How Can Investigative Journalism Be Considered A Muckraker?

The history of the muckraker’s started when a group of reporters and Journalist uncover and reveal unformal and discrimination of wrong doing so serious that it made the peoples blood over flow,1902 started the strike of Lincoln Steffens that was published in the McClure’s Magazine call “Tweed Days in ST. Louis”. Steffens uncover how city officials work in large business to keep their contract and power, taken money from the public treasure, while other article began to emerge, so Steffens wrote a book call “The Shame of the Cities”. The Muckraker’s came up with the truth fact about the Socio – economic, and political problem that was happen in American. There were many changes far as social and politics across the board from the19th century to the start of the 20th century raising the public opinion by the way of sickness that were brought on by industrial revolution for examples; the arrangement between large organization, political machines, and bad working conditions. There were four main muckraker’s who started it all, Ida Tarbell, Thomas Lawson, Ray Stannard and Steffens. The Muckraker’s was famous about doing wrong and telling on very important people in the society, they were call dirt and grime because they would stool to their lowest about political corruption, business, and government problem, they also put an end to advertising by boycotting, while the magazines fell into

Muckrakers – Among the first people to articulate the new spirit of national reform. Crusading journalists who began to direct public attention toward social, economic, and political injustices. They were committed to exposing scandal and corruption. Their first major targets included the trusts and also the railroads. They were given this name after Theodore Roosevelt accused them of raking up muck through their writings. Their actions helped lead to the development of the “Social Gospel.”

After reading “Where Are The Muckrakers When We Need Them?” by Christopher B. Nelson, I learned three things about journalism in the 1800s and how it relates to today. First, I learned that in order to combat the inaccurate statements of muckrakers, S.S. McClure organized a team to write about real news. Next, based on the article, it is clear that Theodore Roosevelt liked what the muckrakers were uncovering, and would announce it publicly. Lastly, people today do not want to read the news as much, and would rather see outrageous headlines that lead nowhere.

With the recent explosion of social media, many rely heavily, often excessively, on the internet for their news about the world. While being bombarded with fabricated stories and corrupted facts, the public struggles to find the actual truth, creating an entirely new realm of responsibility for journalists. They are forced to delve deeper than ever before, beyond comfort, in order to superficially scratch the surface of truth. This practice of exploitation and rooted research was coined “muckraking” by Theodore Roosevelt during a speech in 1906. While this term had carried a negative connotation for decades, Jessica Mitford, the late investigative journalist, transformed that perspective and graciously accepted the title “Queen of the Muckrakers”. Mitford was correct in her prideful title, as muckrakers have fulfilled a valuable role in the creation of policy over time, as well as acting as an integral component in modern day media, full of deception and bias.

Being labeled a muckraker is a label I would not mind having. Without muckrakers how would we find out the whole truth about individuals and businesses, not just the stuff they tell us. Muckrakers find out information that is needed to be made public, but for whatever reason, is not told to the public. I support Mitford’s view that it is an honor to be called a muckraker.

According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary a muckraker is someone who “searches out and publicly exposes real or apparent misconduct of a prominent individual or business” (“Muckraker”). During the 1890s to the 1920s, muckrakers were a group of American journalists who exposed the corruption in society and informed the public about important social issues. The term muckraker originally came around when President Roosevelt gave a speech about reporters who exposed political and corporate corruption ("Who Are the Muckrakers?”). There have been so many muckrakers in American history whose works have been the cause of new laws and changes; some of the most important and famous of these muckrakers were Upton Sinclair, Samuel Hopkins Adams, and Jacob Riis.

Muckrakers are journalists who expose corruption and conditions of certain working environments. Muckrakers had and still have an important impact on society. They have affected people for the better and for their own good. Two important muckrakers who succeeded was Upton Sinclair and Dave Savini. They both found out the bizarre conditions of meat and food.Without them people would be in danger.

Nobody could have known that on September 20th, 1878 in Baltimore, a man who would eventually revolutionize the media and bring the term muckraking to the forefront of cultural perception would be born. At the time, America was still

Teddy Roosevelt used the term “muckraker” as an insult for journalist who went too far with their stories. Jessica Mitford believed that she earned the title, and was honored by it. As long as a journalist story was made up of factual information, there was no harm done in the pursuit of their stories. Mitford deserved the praise of being called a “muckraker” because it helped to expose the harsh elements of the early 1900s in order to get the government’s attention to make the appropriate changes.

“Journal articles instructed readers on how to act, how to consume, and how to eat” (Barkan 20). Muckraker journalism was made to showcase the negative sides of society that may have not been exposed to readers directly. These journalists played a tremendous role in presenting major problems to the public, in turn also to Congress. Once the muckrakers caught on to what these industries were doing they investigated and gave all the information on what was going on behind the scenes.

Today it’s normal for media outlets to accuse politicians for inappropriate behavior, inform the public about humanitarian needs and to scrutinize the government. The highlighted quotes of the 45th president, the photos of deplorable conditions in foreign states and even songs such as Billy Joel’s “We didn’t start the Fire” are merely examples of modern muckraking. The foundation for such media was implemented into our very constitution, however, the profound effect of mass media didn’t become blatantly observable until late 19th and the early 20th century. These forefathers of the modern journalists, the “muckrakers”, used skills such as inquiry, appeals to emotion, and discernment in order to reach a population with limited understanding

There’s an overwhelming number of sources for news to reach the public. There is Fox news, CNN, BBC, NBC, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Propublica (a non-profit), and NPR, just to name eight. All these news sources impact our daily lives as we make tough decisions on things like who our president will be, what kind of food we eat or don’t eat, or what kind of people we like or don’t like. Some journalism exposes things that other people don’t want exposed. This type of journalism is called Muckraking. Jessica Mitford, an investigative journalist, described muckraking in her book, Poison Penmanship: The Art of Muckraking, as high honor in the world of journalism. Muckraking must be disassociated with the term “bad journalism”, it

Her work for this magazine caught the attention of Samuel Sidney McClure, the founder of McClure’s Magazine, who was looking for writers for his new monthly publication. Tarbell was hired as an editor in 1894 and quickly became McClure’s Magazine‘s most successful writer. She became very successful due to her series on Abraham Lincoln which nearly doubled the number of magazines sold. Later on, a whole new generation of investigative journalists called “muckrakers”, given the name by President Theodore Roosevelt, began a campaign to expose corruption in businesses. Theodore Roosevelt gave these opinionated journalists the pessimistic label ‘muckrakers’ in a speech in 1906. Despite this negative label, Tarbell campaigned with the other journalists.

In the Progressive Era, influential journalists wanted to expose the government and big business of their flaws to American citizens with using factual and proven evidence against them. Muckrakers, who are journalists that seek out the truth of corruption among the government and business leaders, became well known due to how many people were amazed by the revealed injustices and dishonesty in the

muckraking muckraking media is type of journalism existed in US during the progressive era, it became popular due to the nationwide circulation of newspapers and magazines because of the urbanization. The origin of the word Muckraker is men’s name in John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress. That term popularized by Theodore Roosevelt in 1907, to stand as a reference to journalists who investigate wrongdoing by the rich or powerful they also known as ‘’Watchdog Journalism’’, it also includes “mud-slinging” or politicians who were debating people’s physical appearance rather than their ideas and thought. The broad sense of this term indicates long-form, investigative journalism published in magazines between 1900 and World War