Politics
Joseph Pulitzer and the New York World
Addressing the class structure in America wherein immigrants failed to acquire sophistication and polish, Pulitzer’s editors were told to concentrate on stories about sex, violence, crime, tragedy, and farce.
Joseph Pulitzer was a sensationalist who helped perfect the screaming headline, tabloid mentality that exists to this day. Joseph Pulitzer and the New York World, by George Juergens was published by the Princeton University Press, in 1966. Here are vital notes and excerpts from the book:
“The goal of sensational journalism is to catch the interest, even to titillate, the vast body of men and women who for one reason or another are unconcerned with the happenings in government, business, or the arts.”
Sensationalism isn’t Pretty
Sensational newspapers expanded the meaning of the human interest story to report what had previously been regarded as private — the gossip and scandal about individuals — and discovered a rich source of news in crime and everyday tragedy. They began to pay as much attention to personalities as to local or national events.
While Joseph Pulitzer did not originate sensationalism, he played a crucial role in the history of American journalism simply by living at a time when social and economic changes enabled sensationalism to flourish.
Pulitzer used frivolous pictures, poetry, short stories, and the like, to make the newspaper a medium to entertain as well as inform. Pulitzer borrowed ideas of sensationalism that were not his own and brought them up to date to fit a modern America of cities and factories.
Circulation is King
When Pulitzer set up shop in New York, he wanted to achieve the greatest circulation in America’s history. He needed a large circulation in order to have a podium from which his liberal principles could be heard. To obtain it, he had to win the confidence, as well as excite the interest, of the masses of people.
Pulitzer took delight in alliteration. “Fact, Fuss, Fun and Philosophy for the Fair Sex”; “Mangled by Mongrels”; and “Terrible Time in Troy”; were typical of blazing headlines that crossed the front of his papers.
To attract more attention and strike the reader’s eye, Pulitzer sometimes resorted to the dubious practice of pumping minor items out of proportion. A typical technique was to ask a question in the headline, usually one the paper could not answer.
In one instance, two brothers argued in a boarding house, and one shot the other while the grief-stricken mother clasped the dead son’s body to her breast. Rather than use such obvious headlines as “Youth Kills Brother” or “A Tale of Cain and Abel,” Pulitzer seized the reader’s attention with “Blood on Mother’s Lips.”
While patricians might decry such journalism as tasteless, Pulitzer pointed to a steadily rising circulation to prove its effectiveness.
Creating the News
Pulitzer reputedly had a “nose for news,” recognizing the appropriate stories when they appeared, and, when they did not appear, creating them. Such a knack meant making fine judgments about stories that had no place in a mass circulation journal, and not least important, knowing how to present and embellish the right stories so that their potential was not lost on the reader.
The large number of immigrants in New York who had trouble reading English came to rely on Hearst’s paper, The World, for headlines. Accommodating the uncertain literacy of it’s readers, the paper had abundant pictures and bold headlines splashed across each page. Reporters were urged to use simple language and uncomplicated sentence structure.
Addressing the class structure in America wherein immigrants failed to acquire sophistication and polish, the editors concentrated on stories about sex, violence, crime, tragedy, and farce.
The World also resurrected buried items, venturing far from New York City to find desired material. Pulitzer often played up material ignored by other papers to make his front page startling and eye-catching. Pulitzer played up one incident, a squabble between two cab drivers, for three days running, with headlines such as “Will There be a Duel?” The argument long over, the public was kept on the hook, ostensibly so that Pulitzer could sell newspapers.
Constant Conjuring
When the newspaper ran short of news items for sensational treatment, it filled the void by conjuring up equivalent feature material, usually for the Sunday editions. A sampling of features included:
* Recent examples of human sacrifice among fanatical religious sects in the U.S.
* A long report on weapons used to commit murder, including a nail, a coffin lid, a red-hot horseshoe, an umbrella, a match box, a window brush, and a tea kettle.
* A description of two cutthroats from Vienna, Austria, who specialized in courting lonely women and then murdering them.
