It was something called yellow journalism, where the journalist exaggerates the stories reported. as for the Spanish american war, there was a ship that got sunk in a Cuban harbor, which the journalists blamed this act on the Spanish, making the american population advocate the call for war. that is for the origin. for the conduct, the press exaggerated their stories, and public opinion was that it was a great war since america was kicking butt. and the results of course, america won. the press pretty much transmitted the war to the public, and whatever way they presented the war, is what the public would believe. since the press presented the war as an exaggerated event (yellow journalism) the public believed it was exaggerated. Hope this helps :)
