The MMOB Daily Quote - William Randolph Hearst

A couple of weeks ago I did a MMOB Daily Quote birthday recognition for Joseph Pulitzer, one of the dueling newspaper mega-moguls from the last century. Today, because he was born on this date in 1863, we get the other one: William Randolph Hearst.

You are likely familiar with the lead character patterned after Mr. Hearst portrayed by Orson Welles in the 1941 classic Citizen Kane. Here's the bio on William J. from Wikipedia:

William Randolph Hearst I (April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American newspaper magnate and leading newspaper publisher. The son of self-made millionaire George Hearst, he became aware that his father received a northern California newspaper, The San Francisco Examiner, as payment of a gambling debt. Still a student at Harvard, he asked his father to give him the newspaper to run. In 1887, he became the paper's publisher and devoted long hours and much money to making it a success. Crusading for civic improvement and exposing municipal corruption, he greatly increased the paper's circulation.

Moving to New York City, he acquired The New York Journal and engaged in a bitter circulation war with Joseph Pulitzer's New York World which led to the creation of "yellow journalism" — sensationalized stories of dubious veracity. Acquiring more newspapers, Hearst created a chain that numbered nearly 30 papers in major American cities at its peak. He later expanded to magazines, creating the largest newspaper and magazine business in the world.

He was twice elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, but was defeated in 1906 in a race for governor of New York. Nonetheless, through his newspapers and magazines, he exercised enormous political influence, most notably in creating public frenzy which pushed the U.S. into war with Spain in 1898. His life story was a source of inspiration for the lead character in Orson Welles' classic film, Citizen Kane.

And now, some notable quotes from this ambitious, muckraking sensationalist who was also responsible for the never-completed castle in San Simeon, California that bears his name.

“You must keep your mind on the objective, not on the obstacle.

“The coming of the motion picture was as important as that of the printing press.”

“Try to be conspicuously accurate in everything, pictures as well as text. Truth is not only stranger than fiction, it is more interesting.”

“In suggesting gifts: Money is appropriate, and one size fits all.”

“You furnish the pictures and I'll furnish the war.”

“You can crush a man with journalism.”

“News is something somebody doesn't want printed; all else is advertising.”

“Putting out a newspaper without promotion is like winking at a girl in the dark -- well-intentioned, but ineffective.”

Cheers! - Jason