The New York Journal American was a newspaper purchased by William Randolph Hearst in 1895 (at the time called the New York Morning Journal, then the New York Journal). Mr. Hearst, the priveleged and entitled son of a wealthy mining tycoon, was already established in the newspaper business in San Fransisco and ventured to New York to expand his empire.

Having purchased the newspaper, Hearst entered into a circulation war with the New York World, the newspaper run by his former mentor Joseph Pulitzer and from whom he stole Richard F. Outcault. It was Outcault who brought the comic strip "The Yellow Kid" to the New York Journal. This was the first comic strip to be printed in colour and was to lend its name to the term yellow journalism, used to describe the sensationalist and often dishonest articles which helped, along with a price reduction to one cent, to greatly increase circulation of the newspaper. Many believed as part of this that Hearst initiated the Spanish-American War of 1898 to increase sales.

The newspaper ceased publishing in 1966.

External Links

Guide to an Archived Collection of the Journal-American