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 One of my classmates gave a presentation about William Randal Hearst, developer of America’s largest newspaper chain and media company. Despite his family’s insistence that he go into the mining field, he refused and convinced his father to give him The San Francisco Examiner. His father only owned it as it was given as repayment for gambling debt.

William Hearst

Hearst used his family’s fortune, hired top-of-the-line reporters, and took on sensationalist stories, skyrocketing the business from a failing one losing money to one cranking out a profit in just three years. The number of papers in circulation went up from 5,000 before Hearst took over to 55,000.

Hearst purchased the Morning Journal in 1895, rescuing the failing business from the brink of disaster and beginning to refocus its audience. He aimed to appeal to the middle class, primarily immigrant workers. The paper now sought out stories calling out corruption in the government and advocating for better working conditions, causing circulation to soar.

After this, he attempted to run for president after being elected to the House of Representatives in 1902 but never managed to land the Democratic nomination. He never held another elected position. Instead, he focused on his massive media empire and founding Hearst Communications.

Without Hearst, several papers that are well-known companies today would not exist, and journalism as we know it may look completely different without their influence.