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Muckraking During the Progressive Era

Introduction

The start of the 20th century was a time of many changes that would change the course of American History. Those changes spanned over politics, society as well the intellectual fields. This was also the start of the Progressive Era in America. Some scholars think that the era lacked a focus, but nonetheless, there was realization that it was high time for change.

The name muckraker was attributed to a specific group of journalists who were ardent supporters of reform in current practices, especially on the political front. People like S.S McClure, Lincoln Steffens and Ida M. Tarbell were the pioneers in this category of journalism. They were dedicated to the mindset that pushed them to advocate for change and came from the remnants of Yellow or sensational journalism. Whereas yellow journalism focused on items to catch instant attention of the public in order to increase sales. Those items were emphasized by use of graphic images and sometimes bordered on fiction. The muckrakers seemed to reject that tag and shifted their focus towards change.

Our focus in this paper is the impact of the muckrakers during the progressive era. There were calls for reform from all sides. The muckrakers had a fundamental role for the time period to be designated the progressive era. We could generalize that the era was at its prime during the start of the 20th century. Specifically, between 1900 until 1914, was the era at its peak. It changed when the Americans entered the First World War.

Discussion

Background

The term muckraker is derived from a character in John Bunyan's novel Pilgrim's Progress, "the Man with the Muck-rake". The character in the novel prefers to clear filth rather than to focus on salvation and social well being.

Let us take a look at the origins of this movement. The tradition being followed here was the same as during the peak of Yellow journalism, but this was qualitatively different. Their focus on monopolies and corporate corruption brought them popularity along with sales and credibility. The muckrakers trace their institutional beginnings from the publication the the McClure's Magazine in 1893. The magazine was started by McClure himself and John Sanborn Phillips who were class fellows at the Knox College.

As mentioned they came from the tradition of Yellow journalism, their focus was on social conditions, corruption and other such evils that had taken hold of the country. They took it upon themselves to seek the facts behind the wrong doings of the influence peddlers. One would think that once the articles or magazines had made their sales, the reporting on such practices would stop. However, this did not happen, and the same group of journalists would demand action from the sitting government. The government according to the muckrakers was supposed to take action based on their reports. They even focused on issues like work place conditions and rights of the workers.

Investigative Journalism

This growing trend paved the way for what is known as investigative journalism. The reporters in ...