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Just like today, when an investigation by a journalist can cause things to change, the Muckrakers used the power of the press to make a difference. It was the early 1900s, so there was no radio or TV or internet, but many people read books, newspapers and magazines; that is what the Muckrakers used to get their message out. They wrote long and thorough reports, taking on the rich and the powerful, criticizing corruption and giving specific examples of policies that were hurting the average person.

The Muckrakers pointed out a number of problems in American society: they included unsafe and even toxic "medicines", corrupt practices in the inspection of meat, and the negative effects of corporate greed on the average citizen. The crusading journalism of people like Ida Tarbell, Lincoln Steffens, Upton Sinclair and others even attracted the attention of President Theodore Roosevelt, who was inspired to enact some important reforms (including a law to ensure safety and accurate labeling in patent medicines and a law to bring about better regulation of the meat-packing industry) after reading the work of the Muckrakers.

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