Hearst: Lampooning the King of Yellow Journalism
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, publisher William Randolph Hearst used the tools of "yellow journalism"—sensationalist stories of scandal, sex and violence—to sell papers and forge a powerful media empire. Hearst's attempts to sway public opinion and campaign for high office sparked decades-long criticism, with caricaturists ridiculing him in satirical cartoons. This installation examines Hearst through the lens of this backlash, which culminated in a thinly veiled account of his life in Orson Welles's 1941 film Citizen Kane, released in the twilight of the media mogul's career.
Curated by Florida International University history students Gisselle Mestre Delgado and Thiago Abad-Sanchez under the guidance of FIU adjunct professor Dr. Francis Xavier Luca, Wolfsonian chief librarian and curator of library collections.
Date: October 17, 2024–March 2, 2025
Location: The Wolfsonian–FIU @ 1001 Washington Avenue