89-995-5961 2,072 Words Muckrakers: A Stick in the Mud Muck. Dirt. Scandal. Deceit.

All of these terms exist within the American political system. When Theodore Roosevelt expressed his unhappiness with obsessive journalists in the twentieth century, comparing them to the man with the muckrake in Pilgrims Progress, he unknowingly activated the evolution of investigative journalism in the United States (Sloan, 2011, p. 309). Wearing the infamous muckraker label proudly, these reporters hold responsibility for the present-day dissemination of political information by the American news media. Viewed as sticks in the mud by government officials of the time, these daring journalists, such as Upton Sinclair, Lincoln Steffens, and Ray Stannard Baker, challenged corruption in politics at the very birth of the twentieth century, ready to divulge the greed and indecency of local and national politics. The art of muckraking is not merely the same as investigative journalism, but both groups, muckrakers and modern investigative journalists, maintained the same simple goal to get to the bottom of a story. Muckrakers of the early twentieth century, however, believed in personal agendas and motives, subjectivity in journalism, and advocacy for real change in achieving this goal. While muckrakers exist in different forms today, the quest for truth Theodore Roosevelt unintentionally titled stands firm at the forefront of modern political journalism. Muckraking Nationally In order to fully grasp the concept of muckraking and its origin, the Progressive era must be comprehended. At the turn of the century, the forthcoming presidency of Theodore Roosevelt, along with the Spanish-American War and the assassination of William McKinley in 1901, invited the curiosity of journalists, as well as citizens, to expand (Bausum, 2007, p. 27).

This curiosity proved extremely significant in a group of reformers known as Progressives. During this time period, enormous monetary growth of corporations and industries, such as United States Steel, triggered the Progressives to pressure the federal government into a role of accountability to the American people. Before the advent of the Progressive era, these hugely profitable companies controlled the nations resources, policies, elected officials, and most importantly, the working conditions of the millions of Americans (Bausum, 2007, p. 28). Labeled as soulless and anti-social, these big businesses were met harshly by the Progressives and the American people at the beginning of the twentieth century through mass, political communication (Filler, 1976, p. 9). The Progressives aimed to solve issues within the urban communities of the United States, and the use of the press made communication between a variety of social and ethnic groups in these communities feasible. Although reformers exercised their freedom of the press before the Progressive movement, messages of reform in publications lacked the resources to reach large, mass audiences (Sloan, 2011, p. 310). The dawn of the Progressive movement in journalism altered this handicap through the introduction of a new mass medium magazines. The Progressive era introduced the concept of muckraking, which found a home in the new, widely circulated national magazines. With weekly and monthly publications, magazines better suited the needs of muckrakers, who meant to tackle complex issues without restrictions of the daily due dates of newspapers. Lincoln Steffens, for example, received unlimited time from his employer, Samuel S. McClure, to explore the country for corruption, which led to his publication of the Shame of the Cities (Bausum, 2007, p. 27). In addition, national magazines provided safety for journalists from small, community dictators silencing newspapers in reporting of local scandals. Examples include McClures, Cosmopolitan, Century, Success and

Everybodys, all of which launched articles seeking improvements in the social conditions of urban cities by the 1900s (Sloan, 2011, p. 310-311). By mixing fiction and verse with investigate journalism, magazines expressed their annoyance with the laissez-faire approach by the federal government and petitioned for reform exhaustively. As previously stated, passionate petitioners, like Lincoln Steffens with McClures, turned local protests into national crusades with his publication Shame of the Cities (Dorman, 2000, p. 55-56). Steffens found himself interviewing the elected circuit attorney, Joseph Folk, in St. Louis, Missouri. Folk described the role of Ed Butler, who determined every vote at the city council based on bribery. This bribery outraged Steffens, but to the community leaders, this abuse was accepted as the cost of doing business in their city at the turn of the 20th century (Bausum, 2007, p. 16). Steffens discovered this trend in cities across America and conveyed his distress in the development and acceptance of government of the people, by the rascals, for the rich (Bausum, 2007, p. 21). Steffen explored options to end this corruption by using the idea of supply and demand (Steffens 1904): If we would leave parties to the politicians, and would vote not for the party, not even for men, but for the city, and the State, and the nation, we should rule parties, and cities, and States, and nation. If we would vote in mass on the more promising ticket, or, if the two are equally bad, would throw out the party that is in, and wait till the next election and then throw out the other parry that is inthen, I say, the commercial politician would feel a demand for good government and he would supply it. That process would take a generation or more to complete, for the politicians now really do not know what good government is. But it has taken as long to develop bad government, and the politicians

know what that is. If it would not go, they would offer something else, and, if the demand were steady, they, being so commercial, would deliver the goods. Ultimately, Steffens goal to spark reform through the use of local scandals guided the removal and replacement of corrupt businessmen by demanding, reform-minded individuals. Muckraking Locally Local successes like these aided muckrakers in their goal for reform everywhere. Muckraking even expanded its rhetoric to small towns in Louisiana in 1907 when President Roosevelt ventured to Tallulah, Louisiana, for a black bear hunt in the canebrakes. Covered locally by the Madison Journal in a joyous light, Roosevelt received national scrutiny from journalists including a satirical cover for Puck magazine on October 16, 1907 (Keppler, 1907). Although Puck was not an official muckraking publication of the time, this evidence showcases muckrakers influence over media
Theodore Roosevelt and members of the bear hunt expedition in East Carroll Parish in 1907 (Teddy Roosevelts Bear Hunt in Louisiana).

