“Joseph Pulitzer was born in Mako, Hungary on April 10, 1847, the son of a wealthy grain merchant of Magyar-Jewish origin and a German mother who was a devout Roman Catholic. He was educated in Budapest. He decided to become a soldier and tried in turn to enlist in the Austrian Army, Napoleon’s Foreign Legion for duty in Mexico, and the British Army for service in India. He was rebuffed because of weak eyesight and frail health, which were to plague him for the rest of his life.”[1] After two other European armies declined to admit him, Pulitzer joined the American Union army.[2] This occurred when he met a bounty recruiter in Hamburg, Germany and contracted to enlist as a substitute for a draftee, a procedure permitted under the Civil War draft system. Pulitzer migrated to the United States in 1864 and served in the first New York cavalry during the American Civil War.[3]
Pulitzer’s claim to fame, however, is not in his military service but rather in his achievements in the press. His career in journalism began after he became an American citizen in 1867. He became a reporter for a German daily newspaper in Saint Louis Missouri. Called the Westliche Post; in 1871, he became managing editor and part owner of the newspaper. Two years later he left the paper. After receiving a law degree and working as a correspondent for the New York Sun, in 1878 he bought the St. Louis Evening Dispatch and the St Luis Post. He combined the both of them to create the St Louis; Post-Dispatch. In 1883, he acquired the New York World. Under his management, the World became a major newspaper, famous for sensationalism, exposés, careful and extensive reportage, crusades against corruption, and a strong prolabor [sic] editorial position.” [4]
The World launched the age of yellow journalism-a term that came to be used to describe a sensationalistic style of reporting and writing, and a self-conscious effort to reach a mass market.[5] At one time, Pulitzer’s name was synonymous with this type of reporting. However, in the view of historians, Pulitzer’s lapse into yellow journalism was outweighed by his public service achievements. He waged courageous and often successful crusades against corrupt practices in government and business, and he was responsible to a large extent for passage of antitrust legislation and regulation of the insurance industry.[6]
Pulitzer’s real genius was in his proficiency for marketing. He understood that to get the news out and to educate the public, the paper had to sell, and the best way to sell papers was to make them interesting and entertaining. “Pulitzer always stated that a paper could entertain readers and draw them in through its front page. The fourth page, which contained editorials, would educate.”[7] Pulitzer introduced new sections that dealt with women and sports, and on the opinions pages, he concentrated on issues that interested the marginalized groups of immigrants, women and workingmen.[8]
“Pulitzer’s innovative use of graphic elements was one strategy that helped him garner more readers and advertising. However, he also drew people in by emphasizing coverage of new types of stories. Some of the changes gave human-interest stories, gossip and even scandal prominent coverage simply because they fascinated readers. Pulitzer’s innovative use of graphic elements was one strategy that helped him garner more readers and advertising. However, he also drew people in by emphasizing coverage of new types of stories. Some of the changes gave human-interest stories, gossip and even scandal prominent coverage simply because they fascinated readers.”[9]
Pulitzer also knew to draw from the public’s desire for justice and integrity. “Appealing to the public to accept that his paper was their champion, Pulitzer splashed investigative articles and editorials assailing government corruption, wealthy tax-dodgers, and gamblers. This populist appeal was effective, circulation mounted, and the paper prospered. Pulitzer would have been pleased to know that in the conduct of the Pulitzer Prize system which he later established, more awards in journalism would go to exposure of corruption than to any other subject.”[10]
It was the Pulitzer Prize that brought Joseph Pulitzer the most fame and recognition. “In 1912, one year after Pulitzer’s death aboard his yacht, the Columbia School of Journalism was founded, and the first Pulitzer Prizes were awarded in 1917 under the supervision of the advisory board to which he had entrusted his mandate. The award has come to represent the ultimate recognition in American journalism.”[11] Today, the Prize ensures that quality newspapers of all sizes and circulations will receive praise from circles within, as well as outside, the writing profession.[12] Pulitzer understood the need for quality journalism because, as he said: “The power to mould [sic] the future of the Republic will be in the hands of the journalists of future generations”
“Our Republic and its press will rise or fall together. An able, disinterested, public-spirited press, with trained intelligence to know the right and courage to do it, can preserve that public virtue without which popular government is a sham and a mockery. A cynical, mercenary, demagogic press will produce in time a people as base as itself. The power to mould [sic] the future of the Republic will be in the hands of the journalists of future generations.”
