New York World - Joseph Pulitzer Years

Joseph Pulitzer Years

The World was a relatively unsuccessful New York newspaper from 1860 to 1883. It was purchased by Joseph Pulitzer in 1883 and a new, aggressive era of circulation building began. Reporter Nellie Bly became one of America's first investigative journalists, often working undercover. As a publicity stunt for the paper inspired by the Jules Verne novel Around the World in Eighty Days, she traveled around the planet in 72 days in 1889-1890. In 1890, Pulitzer built the New York World Building, the tallest office building in the world at the time.

In 1889, Julius Chambers became the managing editor of the New York World on the invitation of Joseph Pulitzer, where he remained until 1891.

In 1896, the World began using a four-color printing press and became the first to launch a color supplement, which featured the Yellow Kid cartoon Hogan's Alley. It then joined a circulation battle with William Randolph Hearst's New York Journal American.

The World was at the time attacked for being "sensational", and its later circulation battles with Hearst's Journal American gave rise to the term yellow journalism, which have led many to believe the World and the Journal were little more than scandal sheets. One should note, however, that the charges of sensationalism were most frequently leveled at the paper by more established publishers, who resented Pulitzer's courting of the immigrant classes. And while the World presented its fair share of crime stories, it also published damning exposés of tenement abuses. After a heat wave in 1883 killed a disproportionate number of children and led the World to publish stories under headlines like "Lines of Little Hearses", the adverse publicity spurred action for reform. Hearst reproduced Pulitzer's approach in the San Francisco Examiner and later in the Journal American.

Frank Irving Cobb was employed on a trial basis as the editor of the World in 1904 by publisher Pulitzer. Cobb was a fiercely independent Kansan who resisted Pulitzer's attempts to "run the office" from his home. However hard the elder man might try, he simply could not keep from meddling with Cobb's work. Time after time these men battled each other, and not often in the most temperate language. Ironically, both men found common ground in their support of Woodrow Wilson. But there were plenty of other issues to disagree about. When Pulitzer's son took over administrative responsibility in 1907, Pulitzer wrote a precisely worded resignation which was printed in every New York paper—except the World. Pulitzer raged at the insult, but slowly began to respect Cobb's editorials and independent spirit. Exchanges, commentaries, and messages between them increased. The good rapport between the two was based largely on Cobb's flexibility. In May 1908, Cobb and Pulitzer met to outline plans for a consistent editorial policy. However, the editorial policy did waver on occasion. Renewed battles broke out over the most trivial matters. Pulitzer's demands for editorials on contemporary breaking news led to overwork by Cobb. Pulitzer revealed concern by sending him on a six-week tour of Europe to restore his spirit. Pulitzer died shortly after Cobb's return; then Cobb published Pulitzer's beautifully written resignation. Cobb retained the editorial policies he had shared with Pulitzer until he died of cancer in 1923.