Yellow journalism, or the yellow press, is a US term for a type of journalism that presents little or no legitimate well-researched news and instead uses eye-catching headlines to sell more newspapers.[1] Techniques may include exaggerations of news events, scandal-mongering or sensationalism. By extension, the term yellow journalism is used today as a pejorative to decry any journalism that treats news in an unprofessional or unethical fashion.[2]

The term is chiefly used in the US. In the UK, a roughly equivalent term is tabloid journalism, meaning journalism characteristic of tabloid newspapers, even if found elsewhere.

Frank Luther Mott identifies yellow journalism based on five characteristics:[4]

scare headlines in huge print, often of minor news

lavish use of pictures, or imaginary drawings

use of faked interviews, misleading headlines, pseudoscience, and a parade of false learning from so-called experts

emphasis on full-color Sunday supplements, usually with comic strips

dramatic sympathy with the "underdog" against the system.