* A thrilling narrative of cannibalism at sea, in which shipwrecked soldiers cut the jugular vein of the weakest member, their cabin boy, and lived off his flesh.
Publicizing Gore
The ability to discover offbeat ways of publicizing gore was particularly important during the 1880s, when Pulitzer’s paper grew in size. After deciding what stories should go into the paper, the challenge became presenting them in an effective way. The top-flight journalist who had lost his capacity for shock needed to be wary.
“Pulitzer discovered that when the public became interested in a murder, its curiosity and appetite for detail were almost insatiable. Hence, provocative, gruesome, coy, but never dull, headlines embellished paper after paper.”
Personally, I find it remarkable and horrific that the Pulitzer Prize, an award representing the highest aspirations and achievements in journalism, is named for Mr. Joseph Pulitzer. What a world.
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After watching with over a hundred others the newly released movie, Civil War, I left the theater stunned, and I was not alone. Was it a good movie? Just a deeply unsettling one! Could it really happen? You don’t even want to imagine it! But with Biden’s assault on America continuing and Trump reemerging as the favored GOP candidate, the American division is growing. More and more citizens are getting angrier as their standard of living is in jeopardy and illegals are getting benefits citizens can only dream of.
Spoiling the movie’s plot is never appropriate, but when Western forces from Texas, Florida, and even California take on the elected President, the country is left in a civil war. We watch as desensitized media professionals cover the death of hundreds of American citizens. To the film’s media, the war is just a once-in-a-lifetime story that deserves to be captured one picture at a time. After all, it’s the media’s job. They are just feeding citizens what they want—blood, gore, winners, and victims. What would happen if America descends into such chaos? This movie provides one disturbing view, one that, God help us, must never happen.
One thing is clear, when a country loses trust in its leader’s ability to preserve their cherished freedoms and ensure equal treatment under the law, even insurrection seems somehow possible. That is a nightmare no American should have to entertain, but more and more Americans seem to be losing hope in the future of our country. They don’t trust elections. Many don’t even like the Presidential choices presented to them.
The Founding Fathers valued freedom enough to unleash a revolution against the greatest power at the time. Enough citizens joined them in securing what most at the time believed impossible, independence. Yes, insurrection hatched our beloved America. Belief in equal rights and freedom are powerful forces that have always driven patriotic Americans to action.
Even with our differences, most Americans believe in property rights, voting rights, law enforcement to keep us safe, freedom of speech, and personal responsibility. Unfortunately, more and more Americans feel these values are in question, and they are not sure America can be saved!
Many Americans no longer even believe that elections will produce a lawful winner. They don’t trust the voting machines. They want paper ballots that can be counted. They don’t believe multiple days are needed. Hasn’t one day of voting always been enough? They want required IDs and signed mail-in ballots. They fear ballot harvesting is just another name for ‘manufacturing” all the votes you need to ensure a fraudulent victory. Are American fair elections no more!
Many no longer believe that the enforcement of law is fair and sure. While former President Donald Trump has been charged with multiple “crimes,” President Joe Biden’s similar actions aren’t even charged. Hunter Biden’s influence peddling with money set aside for the “Big Guy” are not even covered in the mainstream media. The Dept. of Justice is quick to charge Trump, but with the Bidens, we hear nothing but crickets. People who commit crimes are being let go instead of being held accountable. Is American law and order no more!
Under President Trump, our border was finally more under control. Under Biden, his open border has been continually flooding our country with illegals from around the world. They come expecting benefits at the expense of taxpaying citizens. Illegals overwhelm services in our urban areas. Legal immigrants had to wait years to enter and are fuming at this invasion of illegals rushing to the front of the line and expecting to be accepted, supported, and allowed to become citizens. Is America’s secure border no more!
We thought in America, your home was your castle. If you work to buy the home of your dreams, you were sure that your property rights were secure in a community that you loved. But today, squatters are taking over vacant homes and fending off owners who want them to leave their property. Illegals are being told to come to America, find an empty home, and move in. In the name of equity, governments are rezoning the suburbs and requiring the building of low-income housing where it is not wanted. Are America’s property rights no more!
