A muckraker is, primarily, a reporter or writer who investigates and publishes truthful reports involving a host of social issues, broadly including crime and corruption and often involving elected officials, political leaders and influential members of business and industry. The term is closely associated with a number of important writers who emerged in the 1890s through the 1930s, a period roughly concurrent with the Progressive Era Keeping corruption out of politics was a main goal of the progressive era, with many Progressives trying to expose and undercut political machines and bosses. They attempted to exclude illiterates, African-Americans, and others from voting, and to reduce immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe through devices such as a literacy test. Many in the United States.

These writers focused on a wide range of issues including the monopoly of Standard Oil Standard Oil was a predominant American integrated oil producing, transporting, refining, and marketing company. Established in 1870 as a corporation in Ohio, it was the largest oil refiner in the world and operated as a major company trust and was one of the world's first and largest multinational corporations until it was broken up by the United; cattle processing and meat packing The meat packing industry handles the slaughtering, processing and distribution of animals such as cattle, pigs, sheep and other livestock. The industry is primarily focused on producing meat for human consumption, but it also yields a variety of by-products including hides, feathers, dried blood, and, through the process of rendering, fat such as; patent medicines; child labor Child labour refers to the employment of children at regular and sustained labour. This practice is considered exploitative by many international organizations and is illegal in many countries. Child labour was utilized to varying extents through most of history, but entered public dispute with the advent of universal schooling, with changes in; and wages, labor, and working conditions in industry and agriculture. In a number of instances, the revelations of muckraking journalists led to public outcry, governmental and legal investigations, and, in some cases, legislation was enacted to address the issues the writers' identified, such as harmful social conditions; pollution; food and product safety standards; sexual harassment; unfair labor practices; fraud; and other matters. The work of the muckrakers in the early years, and those today, span a wide array of legal, social, ethical and public policy Public policy can be generally defined as the course of action or inaction taken by governmental entities with regard to a particular issue or set of issues. Other scholars define it as a system of "courses of action, regulatory measures, laws, and funding priorities concerning a given topic promulgated by a governmental entity or its concerns.

History

The mid 19th Century saw an increase in the kind of reporting that would come to be called "muckraking."^[1] By the 1900s, magazines such as Collier's Weekly, Munsey's and McClure's were already in wide circulation and read avidly by the growing middle class.^[2][3]

Origin of the term, Theodore Roosevelt

While he may never have used the term himself, the origin of the term "muckraker" is attributed to President Theodore Roosevelt, who, during a speech delivered on April 14, 1906, drew on a character from John Bunyan’s 1678 classic, Pilgrim’s Progress, saying:

“... you may recall the description of the Man with the Muck-rake, the man who could look no way but downward with the muck-rake in his hands; 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.” ^[4]

While cautioning about possible pitfalls of keeping one's attention ever trained downward, "on the muck," Roosevelt emphasized the social benefit of investigative muckraking reporting, saying:

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. —Theodore Roosevelt Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt pronounced /ˈroʊzəvɛlt/ ROE-zə-velt) was the 26th President of the United States. He is famous for his energetic personality, range of interests and achievements, leadership of the Progressive Movement, model of masculinity, and his "cowboy" image. He was a leader of the Republican Party and^[4]

The term eventually came to be used in reference to investigative journalists Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, often involving crime, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years researching and preparing a report. Most investigative journalism is done by newspapers, wire services and who reported about and exposed issues such as crime, fraud, waste, public health and safety, graft, illegal financial practices — when found within America and, by association, foreign interests, for example, as partners and co-conspirators. A muckraker's reporting may span businesses and government generally, especially where such have elements of both involved in the same report.

Early 20th century muckraking

Nellie Bly is considered by many to be the original muckraker with "Ten Days In The Mad-House," her 1887 under-cover expose on patient abuse at Bellevue Mental Hospital, first published as a series of articles in The World newspaper and then as a book. Nellie would go on to write more articles on corrupt politicians, sweat-shop working conditions and other societal injustices.

