21st Century Muckrakers

  • Watchdogging Public Corruption: A Newspaper Unearths Patterns of Costly Abuse.
  • Rotting Meat, Security Documents, and Corporal Punishment.
  • Reporting Time and Resources Reveal a Hidden Source of Pollution.
  • Navigating Through the Biofuels Jungle.

What are some examples of muckrakers in action?

These famous muckrakers of their day helped expose issues and corruption in America between 1890 and the start of World War I.

  • Jacob Riis. Jacob A.
  • Ida B. Wells.
  • Florence Kelley.
  • Ida Tarbell.
  • Ray Stannard Baker.
  • Upton Sinclair.
  • Lincoln Steffens.
  • John Spargo.

What is a muckraker and give an example of one?

A muckraker was any of a group of American writers identified with pre-World War I reform and exposé writing. The muckrakers provided detailed, accurate journalistic accounts of the political and economic corruption and social hardships caused by the power of big business in a rapidly industrializing United States.

What is the modern day equivalent for the idea of muckraking?

The modern term generally references investigative journalism or watchdog journalism; investigative journalists in the US are occasionally called “muckrakers” informally.

How was Upton Sinclair a muckraker?

Upton Sinclair wrote The Jungle to expose the appalling working conditions in the meat-packing industry. His description of diseased, rotten, and contaminated meat shocked the public and led to new federal food safety laws.

What is an example of muckraking from the early 1900’s?

The muckrakers played a highly visible role during the Progressive Era. Muckraking magazines—notably McClure’s of the publisher S. S. McClure—took on corporate monopolies and political machines, while trying to raise public awareness and anger at urban poverty, unsafe working conditions, prostitution, and child labor.

Was Sinclair Lewis a muckraker?

Harry Sinclair Lewis was born in Sauk Centre, Minnesota, and graduated from Yale University. He took time off from school to work at a socialist community, Helicon Home Colony, financed by muckraking novelist Upton Sinclair. Lewis’s other major novels include Babbitt (1922).

How was Lincoln Steffens a muckraker?

Lincoln Austin Steffens (April 6, 1866 – August 9, 1936) was an American investigative journalist and one of the leading muckrakers of the Progressive Era in the early 20th century. He is remembered for investigating corruption in municipal government in American cities and for his leftist values.