This paper makes a comparative analysis of Pulitzer's and Hearst's news practice and news thought process.

Pulitzer is a controversial and complicated figure in the history of American journalism. The price prize winner thinks he is a great milestone in journalism. He is the founder of modern American journalism and one of the pioneers of new American journalism. New york World, which he founded, is a great turning point in the history of American journalism. He donated money to establish Columbia University School of Journalism, and his Pulitzer Prize became the highest award in American journalism. His detractors regard him as the initiator of vulgar news.

Pulitzer's news thought and practice are full of contradictions in the eyes of ordinary people. This contradiction comes from the conflict between ideal and reality, and from the conflict between the roles of journalists and newspaper bosses. However, when we actually examine the historical and social conditions in which Pulitzer lived at that time, his contradictions can be explained and understood, which was adapted to the rapidly changing American society at that time. Pulitzer was an outstanding newspaper editor and publishing furniture at that time. Studying his news thoughts can help us better understand the history of American newspaper industry at that time, and also seek some enlightenment for our current market-oriented newspaper reform.

Brief introduction of Pulitzer's life

Joseph? Pulitzer was born in a well-off family in Budapest, Hungary, and received a good family and school education. During the American Civil War (1864), he was recruited into the federal army and became a soldier in the Lincoln Cavalry. After retiring, I did odd jobs and taught myself English, law and news writing in my spare time. 1867 American citizenship. 1868 was hired as a reporter by the German newspaper "Western Post" and began to engage in journalism. 187865438+On February 9th, Pulitzer bought St. Louis Telegraph for $2,500. Three days later, he merged the Telegraph with the local Post and renamed it the Post. 1On May 9, 883, Pulitzer bought new york's Le Monde for $346,000, which was a great success. At the beginning of 1887, the newspaper sold more than 250,000 copies, and the assets of 1893 exceeded1000,000 dollars, which became a major turning point in the history of American journalism and marked that cheap papers replaced the party newspaper as the main body of the newspaper. He created a collection and writing system-that is, the materials collected and written by journalists were polished, sorted and integrated into manuscripts for publication. This writing rule is still the universal principle of the whole press. 1903, Pulitzer wrote his will and decided to fund the establishment of Columbia Journalism College and Pulitzer Prize, with the board of directors of Columbia University in charge of the funds he left behind. 19 1 1 year 10 Pulitzer died on1October 29th. According to his will, the Columbia Journalism Institute was founded in 19 12, and the Pulitzer Prize was established in 19 17, making it the highest prize in American journalism.

Secondly, Pulitzer's news thought and policy of running a newspaper.

Pulitzer made his own contribution to the creation of "new news". He is full of energy and has a keen sense of news. He can adapt to and develop the publishing concept and technology of his time in a unique way, thus realizing his ardent desire: as the founder of a modern newspaper with a first-class editorial department and a complex organization, he is indisputably recognized by the society. In this respect, he has made remarkable achievements, but this alone is not enough for him to win the reputation of the most capable and respectable American editor-in-chief among his peers. His real greatness lies in his role in a newspaper, especially the lofty idea of the leading role of editorials, and the way to realize this idea in his newspaper.

Pulitzer's news thought and newspaper running idea have a strong sense of social responsibility and super-partisan consciousness; In news reporting, he advocates reporting important news in a vivid way to meet the changing social needs and adapt to the social trend with sensational news content and layout.

1, sense of social responsibility

In the declaration issued when Le Monde was founded, Pulitzer showed a strong sense of social responsibility and mission: "In our increasingly prosperous big cities, we need such a daily newspaper. This newspaper is not only cheap, but also rich in content; It is not only rich in content and vast in space, but also fully promotes democracy and is truly committed to the cause of the people, rather than seeking benefits for the powerful. It will be reported more in the new world and less in the old world. It will expose all deception and shamelessness and attack all social ugliness and disadvantages. It will sincerely strive for the interests of the people. " ( 1)

Third, the evaluation of Pulitzer's news thought and the policy of running a newspaper.

