yellow journalist
1
7.7
- noun
- /ˈjɛloʊ ˈdʒɜrnəlist/
- Literature
:
periodista sensacionalista
- A yellow journalist often embellishes the truth to create more dramatic and appealing news reports.
Examples
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Many people criticize yellow journalists for prioritizing sensationalism over facts in their news stories.
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I always make it a point to buy my yellow journalism used because I just can't stand the thought of yellow journalists spending any of my money.
Academic text (1992) -
No, it's those damn yellow journalists that's the trouble.
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What kind of muckraking yellow journalist are you?!
Fiction book (1990) -
The article was filled with exaggerated claims and sensational headlines, typical of a yellow journalist seeking to attract more readers.
Synonyms
1
7.8
A person who makes news seem more shocking to get attention
A person who makes a story more exciting by adding extra details
A person who uses flashy tricks to get public attention for a show or product
A person who often spreads gossip or private news about others
A person who makes up false or exaggerated stories and says they are true
How Sensational
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a journalist who sensationalizes news' is not derivable from the literal color sense of 'yellow' plus 'journalist'—the phrase is a historical idiom ('yellow journalism') whose evaluative sense is conventionalized and culturally specific. A B1 learner who knows the words 'yellow' (as a color) and 'journalist' would not reliably infer the sense of sensationalism, so the expression is opaque.
Etymology
Yellow journalist The name yellow journalist may come from a popular cartoon called the 'Yellow Kid' that newspapers printed in bright yellow during big newspaper fights. Because papers used those yellow pictures and loud, shocking stories to sell copies, reporters who wrote like that were called yellow journalists, meaning 'a journalist who exaggerates or sensationalizes stories to attract readers'.