3 famous muckrakers biography

Muckrakers such as Lincoln Steffens and Ida Tarbell wrote for mass-market magazines. They turned local issues into national issues, local protests into national crusades. Muckraking is a term used for journalist and photographers who investigated and revealed different underground information, in order to inform the public. A well known muckracker is Lewis Hine.

Who are the muckrakers and what did they do? Muckrakers were journalists and investigative reporters who wrote about corruption and injustice between and It exposed the corrupt officials of the St, Louie. The Rise of the Standard Oil company was published in It focused on the manipulation of the trusts. The Muckrakers had a significant impact on the American society.

Due to their efforts, new legislations were introduced. In the Pure Food and Drug Act was established. Their investigation revealed that bribery and corruption were not only taking place at the state level but in the congress as well, which led to a complete change in the election results. The influence of the Muckrakers begun to dwindle during the reign of the William Howard Taft.

The advertisement boycotts resulted in the magazines going bankrupt; this made it easy for the Corporations and the political figures to silence the Muckraker journalists. However, the most crucial factor behind the Muckrakers disappearance was their success.

3 famous muckrakers biography

Many reforms had already taken place. Monopolies such as the Standard Oil had fallen apart and the political machines were destroyed. The problems that the Muckrakers had highlighted were resolved. As such, the era of Muckrakers had come to an end; there was no need for them anymore. In the modern age, people use Investigative Journalism synonymous to the Muckraking.

Louis", Lincoln Steffens exposed the graft , a system of political corruption, that was ingrained in St. While some muckrakers had already worked for reform newspapers of the personal journalism variety, such as Steffens who was a reporter for the New York Evening Post under Edwin Lawrence Godkin , [ 10 ] other muckrakers had worked for yellow journals before moving on to magazines around , such as Charles Edward Russell who was a journalist and editor of Joseph Pulitzer 's New York World.

Just as the muckrakers became well known for their crusades, journalists from the eras of "personal journalism" and "yellow journalism" had gained fame through their investigative articles, including articles that exposed wrongdoing. In yellow journalism , the idea was to stir up the public with sensationalism, and thus sell more papers.

If, in the process, a social wrong was exposed that the average man could get indignant about, that was fine, but it was not the intent to correct social wrongs as it was with true investigative journalists and muckrakers. Julius Chambers of the New York Tribune could be considered to be the original muckraker. Chambers undertook a journalistic investigation of Bloomingdale Asylum in , having himself committed with the help of some of his friends and his newspaper's city editor.

His intent was to obtain information about alleged abuse of inmates. When articles and accounts of the experience were published in the Tribune , it led to the release of twelve patients who were not mentally ill, a reorganization of the staff and administration of the institution and, eventually, to a change in the lunacy laws. From this time onward, Chambers was frequently invited to speak on the rights of the mentally ill and the need for proper facilities for their accommodation, care and treatment.

The muckrakers appeared at a moment when journalism was undergoing changes in style and practice. In response to yellow journalism , which had exaggerated facts, objective journalism, as exemplified by The New York Times under Adolph Ochs after , turned away from sensationalism and reported facts with the intention of being impartial and a newspaper of record.

Muckraking publishers like Samuel S. McClure also emphasized factual reporting, [ 9 ] but he also wanted what historian Michael Schudson had identified as one of the preferred qualities of journalism at the time, namely, the mixture of "reliability and sparkle" to interest a mass audience. While the muckrakers continued the investigative exposures and sensational traditions of yellow journalism, they wrote to change society.

Their work reached a mass audience as circulation figures of the magazines rose on account of visibility and public interest. Magazines were the leading outlets for muckraking journalism. Samuel S. McClure led the magazine industry by cutting the price of an issue to 15 cents, attracting advertisers, giving audiences illustrations and well-written content and then raising ad rates after increased sales, with Munsey's and Cosmopolitan following suit.

McCuckz sought out and hired talented writers, like the then unknown Ida M. Tarbell or the seasoned journalist and editor Lincoln Steffens. The magazine's pool of writers were associated with the muckraker movement, such as Ray Stannard Baker , Burton J. Welliver , and their names adorned the front covers. Connolly , L. Glavis , Will Irwin , J. Hampton , John L.

Keys and Q. In addition, Theodore Roosevelt wrote for Scribner's Magazine after leaving office. After President Theodore Roosevelt took office in , he began to manage the press corps. To do so, he elevated his press secretary to cabinet status and initiated press conferences. The muckraking journalists who emerged around , like Lincoln Steffens, were not as easy for Roosevelt to manage as the objective journalists, and the President gave Steffens access to the White House and interviews to steer stories his way.

Roosevelt used the press very effectively to promote discussion and support for his Square Deal policies among his base in the middle-class electorate. When journalists went after different topics, he complained about their wallowing in the mud. 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.

Most of these journalists detested being called muckrakers. They felt betrayed that Roosevelt would describe them with such a term after they had helped him with his election. Muckraker David Graham Philips believed that the tag of muckraker brought about the end of the movement as it was easier to group and attack the journalists.

The term eventually came to be used in reference to investigative journalists who reported about and exposed such issues as crime, fraud, waste, public health and safety, graft, and illegal financial practices. The Progressive Era which spanned from the s to early s in the United States was marked by political reforms and widespread social activities with the objective of eliminating the problems that resulted from industrialization, migration, and urbanization.

It was in this spirit of reforms that influential journalist used the platform to attack corrupt leaders and reveal injustices in the society. The muckrakers worked to expose corporate monopolies and reveal wrongdoings such as child labor, unsafe working conditions, prostitution, and urban poverty. The work of muckrakers led to the passage of key legislation that safeguards and protects workers and consumers.