Yellow Journalism & Sensationalism

Credit Movieposters.com

            Prior to taking this course, I had a fundamental understanding of what Yellow Journalism was. Before, I understood Yellow Journalism as false reporting or propaganda and the press exaggerating narratives. But now I know that it goes a little deeper than that, and Yello Journalism can be very pointed and personal in the way it covers stories and almost attacks people. Watching the 1937 film "They Won't Forget" gave an interesting depiction of yellow journalism in relation to how the press interacts in court cases. As we've discussed in class, news outlets are crucial for controlling how the public obtains information and how they grasp it, so journalists need to be unbiased and keep personal opinions or subjective comments out of their writing. However, this was not the case in the movie. 

            The film's plot follows the case of Robert Hale being suspected of an innocent school girl's death. Throughout the film, the viewer can see the reporter's manipulative attitude with the main detective, who is very concerned with finding who is responsible for the murder, not because he wanted justice, but because he was concerned with his reelection bid. He knew his role was hanging in the balance and would be determined by whether or not he prosecuted someone for this crime... even if it were the wrong person. For the reporter, on the other hand, it was all about having access to the information and story first; no matter what the spin was he was relaying, the report just wanted the hot story and to be the first covering it.  The reporter felt a lot of pressure to make the news interesting and inflammatory so that the public would be interested in reading and following his coverage of the trial.

             As we learn at the end of the film, the innocent school teacher from New York, Robert Hales, ends up being lynched and murdered by angry townspeople who have been "drummed up" to do so by the reporting from the press. There's even one scene in court where the reporter makes inflammatory comments about the two mothers, one being Rober Hale's mom, and the other is the mother of the dead girl. The report goes on to exaggerate the facial expression and builds tension and drama further between the two. During high-profile cases like murder trials, what the press covers and how they relay information is crucial as it affects how people react. In this film, there was a clear representation of the journalists falling into sensational yellow journalism, gaslighting public opinion.

            Paralleling to today there have been many murder trials that have drawn similar public attention and sensationalism from journalists. A prime example of a case in recent memory is the trial of Casey Anthony and the coverage by Nancy Grace.