Legendary newspaper publisher and politician William Randolph Hearst was born 155 years ago this month on April 29, 1863. With the help of his wealthy father George Hearst, William Randolph Hearst created one of the largest newspaper and media companies in the world.
Hearst’s career as a media mogul began 2 years after his expulsion from Harvard University. George Hearst gave William control of the San Francisco Examiner, which the elder Hearst had received years earlier as payment for a gambling debt. The Examiner—the self-proclaimed “Monarch of the Dailies”—quickly dominated the market after Hearst acquired equipment and hired nationally known writers and cartoonists (including Mark Twain and Jack London). The paper became widely known for its no-holds-barred journalism exposing corruption and scandal leaving readers anxious for the publication of each new edition.
Understanding that any successful media empire required a presence in New York City, Hearst purchased the failing New York Morning Journal in 1895. He hired nationally-known writers Stephen Crane and Julian Hawthorne (son of novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne) to boost subscribers. He openly feuded with Joseph Pulitzer of the New York World and hired members of Pulitzer’s writing and cartoon staff for his own paper. The two media moguls fought for subscribers with advertising and promotions, eye-catching headlines, and sensational, often sex-tinged stories that many other papers refused to print. It was not until both papers lost huge sums of money covering the Spanish-American War that the two publishers agreed to a truce.
By 1915, Hearst media empire had grown to include newspapers in Chicago, IL, Los Angeles, CA, and Boston, MA, as well as an animation studio and a news wire service. At its peak in the late 1920s, Hearst published dozens of newspapers and periodicals like Good Housekeeping and Cosmopolitan, owned radio stations, syndication rights to nationally-known comics and news columns, and an animation studio (International Film Services) established to develop features based on the Hearst newspapers' comic strips.
In addition to his business interests, William Randolph Hearst served two terms in Congress (1903–1907) representing New York's 11th Congressional District. He had a keen interest in aviation, sponsoring aviators, flight prizes, and an around-the-world zeppelin flight; and part of his collection of fine and decorative arts are displayed at Hearst Castle, in San Simeon, CA—the publisher's residence until retiring to a home in Beverly Hills, CA that was closer to medical attention.
William Randolph Hearst died in Beverly Hills, CA, on August 14, 1951, following a series of illnesses. Upon hearing of Hearst death, Hugh Baillie, president of the United Press Association wrote in the Los Angeles Times that, (One of the great figures of journalism has gone from among us. But the newspaper empire he created lives as a memorial to his genius. [He] originated many of the forms of daily publishing which now are familiar to all. His life and career are a conspicuous part of the history of our times.)
