William Randolph Hearst

Lore & Background

Hearst entered the publishing business in 1887 when his father, Senator George Hearst, entrusted him with The San Francisco Examiner. After moving to New York City, Hearst acquired the New York Journal and fought a bitter circulation war with Joseph Pulitzer's New York World. Hearst sold papers by printing giant headlines over lurid stories featuring crime, corruption, sex, and innuendos. He acquired more newspapers and created a chain that numbered nearly 30 papers in major American cities at its peak. He later expanded to magazines, creating the largest newspaper and magazine business in the world. Hearst controlled the editorial positions and coverage of political news in all his papers and magazines, and thereby often published his personal views. He sensationalized Spanish atrocities in Cuba while calling for war in 1898

Reader's Guide

Hearst’s behavior and professional methods were defined by an aggressive, sensationalist approach to journalism that prioritized dramatic headlines and lurid stories of crime, corruption, and scandal to drive circulation. His editorial strategy, known as yellow journalism, involved printing giant headlines over sensational content, a tactic he employed in a bitter circulation war with Joseph Pulitzer in New York. This approach proved immensely successful, allowing him to build a chain of nearly thirty newspapers across major American cities and later expand into magazines, creating the largest newspaper and magazine business in the world. Hearst exerted tight control over the editorial positions and political coverage in all his publications, using them to broadcast his personal views. He sensationalized Spanish actions in Cuba and called for war in 1898, though historians consider his later claims of having started that war to be exaggerated. Politically, Hearst was elected twice as a Democrat to the U.S. House of Representatives and ran unsuccessfully for president, mayor of New York City, and governor of New York. He initially aligned with the left wing of the Progressive Movement, claiming to speak for the working class, but after World War I adopted increasingly conservative and isolationist views, becoming a militant nationalist, a staunch anti-communist, and deeply suspicious of international organizations and foreign powers. Following Hitler’s rise, Hearst supported the Nazi Party, ordering favorable coverage and allowing Nazi figures to publish in his papers; though he denounced Hitler’s treatment of Jews after 1938, he still declared support for the Nazi invasion of Russia, calling Hitler the “saviour of Europe” in June 1941. His publications reached a peak of 20 million daily readers in the mid-1930s, but poor financial management left him deeply in debt during the Great Depression, forcing the liquidation of most assets. His life story inspired the character Charles Foster Kane in the film *Citizen Kane*, and his lavish estate, Hearst Castle in California, is preserved as a state historical monument and national landmark.

Did You Know?

• Hearst was expelled from Harvard College after antics including sending pudding pots used as chamber pots to his professors.
• His father, George Hearst, acquired the San Francisco Examiner in 1880 as repayment for a gambling debt.
• Hearst's mother, Phoebe Apperson Hearst, was the first woman Regent of the University of California, Berkeley.
• The character Charles Foster Kane in Citizen Kane was inspired by Hearst's life.