Joseph Pulitzer: Voice of the People mixes striking contemporary scenes and luminous archival images, as well as recreations and interviews filmed by cinematographer Wolfgang Held. Pulitzer's remarkable transformation of newspaper graphics is made visually thrilling by Andrew Roberts (Obit). The original score by Olivier and Clare Manchon references the classical and popular music of the Gilded Age. Pulitzer's story – that of an immigrant from Hungary and a Civil War recruit, followed by his transformation first in St. Louis and then in New York into one of America's pre-eminent newspaper publishers – was tarnished by claims of "yellow journalism" during the Spanish American War. His struggle to maintain his reputation and day-to-day control of his empire even after he had gone blind is both tragic and inspiring. Joseph Pulitzer’s newspaper, The World, would transform American media and make him wealthy, admired and feared. Throughout his four decades as a reporter and publisher, he created a powerful artistic vehicle that spoke specifically to waves of new
immigrants. Towards the end of his life, isolated on his yacht, Pulitzer’s commitment to fearless reporting would be tested by the most powerful person in American life. On December 15th, 1908, President Teddy Roosevelt delivered a scathing indictment of Pulitzer to Congress – accusing the publisher of libel – for claiming that the Panama Canal amounted to a colonialist overreach built on a $40 million cover-up. Roosevelt threatened Pulitzer with imprisonment, proclaiming “it is high national duty to bring to justice this vilifier of the American people.” The parallel’s to today’s times are uncanny, sobering and disturbing.
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