Newspaper and magazine coverage of the Spanish-American War represents the apex and the eventual eclipse of the hand sketch artist as news-gatherer and simultaneously the birth of the modern-day photojournalist. Perhaps of even wider impact was the strong new role of visual reportage. The daily barrage of drawings and photographs by William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer, as well as the extensive coverage by "Leslie's,""Harper's,""Collier's," and other magazines, fired up the country's patriotic outrage. During the circulation battle between Hearst and Pulitzer, these publishers discovered the power of pictures not just to entertain but to mold public opinion. (Fifty-one notes and 18 figures (illustrations) are included.) (Author/RS)