The Master of Fake News

In today’s time when terms like ‘fake news’ and ‘Yellow Journalism’ are as common as common salt or Coke, it may be interesting, if not enlightening, to know about a man who is credited to have brought into existence this phenomenon- the legendary if somewhat notorious- WR Hearst – The Master of Fake News.
Best remembered in the journalistic history for publishing the largest chain of American newspapers, and depicted as the inimitable protagonist in the celebrated and iconic film ‘Citizen Kane’, he was a remarkable and magnetic person by any standard. That he was multi- faceted, extremely ambitious and fiercely aggressive, defines and delineates his complex personality, but only partially.
The Rebel, the Maverick
He was a born rebel. Perhaps driven by an inherent maverick streak and aided by the easy opulence that he inherited, he always did what others could not dare do. The young Hearst attended Harvard College for two years before being expelled for antics ranging from sponsoring massive beer parties in Harvard Square to sending chamber pots to his professors, whose images were depicted within the bowls.
He inherited ‘San Francisco Examiner’ from his father but moved on to build a chain of 30 newspapers across America. He expanded into magazines and for quite some time became the owner of the biggest newspaper and magazine business in the world. At the peak of his fortune, in 1935, he owned 28 major newspapers and 18 magazines, along with several radio stations, movie companies, and news services.
Joseph Pulitzer
Soon the young, impatient and restless Hearst moved to New York and acquired the very prestigious New York Journal. Then ensued a bitter, no- holds- barred battle with none other than the redoubtable Joseph Pulitzer. It was a war for achieving higher circulation and larger reader base. The outcome of this epic battle is the lore of journalistic history but the most significant upshot of this war between two titans was the birth of yellow journalism.
News Redefined
He defined an ideal newspaper that causes the following reaction, “When the reader looks at Page One, he says, ‘Gee-whiz.’ When he turns to the second page, he says, ‘Holy Moses.’ And when he turns to the middle page, he says, ‘God Almighty.’
His ideology crystallised later as fake news, arguably arose from his own convictions regarding the purpose of a newspaper, a radical and shocking departure from the then prevailing mores of journalism.
This was later defined by American historian and journalist Frank Luther Mott as a type of journalism that presents little or no legitimate well-researched news and instead uses eye-catching headlines and sensationalised stories to sell more newspapers. It sometimes also deceives the audience it is intended for, he elaborated.
Yellow Journalism and Penchant for War
‘Yellow journalism, Mott added, “is defined by five major characteristics”:
1) Scare headlines in huge print, often of minor news.
2) Lavish use of pictures, or imaginary drawings.
3) Use of faked interviews, misleading headlines, pseudo-science, and a parade of false learning from so-called experts.
4) Emphasis on full-colour Sunday supplements, usually with comic strips.
5) Dramatic sympathy with the “underdog” against the system.

Hearst’s philosophy was rooted in circulation- building sensationalism. A century or so later, some of the younger newspaper barons of India too, emulated him with varying degree of success.
He particularly chose the news about wars as his special penchant. He believed and very passionately that nothing could be more sensational and reader-appetising than a war? So when the Cuban struggle for independence from Spain began in February 1895, Spain’s use of brutal suppression was graphically – and imaginatively – portrayed by Hearst’s newspapers.
He backed the underdog Cubans fighting on America’s doorstep and agitated for the United States to declare war on Spain.
In 1897 he sent artist Frederic Remington to Havana with instructions to illustrate the tension. After sometime the artist sent a note to Hearst saying: “Everything is quiet. There is no trouble. There will be no war. I wish to return.”
Hearst replied: “Please remain. You furnish the pictures and I’ll furnish the war.”
Possibly this exchange never took place. Perhaps it is simply apocryphal. Yet, it is ingrained in the Hearst legend and seems to overwhelmingly in line with his work and business philosophy.
In 1919 Heart’s mother Phoebe died and he inherited the family fortune, considerably boosting his already substantial personal wealth. Part of his inheritance was a 168,000-acre ranch at San Simeon, California. For several decades he was to spend millions of dollars on the property, creating a Baroque-style castle and filling it with hugely valuable treasures and works of art which he collected on his global travels. Now called Hearst Castle, it is run by the State of California as a museum and tourist attraction.
Pearls of journalistic wisdom
Known to his employees as “The Chief”, Hearst delivered some memorable observations about newspapers. Such as:
“News is what people don’t want you to print. Everything thing else is advertising.”
“Putting out a newspaper without promotion is like winking at a girl in the dark – well-intentioned, but ineffective.”
The Romantic
But one girl he certainly winked at with all the passion in his heart, was Marion Davies, a Hollywood actress whose career he managed and whose films he promoted through his newspapers. He had met her in 1917 when she was a showgirl and she became his mistress for over 30 years.
St. Donat’s Castle in South Wales is described as perhaps the most romantic and historically acclaimed castles in the world. The playwright George Bernard Shaw said of the castle: “This is what God would have built if he had had the money.” In 1925, when he saw its photographs in a magazine, he was smitten by its beauty and grandeur. It was also the time when he was madly in love with Marion Davies. This, he thought, could be the perfect gift for his sweet heart. So, he bought it and spent a fortune renovating it. Few mistresses in history have received such a lavish gift.
Citizen Kane
When young film director Orson Welles in 1941 presented the film “Citizen Kane’, it took Hollywood by storm. Deemed and rated as one of the master pieces and considered one among the most successful films ever produced, it was nominated for nine Oscars and has since been voted as one of all- time greats. The film was an undisguised portrayal of his life. Despite its unprecedented success, Hearst hated it, so much so that he used his money and influence in unsuccessful attempts to prevent the film’s release. But the film went on to creating history casting his character in an unusually frank and extra-ordinary mould.
The Politician
Perhaps because he was the only son of a politician and a US Senator (1886-91) from California, George Hearst, politics remained his passion and a compelling obsession with him. It must be a cruel quirk of his otherwise famous fate that politics consistently failed him when he needed it the most. While serving rather inactively in the U.S. House of Representatives (1903–07), Hearst was able to manage considerable support for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1904. Spurred on with this encouraging development, he fought the election for mayor of New York City and came within 3,000 votes of winning it in 1905. In 1906, he lost to Charles Evans Hughes in the election for Governor of New York, and in 1909 he suffered a worse defeat in the New York City mayoral election.
Rebuffed in his political ambitions, disheartened and chastised, he vent his frustration while vilifying the British Empire, opposing U.S. entry into World War I, and maligning the League of Nations and the World Court, in short, opposing all that his political opponents supported.
During later years of his life, Hearst had turned a loner. Afflicted by seclusion and failing health, Hearst went to live in Beverly Hills at a mansion now known as Beverly House. It is the same house where John F. Kennedy and Jackie were invited to spend their honeymoon.

Hearst died there in 1951, perhaps not so peacefully, aged 88. His legacy overwhelmingly outlives him. And his influence is far more profound and enduring than any he envisaged or anticipated.