In 1883, Pulitzer, by then a wealthy man, purchased the New York World from Jay Gould for $346,000. The newspaper had been losing $40,000 a year. To raise circulation, Pulitzer emphasized human-interest stories, scandal, and sensationalism.
In 1884, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from New York, and served from March 4, 1885, until April 10, 1886. He resigned due to the pressure of journalistic duties.
In 1887, he recruited the famous investigative journalist Nellie Bly. In 1895 the World introduced the immensely popular The Yellow Kid comic by Richard F. Outcault, the first newspaper comic printed in color. Under Pulitzer's leadership, circulation grew from 15,000 to 600,000, making it the largest newspaper in the country.
Charles A. Dana, the editor of the rival New York Sun, attacked Pulitzer in print, often using anti-Semitic terms like "Judas Pulitzer". In 1895, William Randolph Hearst purchased the rival New York Journal from Pulitzer's brother, Albert. The two embarked on a circulation war. This competition with Hearst, particularly the coverage before and during the Spanish-American War, linked Pulitzer's name with yellow journalism.
Pulitzer had an uncanny knack for appealing to the common man. His World featured illustrations, advertising, and a culture of consumption for working men who, Pulitzer believed, saved money to enjoy life with their families when they could, at Coney Island for example. Crusades for reform and news of entertainment were the two main staples for the 'World.' Before the demise of the paper in 1931, many of the best reporters in America worked for it.
After the World exposed an illegal payment of $40,000,000 by the United States to the French Panama Canal Company in 1909, Pulitzer was indicted for libeling Theodore Roosevelt and J. P. Morgan. The courts dismissed the indictments.
Read more about this topic: Joseph Pulitzer
Famous quotes containing the word york:
“It is often said that New York is a city for only the very rich and the very poor. It is less often said that New York is also, at least for those of us who came there from somewhere else, a city for only the very young.”
—Joan Didion (b. 1934)