Define yellow journalism and explain how it influenced the U. S. public in the lead-up to the Spanish-American War

Yellow journalism is what we call today sensation journalism which attemtps to surprise, shock or impress the audience with news stories that are uncommon and are often related to scandal, sex, violence, crimes or the private life of the rich, the powerful or the famous. Its tactics is eye-catching headlines or pitches to increase sales or viewers. The American yellow press run by press barons William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer covered the Cuban war of independence, focusing on the abuses and atrocities of Spanish troops against Cuban civilians and the appaling living conditions of the latter, often sent to camps in order to isolate them from the rebels. Those stories moved the American public, created sympathy toward the rebels and influenced the public mood in ways favorable to an American intervention in the Spanish-American War of 1898.