during this era. The arrival of a powerful political figure obviously excited the small town of Tallulah, but the national media lampooned and scrutinized Roosevelts obsession with killing an innocent animal in Louisiana, especially when reformers felt more important tasks awaited him in Washington, D.C. Roosevelt hunted as a guest of John M. Parker, who would later be running as Roosevelts Vice President, and Tabasco giant John A. McIlhenny, and this association with

two political, business figures frustrated the muckrakers. However, with thousands of Louisianans lining the train station for Roosevelts arrival, his political orientation did not matter; the President of the United States entered their territory, and the citizens of East Carroll parish waited breathlessly (Moncrief, 1907). Today, the same ecstasy would meet the President in small towns in the United States, but the same scrutiny would also exist in the media. Muckraking Today Existence of muckraking journalism remains, especially in Louisiana, the setting for decades of political corruptions allegations within state governorships, such as the administration of Huey P. Long. After interviewing Rebecca Alexander, the Community Engagement Specialist for NOLA.com/Times Picayune, evidence suggests that muckraking survived in journalism. Although the term muckraking has an infamously negative connotation, in the case of local, Louisiana journalism, it is simply ensuring the truth finds its way to the Louisiana reader. Alexander believes that NOLA.com reporters play the role of investigators, and argues, Louisiana needs us. Although national and local news outlets like Nola.com and the Times Picayune believe in investigating, today they serve more as informers and disseminators of information rather than journalists with personal motives. The necessity of muckrakers at the turn of the twentieth century cannot be understated. Without these bold reformers exposing the abuse of power in government and American business of that time period, American political communication in news media would be drastically different today. As previously stated, muckrakers hold a place in todays news media but under tremendously altered limitations and restrictions. For example, the close association with the muckraking movement of the Progressive era and monthly national magazines seems impossible for a modern reader to imagine considering the American audience wants the news

instantaneously; an entire month lasts an eternity in terms of modern news (Dorman, 2000, p. 56). The absence of a strenuous deadline, like in Steffens case with The Shame of the Cities, is unfathomable to modern journalists. Along with pace change, journalists today write objectively, simply following the mandate of information. Ida M. Tarbell, one of the most famous muckrakers, rejected such said standard of objective journalism. In her expos of the Standard Oil Company, a thriving corporation run by oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller, Tarbell subjectively uncovered the corruption of monopoly formation in Standard Oil while following a personal agenda. When called in front of the House of Representatives, a railroad officer refused to answer the questions asked or to furnish the documents demanded, which Tarbell gleefully revealed (Tarbell, 1904, p. 168). Responsible for Tarbells fathers job loss, Standard Oil became forced to break down after being found in violation of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. Tarbell receives historical credit for launching the exposure of the deceitful actions by large companies monopolizing in the industry, known as trusts (Tarbell, 1904). Today, however, Tarbells account of subjective journalism would lack credibility. Restrictions like these make the ways of historical muckraking unattainable to modern investigative reporting. Some advances in current journalism do exist, however. For example, advances such as citizen journalism and computer assisted reporting, help identify misconduct that otherwise remains hidden through recruitment of average citizens online assisting in reporters searches and through online databases such as Google and email (Feldstein, 2009, 50). This progress allows modern-day muckrakers to uncover a multitude of truths, including important mysteries like the extent of torture used on captured terrorists during the War on Terror (Bausum, 2007, p.13). Muckrakers from the Progressive era questioned their countrys

leadership in a time of turmoil, and this courage inspired future journalists to always unveil the truth, even within a restricted, objective approach. Drew Pearson, who famously uncovered political fraud in Louisiana in the 1930s, voiced the opinion of founding muckrakers by saying, it is the job of a newspaperman to spur the lazy, watch the weak, expose the corrupt (Bausum, 2007, p. 85). With his dramatic novel, The Jungle, Upton Sinclair prompted the passage of The Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 by spurring the lazy giants of the federal government to act against corruption in the workplace (Sloan, 2011, p. 321). With his powerful publication The Shame of the Cities, Lincoln Steffens remained loyal to the impoverished, underprivileged members of small communities across the United States, watching the weak with a protective eye constantly. With her tedious research and need for personal vindication, Ida M. Tarbell exposed the corruption within the Standard Oil Company, which had mushroomed into a monumental monopoly (Bausum, 2007, p. 38). Pearsons analysis accurately sums up the opinions of founding muckrakers, and although much has changed in investigative journalism, the goal of every journalist to uphold the value of integrity within themselves and within their subjects in the quest for truth endures. !

Works Cited Page Alexander, Rebecca. Personal Interview. 26 Oct. 2013. Bausum, Ann. Muckrakers. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, 2007. Print. Dorman, Jessica. Where Are Muckraking Journalists Today? Nieman Reports 54.2 (2000): 5557. Print. Feldstein, Mark. The Challenges and Opportunities of 21st century Muckraking. Nieman Reports 63.2 (2009): 50-53. Print. Filler, Louis. The Muckrakers. University Park: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1976. Print. Keppler, Udo J. Teddys In The Canebrake. Puck 16 Oct. 1907: Cover. Print. Moncrief, Robert L. When Teddy Roosevelt Went Bear Hunting In Louisiana. Madison Journal [Tallulah, LA]. Microfilm. Sloan, Wm. David. The Media in America: A History. 8th ed. Northport: Vision Press, 2011. Print. Steffens, Lincoln. The Shame of the Cities. New York: McClure, Philips, and Co. 1904. Print. Tarbell, Ida M. The History of Standard Oil. New York: McClure, Philips, and Co. 1904. Print. Teddy Roosevelts Bear Hunt. KnowLA. New Orleans: Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities. KnowLA. Web. 20 November 2013. Weinberg, Arthur and Lila Weinberg. The Muckrakers. New York: Simon and Schuster, Inc., 1961. Print.