The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1908-04-23
Paper Read Before the Chautauqua circle.

Paper Read Before the Cha,aauqua Circle.
"HERE was recently read before
this circle very interesting
paper entitled "The Growth of
Journalism" in which the au-
thor traced the development of the
newspaper from its inception down to
the present day, but for some reason
or other he touched very lightly upon
that cankerous growth in jonrnalism's
side, sthe "yellow journal" Hence
this paper, and it will be my purpose
to point out this class of public alton
in way that it may be easily distin-
guishable.N The term "yellow journal"
doesn't convey the same meaning now
that it did when it first came into use
1t was first used in satirical sense
only, but Of late years it has taken on
an altogether different meaning.
About fifteen years ago one of New
York's big daily papers created sem
sation one Sunday morning by max
ing its appearance with comic sup
plement done in all the colors Of the
rainbow. The artist had given his at
teption almost exclusively to the do:
ings of one diminutive personality
called "The Yellow Kid" This was
q new departure in the field of jour
nalism, unique aud original, and the
"yellow Kid" made a big hit. The
frst edition of the paper was soon sold
out, and another edition was printed
and sold, the presses were kept going
until almost noon. That papers cir
culation had increased more than q
hundred thousand in a single day. It's
contemporaries were horrified-or at
least they pretended to be, claiming
the offender was guilty of everything
unbecoming q staid and conservative
publication in doing such an unheard
of thing as to issue that gsudy supple
ment, and the next morning the ell
low Kid" was made the subject Of q
half dozen scathing editorials in as
many different papers, and that young
,ster had some very nnkind things said
about him. One editor was 80 bitter
in his denunciation of the offending
sheet as to dub 1t 1.-THE Yellow Jour-
nal" That was the first time the term
was ever used, and that was the first
paper to bear the stigma of the name.
Hut these censurers, as subsequent
events have proved, were only jealous
of the pioneers success, and we were
destined to have more s'yellow jour-
mails" of the same kind, for within q
short time the coiner of the phrase
~Yellow Journal" blossomed out with
comic supplement- entitled "Hogan's
Alley" Then another followed suit
with "McFadden's Row of Flats" q
third introduced "Alphonse and Gas
ton." Then came "Happy Hooligan"
and "Gloomy Gus" "The KatzeDjam-
mer Kids,' "Muggsy" aud "Buster
Brown" and hundred other creations
of the comic artists brain, all to our
entertainment and joy, till at the pres
-ent day nearly every metropolitan
newspaper in the United States that
publishes a Sunday edition issues a
colored supplement.
So you see the original meaning OF
9 the term "Yellow Journal" (if that
meaning was ever made clear has
been lost in the shuttle, for we GER
tainly wouldn't want to apply that
stigmatizing epithet to a newspaper or
other publication whose only offense
had been an endeavor to instruct,
amuse, and entertain us. Thus we
are left with the question: " hat is q
"yellow journalw
A "yellow journal" is q newspaper
or other publication edited by MAN
with q yellow streak. To such an edl-
tor the only good news is bad news, he
fairly gloats over an earthquake, mine
explosion, railroad wreck, or theater
disaster. You will always find him
with search-light in one hand and a
muck-rake in the other. He is con-
stantly on the alert for the sensational
the horrible, the vicious, and the lewd
AT the first breath Of scandal his nos.
trils begin to dilate and expand and he
I pricks up his ears, he eagerly grssps
each little morssl that be may enlarge
upon It, add more color to It. and