Citizen Kane is often regarded as a quasi biopic about William Randolph Hearst. This is for a good reason. Orson Welles, the director and star, has said that Hearst was who he based the movie off. But, what exactly are the similarities?
Charles Foster Kane grew up as an only child and then eventually received a large sum of money passed down, similar to that of Hearst. Then, they both entered the newspaper business. Yellow journalism quickly led Kane to take control of the New York Inquirer and Hearst the San Fransisco Examiner. While Hearst went on to build a much bigger empire than Kane, they each participated in yellow journalism to rise to the top and have a huge influence on the public. Kane states in the film that people will believe what he tells them to believe. This, if history showed us anything, would have come right out of the mouth of Hearst.
Additionally, both Hearst and Kane even had the same downfall, the Great Depression. Kane was forced to sell his newspaper while Hearst kept it and eventually made a comeback during the second World War.
So, Hearst was definitely more successful and powerful than Kane. But, this does not mean they were not similar. While close but not exactly similar in scale, they were similar in ethics and morals as journalists.
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