Ejercicio A · Inglés PAU Madrid Ordinaria Martes 2022

TEXTO A

Today's "Fake News" Used to Be Called Yellow Journalism

It is perhaps not so surprising to hear that the problem of "fake news" — media outlets adopting sensationalism to the point of fantasy — is nothing new. As Robert Darnton said, the first example of this in history may have been in the late 19th century. This was when "Yellow Journalism" first began.

Why yellow? The reasons are not totally clear and some sources point to the yellow ink the publications would sometimes use, though others say it was named after a popular cartoon called The Yellow Kid. This cartoon first ran in Joseph Pulitzer's New York World, and later William Randolph Hearst's New York Journal. These two newspapers were in a battle because they wanted to win readers. Their competition led to the rise of Yellow Journalism.

Although today his name is somewhat synonymous with journalism of the highest standards, through association with the Pulitzer Prize, Joseph Pulitzer had a very different reputation while alive. After purchasing The New York World in 1884 and rapidly increasing circulation through the publication of sensationalist stories, he earned the dubious honour of being the pioneer of tabloid journalism. He soon had a competitor in the field when his rival William Randolph Hearst acquired The New York Journal in 1885. The rivalry was fierce, each trying to outdo each other with ever more sensational and scandalous stories.

Yellow Journalism was at its worst in the days leading up to the Spanish-American War. Hearst's newspaper had a major influence on the conflict. It encouraged anti-Spanish feelings across the United States. Some people started calling the war "The Journal's War". Both newspapers published stories about the war that were full of unconfirmed claims, sensationalist propaganda, and outright factual errors.

Adapted from “Yellow Journalism: The "Fake News" of the 19th Century,” The Public Domain Review, December 11, 2019. <https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/yellow-journalism-the-fake-news-of-the-19th-century>

QUESTIONS

A.1.- Are the following statements TRUE or FALSE? Copy the evidence from the text. Use a complete sentence. No marks are given for only TRUE or FALSE. (Puntuación máxima: 2 puntos)

a)

The term "Yellow Journalism" was coined after a comic strip about a boy in a yellow nightshirt, entitled the "Yellow Kid".

TRUE

FALSE

b)

Joseph Pulitzer has come to be related to one of the most prominent awards given to journalists.

TRUE

FALSE

A.2.- In your own words and based on the ideas in the text, answer the following questions. Do not copy from the text. (Puntuación máxima: 2 puntos)

a)

What similarities are there between William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer? Mention two.

b)

Did Yellow Journalism play a role in the Spanish-American War? Why.