The era of Pulitzer journalism is an era of great development and change in American society. After the civil war, economic development, population growth, rapid development of China's abundant natural resources, people's creativity and political and cultural progress all provided guarantees for becoming a new world power in the future. Looking at the historical and social conditions in the United States at that time, this paper expounds the evaluation of Pulitzer's news thought and policy of running a newspaper from the following three aspects:

1, the role of journalists

Since the industrial revolution changed the nature of American society, countless people of insight in the United States have made unremitting efforts to find the exact answers to many problems facing the United States. These questions include: how will the United States behave in the world? How much democracy will it maintain? Can we maintain a certain balance between unrestricted economic individualism and reform for socialism? Can the fruits of social progress be shared by the whole people by improving living conditions, increasing opportunities to be influenced by education and culture, improving health and ensuring personal safety? Can the government care about the welfare of the people? What role will newspapers play in making necessary adjustments forward or backward? A powerful political movement for greater power for the people has developed. Social scientists try to impart knowledge so that people can make wise social and political decisions. Many reformers, agitators, political leaders and writers have called for arousing people's social conscience. All this has an impact on the future direction of this country.

In addition, the industrial revolution has also caused many domestic problems: the emergence of trusts, the concentration of economic power in the hands of a few people, the extremely unfair distribution of wealth, the insufficient income of workers and farmers, the unskilled workers, female workers and immigrants are still victims of the economic system, the immigration problem, and the corruption and malpractice in politics and business circles. In the eyes of many Americans, although the prosperity of the country reflects the basic progress of everyone's life, it is mainly a few marauders who encroach on the freedom of most people who benefit from this prosperity.

At this stage, the mass media-newspapers, magazines and books-play a very important role in the struggle to form public opinion and realize people's wishes. Some conscious journalists joined the struggle against economic monopoly and corruption in municipal authorities. In these ups and downs, the period after 1900 is very crucial, which is also called "dung movement" or "uncovering ugliness movement".

As a progressive journalist, Pulitzer's news thought was obviously influenced by the spirit of social reform at that time. As an immigrant, Pulitzer was very sympathetic and concerned about the oppressed poor from the beginning of his journalism, and was very sensitive to social issues such as immigration. From the beginning of the Post, it advocated resolute social reform. When the "dung movement" prevailed, the independent spirit and social reform of Le Monde reached an unprecedented height on local and ethnic issues. Therefore, it can be said that the concept of social responsibility in Pulitzer's journalism thought was only an outstanding representative of social spirit at that time.

2. The role of entrepreneurs

With the rise of tabloids in the 1930s, the United States got rid of the era of party newspapers and entered the era of mass newspapers. Since then, commercial private media has become the mainstream of American news media, and the newspaper industry has entered a stage of great development. At the same time, due to the modernization and specialization of news gathering and editing, the revolution of printing industry, the emergence of photographic plate making, the development of advertising and the emergence of new magazines, newspapers are facing fierce competition.

3. Role conflict

As Shi Lamu said, "News is a dual task. From the perspective of providing universal education for the public, mass communication is a school. However, from the standpoint of making money for investors, mass media is an enterprise. Under the influence of this dual personality, the person in charge of any mass media, on the one hand, should perform the duties of the principal, on the other hand, it should perform the duties of the manager. These two responsibilities are often contradictory. " (7) It can be seen that Pulitzer can't escape the contradiction between social responsibility and commercial interests because of his dual identity as a business newspaper owner and a progressive journalist with the spirit of social reform. He tried to reconcile this contradiction. He used fun and excitement to promote his newspaper, and used education to make his newspaper bear certain social responsibilities. He believes that human reports and sensational stories are necessary conditions for winning high circulation. After the circulation is expanded, a healthy public opinion can be created by attracting readers to pay attention to editorial columns and news reports on public affairs.

However, it should be said that in Pulitzer's era and position, compared with others of his time, Pulitzer's unremitting efforts in reconciling this contradiction deserve our respect.