Journalism Kindles the Spanish-American War Over the years it has been easy to dismiss this reporting as a low point in journalism history. After all it led to the Spanish American War and to American Imperialism. Yellow journalism was often sensational and sometimes inaccurate. It frequently pandered to prejudice and extreme patriotism in order to gain attention, sell papers, and claim credit for helping the government into action. Competition between the Hearst and Pulitzer chains …showed first 75 words of 422 total…

…showed last 75 words of 422 total…inquiry into it encouraged had sunk the Maine. Another possibility was sabotage by hard line Spanish in Cuba or others who opposed Spain's new conciliatory tack. Cuban rebels might also have done the sinking, hoping to bring the United States to their aid. Another possibility was an accidental exploding an ammunition storage compartment. Within a few years Americans who opposed the move toward empire were protesting atrocities committed against Filipino rebels in America's new pacific