Hearst & Kane

Citizen Kane
& The Life of William Randolph Hearst

• Citizen Kane was an influential newspaper publisher.
• He built his own version of Xanadu. The original was the summer capital of Kublai Khan’s Yuan Dynasty in China, after it was decided that it should be moved to Beijing.
• Xanadu is the fictional estate of Charles Foster Kane. It gets its name from the real ancient Mongolian city Xanadu, known for its splendour.
• Hearst Castle in San Simeon, California, is the obvious inspiration for Xanadu, due to the Hearst/Kane comparison in the film.

In the Film:

• "Cost: no man can say."
  Xanadu is built on a private mountain.
• Kane built it for his second wife Susan.
• Xanadu is used in the opening and closing scenes of the film, it is where Kane dies.
• "Rosebud"
  The meaning of this isn’t fully revealed: it is printed on the sledge he was riding before his mother sent him with her banker Thatcher.

Myth of the American Dream:

• The film was one of the first to depict the American Dream as anything less that desirable.
• When Kane was removed from the securities at home, e.g. fully content playing in the snow at his parents lodge, he is given what could have been considered an American Dream. (Financial affluence and material luxury.) These things however do not make Kane happy.

Materialism

• Kane is a rapacious collector: excessively greedy and grasping: predatory.
• By purchasing so many extravagant goods, Kane attempts to fill a void created by all the people who left him throughout his life. The only meaningful possession he has is the snow globe reminding him of the sledge.

‘The Chief: The Life of William Randolph Hearst’:

• William Randolph Hearst was America’s greatest media proprietor. He invented ‘yellow journalism’.
  Yellow Journalism: (or yellow press) is a type of journalism that presents little or no legitimate well-researched news and instead uses eye-catching headlines and sensationalised stories to sell more newspapers. Techniques may include exaggerations of news events, scandal mongering, or sensationalism. By extension ‘Yellow Journalism’ is used today as a pejorative decry any journalism that treats news in an unprofessional or unethical fashion.
  Origins of ‘Yellow Journalism’: Pulitzer vs. Hearst
  the term originated during the American Gilded Age of the late nineteenth century with the circulation battles between Joseph Pulitzer’s New York World and William Randolph Hearst’s New York Journal. Both papers were accused by critics of sensationalising the news in order to drive up circulation, although the newspapers did serious reporting as well.
  Pulitzer and Hearst are often blamed or credited for drawing the nation into the Spanish-American war with sensationalist stories or outright lying.
  However, the vast majority of Americans did not live in New York City, and the decision makers who did live there probably relied more on staid newspapers like the Times, The Sun or the Post.
• Hearst owned more than 10% of U.S daily newspaper circulation and more than 15% on Sundays, was one of the country’s leading magazine and radio-station owners and had great influence in Hollywood.
• Hearst rapidly built up the Examiner.
• He was known for hiring away the competitions biggest stars and for surrounding his opponents almost before they were aware of his presence.
• Hearst’s time as a great publisher and unsurpassable market leader ended shortly after WW1, when his publications began to be squeezed between better quality titles and racier tabloids.
• Therefore his strength rested on the accumulated mass of his circulation in many cities around the country, and on his films, newsreels, feature services, newswires, specialist magazines such as, Good House Keeping and Cosmopolitan and radio stations.

"Representing the People":

• "That he had proved to his journalistic colleagues that he was capable of writing good copy from the front was of no political consequence whatsoever."
• "While the news from the fronts had boosted circulation, the new revenue did not begin to cover the added costs of putting out special war editions, sending correspondents to Cuba and the Philippines, and cabling back to their dispatches to New York."
• "[Hearst] intended to end his political career in the White House."
• "During the Spanish-American War, Hearst and Pulitzer had raised the wholesale price of their papers from 50 to 60 cents a hundred."
• "As the evening Journals and Worlds disappeared from the streets and advertisers demanded rebates, Hearst’s and Pulitzer’s editors were left with two choices: to accede to the boys’ demands or use strong-arm tactics to get their papers back in circulation."

"Candidate of a class":

• "Still an outsider – no opposition or standing in the city, state, or national Democratic Party. Hearst had only one link to the electorate and the Democratic Officials who chose candidates: his newspapers."

