Investigative Journalism and Graded Assignment Muckrakers
Name: Shania Satterfield
Date: 1.14.14
Graded Assignment
Muckrakers Under the Microscope
Muckrakers were investigative journalists who exposed corruption in business or government, or examined serious societal issues. Several of the most well-known muckrakers worked for McClure’s Magazine, where they wrote exposés on large companies, meat slaughtering houses, and city governments. These prominent and influential reporters included Ida M. Tarbell, Lincoln Steffens, Upton Sinclair, and Ray Stannard Baker.
Now suppose that you, too, are an investigative journalist. Instead of choosing a business or government, you have been asked to write a piece on one of the muckrakers. Which muckraker will you investigate? And how much information will you be able to provide?
(100 points)
Score
1. Write a well-constructed article on one muckraker using the outline you created during your website research. Keep the following points in mind as you write your essay:
Include important biographical information about the individual’s life.
Give specific examples of articles and books that were written. What businesses or government offices were targeted in the exposés?
What reforms or changes took place as a result of the individual’s writings?
Answer:
Muckraking was a powerful journalistic force, whose supporters made it become so. Muckraking was the practice of writers and critics exposing corrupt politicians and business practices. President Theodore Roosevelt made the term "muck-raker" popular. He once said
The man with the muck-rake, the man who could look no way but downward with the muck-rake in his hands; who was offered a celestial crown for his muckrake, but who would neither look up nor regard the crown he was offered, but continued to rake himself the filth of the floor.
Some, like Roosevelt viewed methods of muckrakers such as Ida Tarbell, Ray S. Baker, Lincoln Steffens, and Upton Sinclair as these types of people. Others saw these
Date: 1.14.14
Graded Assignment
Muckrakers Under the Microscope
Muckrakers were investigative journalists who exposed corruption in business or government, or examined serious societal issues. Several of the most well-known muckrakers worked for McClure’s Magazine, where they wrote exposés on large companies, meat slaughtering houses, and city governments. These prominent and influential reporters included Ida M. Tarbell, Lincoln Steffens, Upton Sinclair, and Ray Stannard Baker.
Now suppose that you, too, are an investigative journalist. Instead of choosing a business or government, you have been asked to write a piece on one of the muckrakers. Which muckraker will you investigate? And how much information will you be able to provide?
(100 points)
Score
1. Write a well-constructed article on one muckraker using the outline you created during your website research. Keep the following points in mind as you write your essay:
Include important biographical information about the individual’s life.
Give specific examples of articles and books that were written. What businesses or government offices were targeted in the exposés?
What reforms or changes took place as a result of the individual’s writings?
Answer:
Muckraking was a powerful journalistic force, whose supporters made it become so. Muckraking was the practice of writers and critics exposing corrupt politicians and business practices. President Theodore Roosevelt made the term "muck-raker" popular. He once said
The man with the muck-rake, the man who could look no way but downward with the muck-rake in his hands; who was offered a celestial crown for his muckrake, but who would neither look up nor regard the crown he was offered, but continued to rake himself the filth of the floor.
Some, like Roosevelt viewed methods of muckrakers such as Ida Tarbell, Ray S. Baker, Lincoln Steffens, and Upton Sinclair as these types of people. Others saw these