Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 1998. [Vol. 5.] Eger Journal of American Studies. (Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 25)
Studies - András Csillag: Joseph Pulitzer, Master Journalist and Benefactor
acquired the bankrupt Evening Dispatch , merging it with the Evening Post in 1878. The new paper, the Post and Dispatch , pledged that it "will serve no party but the people ..., will oppose all frauds and shams whatever and wherever they are; and will advocate principles and ideas rather than prejudices and partisanship" —the first embryonic beginning which anticipated the platform now carried daily on the Post-Dispatch editorial page. (Dec. 12, 1878) The St. Louis Post-Dispatch soon became the talk of the town. New stories exposed corruption in government, gambling, prostitution, a railroad monopoly damaging to St. Louis commerce. A headline shouted "Tax Dodgers" and subheads "Wholesale Perjury as a Fine Art", etc. Articles were backed up by blistering editorials. Such aggressive journalism was yielding results and reforms in the life of the city. Pulitzer's crusades used powerful ammunition —solid facts obtained through diligent investigative reporting. The exposés were based on knowledge of political corruption and ways of exposing it. The publisher's experience as a reporter covering city hall and state capital, as a member of the St. Louis Board of Police Commissioners and as a state legislator served him well. Above all, his crusades were not isolated one-time efforts, but continuing attacks that pounded away with persistence. To arouse public opinion he used what he called "the red thread of continuing force". Maintaining his ownership of the paper, in 1883 he moved the center of his operations to New York. Pulitzer undertook new ventures on an even grander scale. He again bought an ailing newspaper, The New York World. He called in his former editor from St. Louis and trained a new staff of journalist. It was from this point that his career really began to take off. In the first issue of The World under his ownership a manifesto was published that announced a totally new force in New York: "... There is room in this great and growing city for a journal that is not only cheap but bright, not only bright but large, not only large but truly democratic —dedicated to the cause of the people rather than that of purse-potentates —devoted more to the news of the New than the Old World —that will expose all fraud and sham, fight all public evils and abuses —that will serve and battle for the people with earnest sincerity ..." {The World , May 11, 1883) 10
