This present conception of news and the keen competition for
news has led to the rapid increase in personal journalism with its emphasis on the private life, the personal appearance, the public affairs of every individual in any way conspicuous. The result is often a complete reversal of the essential position of many individuals, — those who are naturally or inevitably in the public
eye shrink from the press exploitation of their personal charac teristics and private or public expenditures, while those who are
in no way pre-eminent in the community are often most solicitous
to have their comings and their goings chronicled by the press. Personal journalism thus often results in magnifying the infin
itesimal and in minimizing the importance of what is truly great. It is this insistent desire for news and also the desire to be the subject of news that has given rise to the so -called yellow press. Its origin has been somewhat superciliously laid at the door of
America , and it has at times aroused apprehension among the friends of the press lest its baneful influence should affect all members of the guild . But the press has always been of rainbow
hues and the yellow press was in existence before the periodical press was established here. It is easily recognized and in and of itself it does not concern the historian since he naturally does collectively is itself a record that can not be ignored since it has been but one of many symptoms that have indicated a diseased , morbid state of society , - a condition that the press itself has done much to restore to health and well-being. Yet this change has been partly attributable to the general improvement in the
moral tone of society. The influence of the yellow press may seem pronounced at a given time, but it is one that has been
greatly deprecated by prominent leaders of the press itself, and it is probable that Scott- James is correct in saying that
“ Just when the aforetimereputable Press has learnt the lesson of indecency , the controllers of the popular Press have learnt the information pays ; that an irresponsible sensational manner no longer makes a sensation ; that newsmust be news; that authority what knowledge we are to glean from the blundering lies, or the tiresome truths about thunder storms, that, strange to tell! kill oxen or burn barns."
-Works, II, 406- 407.
