Still Further Antedating of "Yellow Journalism"

[Baker, John]

Access Newspaper Archive has earlier datings for a couple of related terms.

"Yellow dog journalism" goes back to 1893, with this quotation from the Hamilton (Ohio) Daily Democrat (Apr. 17, 1893):  "Yellow dog journalism is just about the size of some fellows In this city. The people generally, have long since understood the case."  This is a stand-alone item, presumably some sort of dig at the writer's competitors.

A second reference to the term appears in the North Adams Transcript (Dec. 4, 1897), in an account of a speaker referring to "the yellow dog in journalism who didn't like it".  Again, the reference is a bit mysterious, at least to me.  Access Newspaper Archive also has 45 more uses of the term, spanning from 1898 to 2011, with all later uses apparent synonyms for "yellow journalism."

I argued last year that "yellow journalism" derives from or is a special use of the then existing term "yellow-covered literature," which was trashy or sensational fiction, periodicals, etc., see http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind1308A&L=ADS-L&P=R841, and I still think that correct.  I'm not sure how "yellow dog journalism" got its small but lasting foothold, but perhaps it is in reference to the low estate of yellow dogs.

Access Newspaper Archive also has several examples of "yellow press," of which the earliest seems to be from the Shelbyville (Ind.) Daily Democrat (Aug. 22, 1896).  Wikipedia considers "yellow press" to be an alternative term for "yellow journalism."  However, at least the early uses of "yellow press" seem to be by supporters of free silver, in criticism of defenders of the gold standard.  Eventually "yellow press" did come to mean "yellow journalism," but that was not its original meaning.


John Baker




-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of Shapiro, Fred
Sent: Sunday, February 02, 2014 10:41 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: Still Further Antedating of "Yellow Journalism"

The New York Press headline apparently read "Victory for the Yellow Journalism."

Fred Shapiro


________________________________________
From: Shapiro, Fred
Sent: Sunday, February 02, 2014 10:38 AM
To: American Dialect Society
Subject: RE: Still Further Antedating of "Yellow Journalism"

After sending the 1893 citation for "yellow journalism," I had a gnawing feeling that this antedating was "too good [i.e., too early] to be true."  In fact, when I study the article from American Periodical Series, it is clear to me that this is misdated, and is probably properly dated Dec. 7, 1898.

The true coinage of "yellow journalism" appears to be a small headline near the bottom of page 6 of the New York Press, Jan. 31, 1897.  I haven't verified this myself in the original, but I get it from seemingly reliable secondary sources.

Fred Shapiro



________________________________________
From: American Dialect Society [ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] on behalf of Shapiro, Fred [fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU]
Sent: Sunday, February 02, 2014 8:20 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Still Further Antedating of "Yellow Journalism"

yellow journalism (OED 1898, also OED has sense 3. of yellow, adj. dated 1898)

1893 _Puck_ 7 Dec. 7 (American Periodical Series)  Yellow journalism is a moral offense, but who are the offenders?  Not the newspaper proprietors, who make the most of that full liberty which reputable as well as disreputable papers must have in a free country, but the people who buy their output.

NOTE:  This citation undercuts OED's derivation of "yellow journalism" from a comic strip originating in 1895.

Fred Shapiro

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