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
scene against his chief rival, William Randolph Hearst. Temporarily he resorted to sensationalism in order to gain circulation. It proved to be the greatest blunder he ever made. This was the age of the infamous "yellow press", full of fake news and jingoism, when many put the blame on Hearst and Pulitzer for the outbreak of the SpanishAmerican War itself. But later, he again employed a team of first-rate journalists, abandoning cheap sensationalism, and so once again, he won great admiration. He continued, as before, to use his papers to attack social injustice, political and economic corruption, the manipulations by trusts and insurance companies —still all important issues of the turn of the century. But even before he reached old age or retirement the pace at which Pulitzer worked had taken its toll, wrecking his health. He often suffered from serious depression, which made him an eccentric figure. He was dealt another severe blow: his failing eyesight led to an almost complete blindness. Although this was a great setback in his career he still managed to maintain his high standard of progressive-liberal journalism in the running of his newspapers. Upon his retirement at the age of sixty in 1907 he sent the following message to his papers: " I know that my retirement will make no difference in its (i.e. the newspaper's —A. Cs.) cardinal principles, that it will always fight for progress and reform, never tolerate injustice or corruption, always fight demagogues of all parties, never belong to any party, always oppose privileged classes and public plunderers, never lack sympathy with the poor, always remain devoted to the public welfare, never be satisfied with merely printing the news, always be drastically independent, never be afraid to attack wrong, whether by predatory plutocracy or predatory poverty". (Quoted by Wilensky, 14.) This became the Post-Dispatch platform, displayed every day at the head of the editorial page even today. Pulitzer's publishing companies in St. Louis and New York were very lucrative businesses, making a lot of profit. At the turn of the century, Pulitzer could have rightly been held up as a classic example of the "self-made man". From a penniless immigrant in search of fame and fortune, he went on to become, thanks to his own hard work and determination, a multimillionaire tycoon and a prominent figure in American public life. The Pulitzer Building, erected at the cost of 12