Do you believe America is lost? Do you believe nothing can reverse this march to chaos? Do you believe that it is time to buy your own guns to protect your family when the government won’t? Is a civil war coming? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, you are in danger of losing the optimistic attitude that has characterized Americans for two centuries. This is our country. This is not the time for surrender. It’s time to fight to preserve America the best way you can—vote for candidates who promise to preserve the rights you value most.
Your vote does matter. There are no perfect candidates, but the party positions make a difference in this critical election. If you want law and order, secure borders, fair elections, property rights, and a return to personal responsibility, there is only one party to support. Vote for every GOP candidate you are given the opportunity to support, or it may very well be America no more!
Guns
Prepare for the Worst: Domestic Sabotage and Violence on the Horizon
The wheels of extremism are already in motion
Leading up to this November, and beyond, it now seems inevitable that America will experience extreme turmoil, if not outright hostilities and even urban warfare. Nothing that I write here will have any impact in terms of what is likely to occur. For one, Leftists don’t tend to read articles by conservative and, two, the wheels of extremism are already in motion.
Tactics Without End
I devote at least 500 hours annually to reading about political, historical, and cultural matters, adding up to more than 5,000 hours in the last 10 years. I’ve reached the same conclusion which legions of others have: Domestically the U.S. is headed for huge trouble. We already know many of the Left’s tactics to hinder Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign, which include devious hoaxes, endless lies and slander, bogus lawsuits and selective prosecution, unconstitutional fines, and much more.
As spring leads to summer, Trump’s lead over Biden could grow. As such, expect the Left to act even more desperately with reprehensible tactics. Consider that of late RINO Congressional Representatives are suspiciously retiring early on dates with no chance for a special election to occur in their districts. Hence, Democrats can retake the House. Do you smell payola? Thereafter if Trump is elected, the House could attempt to deny certification.
By June or July, invariably, the Left will seek to foment another “George Floyd” incident and blame it all on Trump. With the power of The New York Times and major networks embellishing the narrative and offering World War II level coverage, the masses will be snowed. Think about Donald Trump observing that if he’s not elected there will be a bloodbath in the auto industry, and how the mainstream media, in unison, immediately claimed that Trump was calling for nationwide violence.
The Left is Violent and Everyone Knows It
The most violent segment of our society happens to be on the Left, as even many casual observers know. If Trump is ahead in the polls in September or October, expect dissension wherever the Left can prevail. When Trump wins the election in November, expect riots in 200 cities or more, surreptitiously funded by George Soros and his kind.
The money will fuel Antifa and other groups of young men and women who do not have career level jobs but do have questionable futures. The riots will last for as long as the extremists can persist; days, weeks, even months. From there, open warfare, in the form of urban snipers, is entirely possible.
Leading up to inauguration on January 20, many key dates such as certification from Congress, approval of Electoral College votes, and so on, represent key opportunities for the Left’s planned disruptions.
Disruption and Sabotage
January 20 could be a day of extreme violence. Washington, DC will have to be put under martial law. National guards from every surrounding state will be employed. The violent Left will not allow Trump to peacefully take over the reins from the corrupt, demented Joe Biden.
Biden’s administration, ruled by Barack Obama, will not offer a smooth transition of power, unlike all other presidents since our nation was founded. This is except for Obama, who did all he could to sabotage first Trump’s administration from the get-go.
The rest of January leading into February will represent days of turmoil. The Left will attempt to disrupt Trump’s second administration 24/7. They will harass and threaten political appointees. They will form roadblocks. They will resort to antics in front of federal buildings, the Supreme Court building, and other targeted locations which they deem to be ‘in their way.’
Eventually, Trump can clean it all up but at enormous financial and social cost. Rioters and less-than-peaceful protestors can be taken off the streets and, this time, held for much more than 24 hours. They can be charged, fingerprinted, photographed, and processed by a now lawful Department of Justice . However, such major operations will result in a lot of pain and gnashing of teeth.
Sadly for our nation, the scenarios above are more likely to be true than not.
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