The 1890s were referred to in the textbook as the “period of yellow journalism,” which was followed by the era of Jazz Journalism. Yellow journalism refers to a style of reporting characterised by:

• Sensational, exaggerated headlines designed to sell newspapers rather than inform
• Emotional appeal over factual accuracy
• Aggressive competition between newspaper publishers (most famously between Joseph Pulitzer's New York World and William Randolph Hearst's New York Journal)
• Lurid crime stories, scandal, and jingoistic coverage of foreign affairs

The term is believed to derive from a popular comic strip character, “The Yellow Kid,” published in both competing papers. Yellow journalism is widely criticised as a corruption of journalism's core duty — truth-telling — and represents an early example of the tension between commercial media pressures and journalistic ethics.