William Randolph Hearst

I’ve been reading about William Randolph Hearst, the news paper giant.    Realistically speaking, I had only heard of Hearst from watching the Disney Musical, “Newsies”.   In this movie an angry Hearst is shown having an argument over who will have the lowest paper prices with Joseph Pulitzer.  This is nice– he’s looking out for ‘Joe Commoner’ by lowering prices.  Or if you are a real film junkie with an appreciation for history Orson Welles “Citizen Kane” is loosely based on Hearst.

Hearst magazines are still all around and you have probably read them, if not then you have seen them at walmart.  Cosmopolitan magazine and Harpers Bazaar,  Good Housekeeping, Esquire and some newspapers also.

Based on all of the evidence I have seen thus far, I have to say one think lead Hearst to be successful.  He was stinking rich from the moment he was born.  Hearsts father, George Hearst, owned a fortune from mining and prospecting.

It is speculated, in the book “Imperial Hearst” that Hearsts Newspapers never really made money–that his mining and clever use of bureacracy allowed him to funnel his money wherever he liked doing with it whatever he pleased.

Hearst was basically a News Terrorist.  Hundreds of people were brutally beaten or shot by Hearts “Sluggers”.  Hearsts method of news writing was litterally to find something that happened and make-up a story loosely based on it.  And that is if his paper felt like actually reporting the news.  Because of Hearst the United States was in a war with Spain in 1898.  When speaking to a reporter who cabled HQ saying nothing was going on Hearst is said to have replied “You stay there, I’ll supply the war”.  Wow.

Corruption, oh yeah, big hands fulls of that too.  Hearst paid for a seat in congress using his future nemesis’ at Tammany Hall.  Once in congress he did everythign he could to ensure that printing costs or that labor unions didn’t over take his cheap labor.  He even tried to get a nomination to run for President, Yes, of the United States.  He very easily might have one based on the vote fixing of Tammany Hall, who then turned against him at the last minute.

Good Books about Hearst: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Imperial-Hearst-biography-American-journalists/dp/0405016859

Details of Hundreds and hundreds of criminal acts.

The Hearst corporation is cleaned up a lot today.  In Hearst’s time, no one did anything about his corruption.  But is makes very itneresting history.