William Randolph Hearst defined twentieth-century media for better and for worse. His style of journalism emphasized a focus on the audience, and that approach has resulted in the look and content of today's mass media.

Born in San Francisco on April 29, 1863, to George Hearst and Phoebe Apperson Hearst, William was raised with all the strength and inspiration that a self-made multimillionaire and a well-educated woman could impart in one of the most exceptional environments of the century. San Francisco bred larger-than-life figures of success and failure. Although his parents demanded a high standard, they provided excellent examples of the rewards that would accrue from such efforts.

Around the time that Hearst, studying at Harvard, was discovering an interest in media, his father acquired a small newspaper, The San Francisco Examiner, as compensation for a debt owed to him. Hearst sent a letter...