James Creelman

In the words of historian Howard F. Cline, the "Creelman Interview marks a major turning point in the genesis of the Mexican Revolution.

[2] He was born in Montreal, Province of Canada, the son of a boiler inspector, Matthew Creelman, and homemaker, Martha (née) Dunwoodie.

In 1872, Creelman moved to New York City, where his interest in literature and law attracted the patronage of Thomas De Witt Talmage and Republican party boss Roscoe Conkling.

After stints at several other newspapers, including the Paris Herald, the Evening Telegram, and magazines Illustrated American and Cosmopolitan, Creelman landed at Joseph Pulitzer's New York World in 1894, where he accompanied the Japanese Army to cover the Sino-Japanese War.

While covering the battle for El Caney, Creelman begged the U.S. general in command to allow him to join the charge on a blockhouse occupied by Spanish troops.

[5] In the mold of most yellow journalists of his time, Creelman was as much an advocate as a reporter — in her book The Yellow Kids, author Joyce Milton describes Creelman as the self-described "conscience of the fourth estate," who "normally did as much talking as listening" during interviews, including once lecturing Pope Leo XIII on relations between Protestants and Catholics .

One scholar has described Creelman as "an obscure American journalist, who by some mysterious means, was chosen by Díaz to publish a long, eulogistic article in the United States.

"[7] One theory is that Díaz gave it assuming it was aimed at a foreign readership; another is that it was for Mexican readers as a distraction from bad news of poor harvests and the financial effects of the panic of 1907.

James Creelman