Yellow Journalism: Making a comeback?

Making headlines this past week was a massive recall of tainted beef. Found to be contaminated with E. coli bacteria, the U.S. Department of Agriculture eventually ordered the recall of over 21.7 million pounds of ground beef products processed by the Topps Company.

One of the largest meat recalls in recent years, it’s safe to say that Upton Sinclair would be rolling in his grave over this one. While Sinclair’s The Jungle may seem particularly pertinent in regards to this week’s news, another facet of that foregone era seems to have stolen it’s way back to the presses as well. It may just be me, or do the words yellow, and journalism come to mind?

A quick glance at the bevy of articles covering the recall can’t help but uncover a yellow tinge infiltrating the coverage. Inflammatory titles and overstated warnings seem as if to prey upon the concerned shopper, and harkens back to the days of Ida Tarbell and her gang of fellow muckrakers.

One such article covering the recall is an ABC News piece. It’s obvious, that from the beginning, the piece is intended to be an inflammatory one. Shocking the reader with quotes from “concerned shoppers” along the lines of “It almost cost me my life” and “I didn’t want a silly burger to kill me.” Such quotes are clearly thrown into the piece for shock value alone, and in reality, do not paint the most accurate picture for the reader, which in my opinion constitutes a major journalistic error. While sure these quotes may deserve to be in the article, they should not be its entire focus when there still lay other facts and viewpoints to be reported. Nevertheless, the quotes the article utilized did give it a more personal aspect as well, placing the reader in their shoes.

However, a piece run in the New York Times regarding the recall took quite a different approach. Instead of printing a sensationalized article highlighting the dangers and risks the recalled meat poses for consumers, the Times delivered a well-rounded and informative piece that even without the overwrought quotes, gave the reader a very personal view of the coverage as well. With observations such as “Yesterday, garage doors at the company’s plant were shut, and the window blinds were pulled down,” the article is still able to deliver a personal touch to the coverage without compromising the article’s integrity. In stark contrast to the ABC News article, the Times piece shines as an example of good honest reporting, that while informative, gives the reader a personal sense of the issue at hand as well.