The Muckrakers (jan 1, 1890 – jan 1, 1910)

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The Muckrakers were American journalists, novelists, critics, and newspaper and magazine publishers who investigated and exposed corruption in politics. They emerged in the late 19th century, when publishers realized there was a growing interest for stories about devious political schemes among middle-class readers, and the term Muckraker was later coined by President Theodore Roosevelt. They had a powerful effect in the Progressive movement by making the public more aware of the inequities and corruption in American government and society (with several Muckrakers also targeting the industrialists and corporations of the time). Even though muckraking declined after 1910 – because many corporations started to focus on improving their image by integrating a public relations field, and it was becoming increasingly difficult for publishers to make each story more shocking than the last – the effect it had of making people more active in calling out corruption and inequality persisted.

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