I was just in shock the first time I heard it.

In 1941 Frank Luther Mott defined yellow journalism/press in terms of five characteristics:
1. Scare headlines in huge print, often of minor news
2. Lavish use of pictures, or imaginary drawings.
3. Use of faked interviews, misleading headlines, pseudo-science, and a parade of false learning from so-called experts
4. Emphasis on full-color Sunday supplements, usually with comic strips
5. Dramatic sympathy with the "underdog" against the system.