davis went to cuba, there was an island wide rebellion against Spanish Colonial rule. This was a struggle that began in 1895 and it was two years old. It was two years old. This rebellion was the precursor to the spanish american war of 1898. It is was a precursor of the United States enter into the conflict in cuba, a conflict raging since 1895. And that rebellion, the one that began in 1895, was latest in a succession of uprisings by cubans against Spanish Colonial rule. Cuba was an important possession of spain. Had been for centuries. And spanish response was vigorous and expensive. Spain sent 200,000 troops to the island to try to quell this rebellion. Spain also imposed rigorous censorship of alltel of alltel graphic data to cuba and instituted a cruel policy called reconcentration. Reconcentration. It led to a humanitarian disaster on cuba by 1897 and early 1898. Reconcentration was an attempt by the spanish authorities to deprive the cuban rebels of support from the countryside, of support from the cuban population. Under reconcentration, old men, women and children were herded by the spanish into garrison towns, into fortified centers on cuba to deprive them of support to keep them from supporting the cuban rebels. In these garrison towns, these cuban noncombatants suffered immensely. Suffered immensely. Starvation, disease ran rampant. Thousands of cuban noncombatants died because of this policy. And by early 1898, cuba was the scene of a full blown humanitarian disaster. So it was against this back drop, war in cuba, that davis and remington together arrive in havana and they proceed immediately to try to get the lay of the land. One of the first meetings was with the butcher. The butcher. Who, you may ask, was the butcher . He was general valerno wyler, he was the spanish military commander on cuba at time. He was the one who instituted and enforced the policy of reconcentration, of removing cuban noncombatants to garrison towns where they suffered immensely. General wyler was known in the u. S. News media and the newspapers as the butcher. As the butcher. Butcher wyler. The original plan of davis and remington was to cross spanish lines and to hook up with the cuban insurgents, the cuban rebels. That was the objective, the prime objective of their assignment to cuba. To cross spanish lines, meet up with the cuban insurgents. It is a plan that had no hope of going anywhere. So they traveled around a bit in havana to matansas. And after six days, they split ways. They part ways. Remington is a big guy. He suffers in the tropics. He didnt have a good time there. Davis is a tough guy to work with any way. He doesnt like working in pairs, as he said. They split ways. They part ways after six days on the island. Davis remains. Remington makes arrangements to return home, to go back to the states, go back to new york on board the passenger steamer the seneca. And upon his return home, the journal begins prominent, prominent publication of remingtons sketches, remingtons sketches of the cuban conflict. And they praise these sketches and headlines saying they are the work of a gifted artist, frederick remington. So, before debunking, before getting into the details of the debunking of this anecdote, of this media myth, lets recap real quickly. There is a rebellion going on in cuba. Ing remington is there six days. The first account between the supposed exchange between hearst and remington comes more than four years later in 1901. In creelmans book which contains no documentation about how he learned about it, the source of this purported exchange. And creelman is the lone person to come up with this originally. This tale, you furnish the pictures and ill furnish the war, lives on despite a nearly complete absence of supporting documentation as is mentioned in our core text this semester. A nearly complete absence of supporting documentation. So, to the debunking. Hearst denied that there was ever such an exchange, that he sent such a message to remington. Remington himself apparently never spoke about it. Never spoke publicly about this. And the telegrams themselves, the artifacts that are central to this whole story have never turned up. The artifacts have never turned up. But there are other factors, and another factor is that it is illogical, this whole tale is illogical on its face because why would hearst send remington and davis, why would he send a telegram to remington vowing to furnish the war if war, the rebellion in cuba, was the very reason he sent them, remington and davis, to cuba in the first place. It is illogical. Given the context of what is going on in cuba at the time, hearsts vow to furnish the war makes no sense. It is illogical. Its illogical. Also, this tale does not account for the sensors. Remember, one of reactions of spain was to impose ridgity censorship on all incoming and outgoing telegraphics to cuba. Spain is running the show in cuba and they are controlling all incoming and outgoing telegraphic traffic. Why would spanish sensors have let such an incendiary message flow freely through hearst and remington. There is just no logic to this either. They certainly, the censorship would have intercepted this message had it been sent. They would have intercepted it and called attention to it as an example of yankee meddling, in spanish cuban affairs. They certainly would have done this. They certainly would have not allowed this message from hearst to remington to flow freely as creelmans account