Derivation Of Muckrakers

There is a prominent saying that has stood the test of time, and that is “the pen is mightier than the sword”, and for journalists at the beginning of the 20th century it was more than just a saying; it was a way of life. Today, I will be exploring the derivation of the muckrakers; such a funny word isn’t it? If you break the word up it basically gives you the explanation, you see, muck means dirt and raker means to dig up. So fundamentally a muckraker is someone who likes to dig up dirt, but not just anybody or any dirt either. Muckraker is a term used to describe an investigative journalist who sought to expose corruption or scandal, particularly in politics or public affairs during the Progressive Era; and this type of journalism actually
Once the people are made aware of the different things or muck, people started to demand change. The idea was that the journalists needed to bring to attention several issues with their country like the exploitation of child labor, bribery in city government, the dreadfulness of lynching, and the callous business practices employed by businessmen like John D. Rockefeller. Of all the famous Muckrakers, in my opinion, there is none more famous than Lincoln Steffens. Lincoln Steffens was an American journalist and a leading figure among the writers whom U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt called muckrakers. Born in 1866 to a rich businessman and his wife, Steffens grew up as somewhat of a privileged child. Once of age, he received an education from Berkeley, and then went to Europe for three years to study philosophy, ethics, art history and science. He would later return to America with a secret young wife; and instead of being greeted by his father to return home, he was greeted with a letter from his father with a hundred dollars and an order from his father to “stay in New York and hustle” until he learned the “practical side” of
So when Steffens began to publish the influential articles later collected as The Shame of the Cities, where Steffens attempted to expose political corruption in the major cities of the United States. During his tenure as one of the founding fathers of muckraking, he and the muckrakers were able to achieve great things; Steffen’s investigation of Wall Street, for example, helped lead to nothing less than the Federal Reserve System. This is one of the lasting legacies for American Journalism. Steffen’s wouldn’t not be satisfied however, due to the fact that muckraking seemed to do little permanent good because he saw the reformers swept out of office and reforms neglected once the latest scandal was past. At the end of his life, Lincoln Steffens considered to be the most famous of the American muckraker journalists of the period of 1903 – 1910. His expose’s of corruption in government and business helped build support for reform. Steffens died in Carmel, California on August 9th