History 109 “ Modern American History: This discussion board will examine the Yellow Press. Guidelines & Insturction

Respond to Student Kahon E. :

The most important reason for the Age of Expansion and Imperialism and why the U.S aggressively expanded overseas during this time period was the desire to spread economic markets and gain access to trade. American businesses saw a large opportunity in expanding overseas. “American industry dreamed of a vast market of Asian customers desperate for manufactured goods they could not produce in large quantities themselves.” They realized by being able to produce this they would gain a lot economically. The United States government intervened because they did not have a piece of the Chinese market in transportation. They wanted a share of this and they did not want to be left out of the shares, especially realizing how fast other countries were getting involved. American markets wanted the whole thing, they were looking to share any parts of it. They believed they would gain total access and by doing so, they would make a huge chunk of money from it. They did not want any limits that would stop the extent of their trade. They drafted the Open Door Notes, which, if agreed by the other five nations, would erase the spheres of influence In China and allow an open door trade. This would prevent any country having unfair trade over another. The Unites States knew that if they had gotten involves, they would benefit from this. America was able to m make high quality goods than other countries. They did this efficiently and less expensively. They began to squeeze the other countries out of the market, meaning they were the competitors to beat. They benefited a lot from this which is why I belief this is the reason the U.S aggressively expanded overseas. 

Respond to Student Natalia E.:

Yellow journalism, also known as the “Yellow Press,” is a type of journalism whose focus is on selling papers by exaggerating titles and making them more shocking. In the late 1890s, yellow journalism was at its peak, utilizing the possibility of a war involving America for its benefit. These stories and newspapers caused a rise in the public’s attention and desire to try their new navy, all while wanting freedom for Cuba. The newspapers also took advantage of the explosion that destroyed the Maine, claiming that the explosion was a result of a Spanish attack. All of this captivated the public’s attention and demand to attack back, increasing the pressure put on McKinley. Yellow journalism is definitely still present in the modern era, but I believe its effect is more impactful because of how fast news spread thanks to the internet. I must say that although these news spread quickly, they get disproven just as fast. There is not a day that goes by where articles or news do not use scandalous titles to get more clicks or attention. In fact, today it is more commonly known as “clickbait,” which means that people are “baited” or fooled by the title of an article and click on it expecting different news. Although it is not exactly the same, they do have that similarity between them. These clickbait articles (and even youtube videos) have the same goal as yellow journalism. Their goal is to gain more attention, and therefore more monetary gain.