Lincoln Steffens published “Tweed Days in St. Louis”, in which he profiled corrupt leaders in St. Louis, in October, 1902, in McClure’s Magazine.^[5]

Ida Tarbell published The Rise of the Standard Oil Company in 1902, providing insight into the manipulation of trusts. One trust they manipulated was with Christopher Dunn co. She followed that work with The History of The Standard Oil Company: the Oil War of 1872, which appeared in McClure's Magazine in 1908.

Upton Sinclair Upton Sinclair, Jr. , was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American author who wrote over 90 books in many genres. He achieved popularity in the first half of the 20th century, acquiring particular fame for his 1906 muckraking novel The Jungle. It exposed conditions in the U.S. meat packing industry, causing a public uproar that contributed in part to the published The Jungle The Jungle is a 1906 novel written by author and journalist Upton Sinclair. Sinclair wrote this novel to highlight the plight of the working class and to remove from obscurity the corruption of the American meatpacking industry during the early 20th century. The novel depicts in harsh tones the poverty, absence of social programs, unpleasant in 1906, which revealed conditions in the meat packing industry in the United States and was a major factor in the establishment of the Pure Food and Drug Act The Pure Food and Drug Act of June 30, 1906 is a United States federal law that provided federal inspection of meat products and forbade the manufacture, sale, or transportation of adulterated food products and poisonous patent medicines. The Act arose due to public education and exposés from Muckrakers such as Upton Sinclair and Samuel Hopkins.

Ray Stannard Baker published The Right to Work in McClure's magazine in 1903, about coal mine conditions, a coal strike, and the situation of non-striking workers (or scabs). Many of the non-striking workers had no special training or knowledge in mining, since they were simply farmers looking for work. His investigative work portrayed the dangerous conditions in which these people worked in the mines, and the dangers they faced by union members who did not want them to work.

The Treason of the Senate: Aldrich, the Head of it All, by David Graham Phillips Phillips was born in Madison, Indiana. After graduating from high school, Phillips entered Asbury College -- following which he received a degree from College of New Jersey in 1887, published as a series of articles in Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan is an international magazine for women. It was first published in 1886 in the United States as a family magazine, was later transformed into a literary magazine and eventually became a women's magazine in the late 1960s. Also known as Cosmo, its current content includes articles on relationships and sex, health, careers, self- magazine in February, 1906, described corruption in the U.S. Senate.

The Great American Fraud by Samuel Hopkins Adams From 1891 to 1929, he was a reporter for the New York Sun and then joined McClure's Magazine, where he gained a reputation as a muckraker for his articles on the conditions of public health in the United States revealed fraudulent claims and endorsements of patent medicines in America. This article showed light on the many false claims that pharmaceutical companies and other manufactures would make as to the potency of their medicines, drugs and tonics. Using the example of Peruna in his article, Mr. Adams described how this tonic, which was made of seven compound drugs and cologne spirits,^[6] did not have “any great potency”^[6]. Manufacturers were selling it at an obscene price and hence made immense profits. His work forced a crackdown on a number of other patents and fraudulent schemes of medicinal companies during that time.

There were many other works by many other great Muckrakers, which brought to light a variety of Issues in America which were addressed during the Progressive era.^[6]

Second half of the 20th century

The reports and long-form works which yielded important news and developments during this period include:

• Rachael Carson, an marine biologist who became a famous writer, best known for her 1962 book Silent Spring Silent Spring is a book written by Rachel Carson and published by Houghton Mifflin in September 1962. The book is widely credited with helping launch the environmental movement, which confronted the chemical industry and helped to spur legislation for regulation and control of DDT DDT is one of the most well-known synthetic pesticides. It is a chemical with a long, unique, and controversial history and other industrially and domestically used substances.

