40. the emergence in the United States of the first publishing monopolies. Pulitzer Concern 41. "The Gilded Age" and US journalism (1865-1890) about magnates

At the end of the XIX century, the western society entered the era of trusts. The first newspaper trust in the United States was the corporation of Joseph Pulitzer.

Rising from the lowest rung of American society to its top, having traveled from unemployed to millionaire, Pulitzer, in the eyes of his contemporaries, was a living embodiment of the “American dream” that came true. As early as 1864, hardly anyone could have imagined that this immigrant from Hungary without a penny in his pocket, without a specialty, without knowledge of the English language could become a newspaper magnate. It seemed that nature itself disliked the young man, endowing him with an awkward figure and an ugly appearance. Pulitzer owed a remarkable climb to the top of American society due to his hard work. Working as a laborer, he visited the library in the evenings, where he studied English. Later, in the state of Missouri, he managed to get a job as a reporter in the West German Post, which was published in German. At the new location, Pulitzer showed amazing performance. Working daily from ten in the morning until two in the morning, he actually "pulled" on himself all the work in the newspaper. When Westliche Post was on the verge of bankruptcy, he bought it at a cheap price, starting his publishing activities. Subsequently, he repeatedly repeated this maneuver. Without sufficient funds, Pulitzer always bought unprofitable newspapers at a cheap price, and every time he managed to improve the situation. So, his first English-language newspaper, St. Louis Dispatch, was bought for 2.5 thousand dollars and had a 30 thousand debt. But after a few years, its price rose to a half million.

Joseph Pulitzere, whose name is today the highest journalistic award in the United States. In 1883, he acquired the newspaper New York World (The World of New York), which he made a model of journalism based on human reportage and coverage of incidents. Simplified English, drawings and comics, newspaper sensations - everything was aimed at expanding the audience of readers, attracting, above all, immigrants who know little English. In one year, the new publisher raised the circulation of the newspaper from 15 to 100 thousand copies, and in three years - up to a quarter of a million. He paid special attention to “dynamic reporting”, boldly exposed corruption in the construction of the Panama Canal, skillfully used the dramatization of news, illustrations, arch-heading unusual headlines in the pages, began to use color applications and comics in color in the country. Beginning in 1889, on the “New York World” entertainment page, serials were printed about the adventures of the comic character nicknamed The Yellow Guy (Yellow Kid), who amused the readers with his funny look, silly smile, comic discourses on various topics and eccentric acts . This innovation introduced by Pulitzer has led to the emergence of the term "yellow press"

The second largest figure of American journalism at the junction of two centuries was William Randolph Hearst (1863-1951), whose career began with the acquisition in 1896 of the newspaper The New York Journal. Hirst's name symbolizes the largely negative aspects of the American capitalist press, because for him there was no barrier of decency.