Muckraker

McClure's Magazine (cover, Jan, 1901) published many early muckraker articles.

A muckraker is a journalist, author or filmmaker who investigates and exposes societal issues such as political corruption, corporate crime, child labor, conditions in slums and prisons, unsanitary conditions in food processing plants, fraudulent claims by manufacturers of patent medicines and similar topics.

Generally, muckraking tends to be targeted at forces in power and the established institution of society, often in a sensationalist and tabloid manner.

Definition

U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt coined the term 'muckraker' in 1906

President Theodore Roosevelt is attributed as the source of the term 'muckraker.' During a speech in 1906 he likened the muckrakers to the Man with the Muckrake, a character in John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress (1678).

While Roosevelt apparently disliked what he saw as a certain lack of optimism of muckraking's practitioners:

...the Man with the Muck-rake, the man who could look no way but downward, with the muck-rake in his hand; who was offered a celestial crown for his muck-rake, but who would neither look up nor regard the crown he was offered, but continued to rake to himself the filth of the floor.

His speech strongly advocated in favor of the muckrakers:

There are, in the body politic, economic and social, many and grave evils, and there is urgent necessity for the sternest war upon them. There should be relentless exposure of and attack upon every evil man whether politician or business man, every evil practice, whether in politics, in business, or in social life. I hail as a benefactor every writer or speaker, every man who, on the platform, or in book, magazine, or newspaper, with merciless severity makes such attack, provided always that he in his turn remembers that the attack is of use only if it is absolutely truthful."

The term muckraker is most usually associated with a group of American investigative reporters, novelists and critics from the late 1800s to early 1900s, but also applies to contemporary persons who follow in the tradition of those from that period.

Although the term muckraking might appear to have negative connotations, muckrakers have most often sought, in the past, to serve the public interest by uncovering crime, corruption, waste, fraud and abuse in both the public and private sectors. In the early 1900s, muckrakers shed light on such issues by writing books and articles for popular magazines and newspapers such as Cosmopolitan, The Independent, and McClure's.

Overview

A muckraker is an American English term for one who investigates and exposes issues of corruption that violate widely held values, such as political corruption, corporate crime, child labor, conditions in slums and prisons, unsanitary conditions in food processing plants (such as meat), fraudulent claims by manufacturers of patent medicines, labor racketeering, and similar topics. In British English however the term is applied to sensationalist scandal-mongering journalist, not driven by any social principles.

The term muckraker is most usually associated in America with a group of American investigative reporters, novelists and critics in the Progressive Era from the 1890s to the 1920s. It also applies to post 1960 journalists who follow in the tradition of those from that period. See History of American newspapers for Muckrakers in the daily press.

Muckrakers have most often sought, in the past, to serve the public interest by uncovering crime, corruption, waste, fraud and abuse in both the public and private sectors. In the early 1900s, muckrakers shed light on such issues by writing books and articles for popular magazines and newspapers such as Cosmopolitan, The Independent, Collier's Weekly and McClure's. Some of the most famous of the early muckrakers are Ida Tarbell, Lincoln Steffens, and Ray Stannard Baker.

An example of a contemporary muckraker work is Ralph Nader's Unsafe at Any Speed (1965) which led to reforms in automotive manufacturing in the United States. Nader's publication led to a stop in the production of the Chevrolet Corvair, one of the first rear-engine American cars. The discontinuation of the Corvair was controversial because many believed the innovative style could have been altered for safety and could have spurred the American automobile industry. The rise of muckraking in the late 19th and early 20th centuries corresponded with the advent of Progressivism yet, while temporally correlated, the two are not intrinsically linked.

Notable Muckrakers

Some notable muckrakers include:

• Nellie Bly (1864 – 1922) Ten Days in a Mad-House
• Barbara Ehrenreich—journalist and author - Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America
• Michael Moore—documentary filmmaker, director of Roger and Me, Bowling for Columbine, Fahrenheit 911, and SiCKO
• Ralph Nader—consumer rights advocate; Unsafe at Any Speed (1965), exposed unsafe automobile manufacturing
• Upton Sinclair (1878–1968)—The Jungle (1906), U.S. meat-packing industry, and the books in the "Dead Hand" series that critique the institutions (journalism, education, etc.) that could but do not prevent these abuses.
• Morgan Spurlock—American Filmmaker; exposed through example the dangers of McDonalds in his documentary Super Size Me
• Ida M. Tarbell (1857 – 1944) expose, The History of the Standard Oil Company
• Studs Terkel—Legendary Chicago writer, journalist, DJ, and historian
• Dr. Hunter S. Thompson (1937–2005)—American journalist and author credited with the invention of gonzo journalism
• Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein—breakthrough journalists for Washington Post on the Watergate scandal; authors of All the President's Men, non-fiction account of the scandal

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Bausum, Ann. Muckrakers: How Ida Tarbell, Upton Sinclair, and Lincoln Steffens Helped Expose Scandal, Inspire Reform, and Invent Investigative Journalism, National Geographic Children's Books (2007). ISBN 1426301375
• Gallagher, Aileen. The Muckrakers: American Journalism During the Age of Reform, Rosen Central (2006). ISBN 1404201971
• Harry, M. Muckraker's Manual ; How to Do Your Own Investigative Reporting, Loompanics Unlimited (1984). ISBN 0915179032
• Jensen, Carl. Stories That Changed America: Muckrakers of the 20th Century, Seven Stories Press (2002). ISBN 158322517X
• Raphael, Chad. Investigated Reporting: Muckrakers, Regulators, and the Struggle over Television Documentary, University of Illinois Press (2005). ISBN 0252030109

External links

• Project Gutenberg - Classic muckraker texts and magazines including issues of McClure's.
• The Center for Investigative Reporting- describes itself as "a nonprofit news organization dedicated to exposing injustice and abuse of power through the tools of journalism."
• The Center for Public Integrity - nonprofit, nonpartisan, tax-exempt organization that conducts investigative research and reporting on public policy issues in the United States and around the world.
• What Do The World and People Deserve? Len Bernstein on the Life and Work of Jacob Riis
• Princeton Online Library - Muckraker

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