World War 1

Muckraker: "A man that could look no way but downward" Muckrakers were investigative journalists or writers who exposed the corruption or evils of society in the Progressive era. Some muckrakers were progressives who sought reform and change; for example, Jacob Riis wrote on the deplorable conditions in housing with the intent to change conditions for immigrants. Similarly, Upton Sinclair exposed the meatpacking process which prompted change in the form of the Pure Food and Drug Act. Other muckrakers were just interested in selling a sensationalist story to the American public.

The most popular aspects of society subject to the muckraker's scrutiny were crime, graft, housing, scandals, labor, monopolies, population density, treatment of immigrants, treatment of women, and quality of food. Notable muckrakers include Jacob Riis, Upton Sinclair, Ida Tarbell, and Helen Hunt Jackson.

When Theodore Roosevelt first coined the term, "muckraker" had a negative connotation and was intended to be a smear - one shouldn't concentrate on the "muck" of society. (The quote: "the man who could look no way but downward" was part of the description Roosevelt offered in 1906). The muckrakers, however, used the term positively and as a badge of honor, and investigative journalism was borne.

The term is most frequently used to describe progressive-era reformers, but the word can be used to describe contemporary progressives, people such as Michael Moore, Eric Schlosser, and Ralph Nader.

For more information and a list of famous muckrakers, see the related links below.

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* The Muckrakers is also the name of a rock band from Louisville, Kentucky that formed in 1997.

A+Ls---> An author who exposed government corruption