"To establish himself as a force in the national party and potential running mate for Bryan in 1900, he needed to find a way to make his voice heard outside of New York and San Francisco. The most effective way to do this was by starting up a new newspaper in the nation’s second largest city, Chicago."

A Day of Canvassing

I sent an e-mail, was told to phone, then told to phone back later that evening and was then given a date and time. You could say that I was lucky in arranging a day to follow my local MP on his campaign for the general election.

Arriving early for my 10:00am start on Wednesday 22^nd April, I waited for the Conservative Member of Parliament for Fareham. On the phone I was told to meet Mark Hoban and his team in the car park of the White Hart Pub in Portchester where I could then simply observe or assist with their canvassing.

A woman in a red car was already parked when I pulled into the pub but as it was still only 9:48am I decided to wait until more people arrived until I got out of the car. I recognised Mark Hoban from his picture as he pulled into the car park not long after this. He approached me straight away to introduce himself properly, shook my hand and explained what was going to be happening for the day.

Sue Bell and Nick Walker, who are both councillors for Fareham Borough Council, also came to introduce themselves and discuss some points with Mark. All in all there were six of us helping Mark with his canvassing for the upcoming election.

As Portchester is my hometown, I knew roads fairly well and could have walked to most of the places, but it was easier and quicker to drive and follow the three cars. We drove to the first neighbourhood of the day where I was given the ‘literature’, which consisted of three piles of leaflets. I also had the privilege of wearing the Conservative rosette.

The unspoken rule applied when going from door to door. Once we’d knocked the door, we’d step back and wait roughly 20 seconds for someone to answer the door and if no one came, we’d post the literature through their letterbox.

‘Sorry we missed you’ leaflets were being posted through a few of the doors due to most people being at work. So we knocked on the first door and I stood slightly back first of all so I could get more of a feel for the situation.

"Hi, we’re with Mark Hoban the Conservative MP for this area and we were wondering if you’d be voting for us on May 6^th?"

From this we’d take their response and tell Sue, who would make a note of it on the many pieces of paper she was carrying. Sue had records of the way people had voted in the past, or if they even voted at all. Politics is not a strong subject of mine so I was surprised to see this as I was under the impression that all data regarding votes were kept secret.

Having the names of the residents in each house made a difference when talking to them. When addressing them by their last names they seemed to respond positively knowing they were being treated as individual citizens rather than just a vote.

Within some of the houses, young people answered but the majority didn’t state the way in which they were voting. In a few cases people would wait until we’ve asked who they were voting for to state that they did not live at that house and they were simply cleaning it or there to do the gardening.

A row of houses were raised and the front of the first house was covered in plants and flowers. The elderly man who lived there was sat in his porch enjoying what was a lovely day. When asked if he would be voting Conservative in the general election he shouted:

"I’m not voting, what a load of rubbish."

It became obvious to me that local issues affect Portchester more because it is more of an elderly community. When walking from street to street I noticed a number of posters put up in people’s windows that said ‘Hands off our car park’. Nick Walker would approach the majority of houses with these posters up because a rumour had been spread about Portchester Community Centre.

The centre has been standing for many years but is now deteriorating and is in need of refurbishment. Fareham Borough Council has been putting ideas on the table for renovation of the centre but some suggestions mean the car park will no longer be in use. The amount of posters up around the community meant Nick Walker spent most of the morning going to each house, setting the story straight that no plans had in fact been finalised.

After being informed of the misleading story, many residents were then happy to speak to Nick about other issues and were far more responsive.

As there were only six of us, I spent time with everyone and ask a few questions. But I was shocked to find out that once other parties had been canvassing, if their literature was not posted fully through the letterbox, the next party would take leaflets out with the hope that it would increase their chances of receiving more votes.

We then went to another neighbourhood, still in Portchester and even more ‘Hands off our car park’ posters. As there were so many Mark decided to go to these houses too, and at this point I was walking with him to see how people respond to their Conservative MP.

When people opened their doors, Mark would ask if he would be receiving their vote and if not would be intrigued as to why. He would mention the poster they had in their window and would ask what they knew about the situation. When stated that the closure of the car park was a rumour, a woman said, "Oh…I didn’t realise".

It’s amazing to see how much a local issue can sway people’s voting preferences. People began to listen when Mark was explaining what the local council is in fact trying to do, instead of what the rumours are suggesting.