• Ralph Nader Ralph Nader is an American attorney, author, lecturer, political activist, and four-time candidate for President of the United States, having run as a Green Party candidate in 1996 and 2000, and as an independent candidate in 2004 and 2008's Unsafe at Any Speed Unsafe at Any Speed: The Designed-In Dangers of the American Automobile by Ralph Nader, published in 1965, is a book detailing resistance by car manufacturers to the introduction of safety features, like seat belts, and their general reluctance to spend money on improving safety. It was a pioneering work of consumer advocacy, openly polemical but (1965), which led to reforms in automotive manufacturing in the United States.

• I.F. Stone Isidor Feinstein Stone was an iconoclastic American investigative journalist. He is best remembered for his self-published newsletter, I. F. Stone's Weekly which was ranked 16th in a poll of his fellow journalists of "The Top 100 Works of Journalism in the United States in the 20th Century", known for his writing in The Nation The Nation is a weekly United States periodical devoted to politics and culture, self-described as "the flagship of the left." Founded on July 6, 1865, it is the oldest continuously published weekly magazine in the US. It is published by the Nation Company, L.P. at 33 Irving Place, New York City, and in his own newsletter I. F. Stone's Weekly.

• Bob Woodward Robert Upshur "Bob" Woodward is regarded as one of America's preeminent investigative reporters and non-fiction authors. He has worked for The Washington Post since 1971 as a reporter, and is currently an associate editor of the Post. While a young reporter for The Washington Post in 1972, Woodward was teamed up with Carl Bernstein; the and Carl Bernstein Carl Bernstein (born February 14, 1944) is an American journalist who, at The Washington Post, teamed up with Bob Woodward; the two did the majority of the most important news reporting on the Watergate scandal. These scandals led to numerous government investigations, the indictment of a vast number of White House Officians such as H.R. Haldeman,, journalists for The Washington Post The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation, uncovered and wrote about the U.S. Executive Branch corruption that came to be known as the Watergate scandal The Watergate scandal was a political scandal in the United States in the 1970s, resulting from the break-in into the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C. Effects of the scandal ultimately led to the resignation of the United States President Richard Nixon on August 9, 1974. It also.

Muckrakers and their works

Early Muckrakers

• Edwin Markhum (1852-1940) - "published an exposé of child labor in Children in Bondage" (1914)
• Samuel Hopkins Adams From 1891 to 1929, he was a reporter for the New York Sun and then joined McClure's Magazine, where he gained a reputation as a muckraker for his articles on the conditions of public health in the United States (1871–1958) — The Great American Fraud, exposed false claims about patent medicines Patent medicine refers to medical compounds of questionable effectiveness sold under a variety of names and labels. The term "patent medicine" is somewhat of a misnomer because, in most cases, although many of the products were trademarked, they were never patented . Perhaps the only "patent medicine" ever to be patented was
• Ray Stannard Baker (1870–1946) — of McClure's McClure's or McClure's Magazine was an American illustrated monthly periodical popular at the turn of the 20th century. The magazine is credited with creating muckraking journalism. Ida Tarbell's series in 1902 exposing the monopoly abuses of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil Company and Ray Stannard Baker's earlier look at the United States & The American Magazine
• Nellie Bly (1864–1922) Ten Days in a Mad-House
• Cecil Chesterton (1879–1918) - of The New Witness and the 1912 Marconi scandal in Britain
• Claud Cockburn (1904–1981) - In Time of Trouble (1956), A Discord of Trumpets
• Burton J. Hendrick (1870–1949) — "The Story of Life Insurance" May - November 1906 McClure's McClure's or McClure's Magazine was an American illustrated monthly periodical popular at the turn of the 20th century. The magazine is credited with creating muckraking journalism. Ida Tarbell's series in 1902 exposing the monopoly abuses of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil Company and Ray Stannard Baker's earlier look at the United States
• Helen Hunt Jackson (1831–1885) — A Century of Dishonor, U.S. policy regarding American Indians
• Frances Kellor (1873–1952) — Studied chronic unemployment in her book Out of Work (1904)
• Thomas W. Lawson (1857–1924) Frenzied Finance (1906) on Amalgamated Copper stock scandal
• Henry Demarest Lloyd (1847–1903) - Wealth Against Commonwealth, exposed the corruption within the Standard Oil Company
• Frank Norris Benjamin Franklin Norris, Jr. was an American novelist, during the Progressive Era, writing predominantly in the naturalist genre. His notable works include McTeague (1899), The Octopus: A California Story (1901), and The Pit (1903) (1870–1902) The Octopus
• Fremont Older (1856–1935) San Francisco corruption and the case of Tom Mooney
• Jacob Riis Jacob August Riis was a Danish American social reformer, muckraking journalist and social documentary photographer. He is known for his dedication to using his photographic and journalistic talents to help the impoverished in New York City, which was the subject of most of his prolific writings and photography. He helped with the implementation of (1849–1914) - How the Other Half Lives, the slums
• Charles Edward Russell (1860–1941) — investigated Beef Trust, Georgia's prison
• George Seldes (1890–1995) — Freedom of the Press (1935) and Lords of the Press (1938), blacklisted during the 1950s period of McCarthyism.
• Upton Sinclair Upton Sinclair, Jr. , was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American author who wrote over 90 books in many genres. He achieved popularity in the first half of the 20th century, acquiring particular fame for his 1906 muckraking novel The Jungle. It exposed conditions in the U.S. meat packing industry, causing a public uproar that contributed in part to the (1878–1968) — The Jungle The Jungle is a 1906 novel written by author and journalist Upton Sinclair. Sinclair wrote this novel to highlight the plight of the working class and to remove from obscurity the corruption of the American meatpacking industry during the early 20th century. The novel depicts in harsh tones the poverty, absence of social programs, unpleasant (1906), U.S. meat-packing industry, and the books in the "Dead Hand" series that critique the institutions (journalism, education, etc.) that could but did not prevent these abuses.
• John Spargo (1876–1966) — American reformer and author, The Bitter Cry of Children (child labor)
• William Thomas Stead William Thomas Stead was an English journalist. He was born in Darlington, the son of a Congregational minister (5 July 1849 - 15 April 1912) – crusaded against child prostitution in Victorian England with The Maiden Tribute of Modern Babylon in the Pall Mall Gazette The Pall Mall Gazette was an evening newspaper founded in London on 7 February 1865. It was owned by George Murray Smith; its first editor was Frederick Greenwood. In 1921 The Globe merged into the Pall Mall Gazette, which itself was absorbed into the Evening Standard in 1923
• Lincoln Steffens (1866–1936) The Shame of the Cities (1904)
• I.F. Stone Isidor Feinstein Stone was an iconoclastic American investigative journalist. He is best remembered for his self-published newsletter, I. F. Stone's Weekly which was ranked 16th in a poll of his fellow journalists of "The Top 100 Works of Journalism in the United States in the 20th Century" (1907–1989) — McCarthyism McCarthyism is the political action of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence. The term specifically describes activities associated with the period in the United States known as the Second Red Scare, lasting roughly from the late 1940s to the late 1950s and characterized by heightened fears of and Vietnam War The Vietnam War [A 2] was a Cold War military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from November 1, 1955 [A 1], to April 30, 1975 when Saigon fell. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of South Vietnam, supported by the United States, published newsletter, I.F. Stone's Weekly
• Kasey Swift (1904–1999) - Weekly editor of Atlanta Journal Constitution, wrote Keys to the City (non-fiction book about influence of political bosses on Atlanta politics). Early Civil Rights advocate.
• Ida M. Tarbell Ida Minerva Tarbell was an American teacher, author and journalist. She was known as one of the leading "muckrakers" of the progressive era, work known in modern times as "investigative journalism." She wrote many notable magazine series and biographies. She is best-known for her 1904 book The History of the Standard Oil (1857–1944) exposé, The History of the Standard Oil Company
• John Kenneth Turner — (1879–1948) author of Barbarous Mexico (1910), an account of the exploitative debt peonage system used in Mexico under Porfirio Díaz.

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