Muckraking newspapers and magazines
For much of the 1800s, newspapers and magazines had been relatively expensive and mainly a medium for poems, short stories, and other literary works. Besides the largely entertainment oriented approach of these magazines, the majority of the people that read them were upper class citizens of the cities. However, with innovations in the late 19th century that reduced the cost of printing, the price of the printed communication medium dropped drastically. Instead of upper class city-dwellers being the exclusive audience of newspapers and magazines, the middle and even lower class citizens started to read them on a regular basis. The content of the magazines and newspapers increased to cover news and editorials, as well as provide entertainment as in previous years. Shortly after, another type of journalism started to show up in the magazines. In addition to the general news, literary works, and other "normal" features of magazines, there was the introduction of hard-hitting factual stories that screamed about the wrongs of society. This new type of journalism was called muckraking and those journalists that wrote in that style were known as muckrakers.Muckraking was a new type of investigative journalism tha
A society besieged with problems such as the industrial society of the U.S. in the late 19th century had one benefit though. Muckrakers had no problem finding things to write about. Three writers who had considerable influence due to their investigative journalism were Lincoln Steffens, Ida M. Tarbell, and Ray Stannard Baker. These three writers did what many consider the most influential and important muckraking of the era. Baker took these interviews and put them together like a collage. His essay because a collection of smaller stories all of which had more of an emotional pull than anything else. Inside of each story, the reader would find grave injustices committed toward the scabs, frequently with no government intervention on their behalf. By combining these stories into this collage, Baker was able to convey the feelings of despair and injustice found in the scabs' minds to the readers. As a result, Baker helped people to realize what corrupt leadership in labor unions could cause and to raise the goal of preventing calamities such as those experienced during the UMW strike. Even without the influence of firms on the politics of cities, corruption was everywhere. Political corruption was a common news topic even though few people realized just how much it affected their lives. Bribery and crime was common in the city, state, and national government. Frequently, the police department of a city would not only be turning a blind eye to crime, but helping the criminal elements get away with their illegal actions . . . all for a percentage of the rewards of course. t had rarely been seen before. Instead of the soft-spoken commentaries that were so common, the new journalism was filled with hard-hitting, well investigated facts. Muckrakers investigated the corruption of business, politics, and the labor movement and spread it all in front of their readers. They weren't there to make friends or to appease the people who held power in the U.S.; they were there to make a point. They were there to point out policy and practice in America that needed changed or crushed and during the era, there were many issues to choose from. In the late 19th century, there was large-scale corruption across the United States. Politics, big business, and labor unions were filled with bribery and crime. The "Land of the Free" had turned to the "Land of the Few." One of the biggest factors in this corruption was the rise of industrialism. Before the Civil War, a large corporation had a few hundred workers and a bank account with thousands of dollars. However, the corporation of the post-Civil War period made the previous companies look like small home-run businesses. As Ellen F. Fitzpatrick in Muckraking writes:
Some common words found in the essay are:
Antitrust Act, Mine Workers, , Standard Oil, Minneapolis Steffens, Fitzpatrick Muckraking, Oil Company, Folk Steffens, Railway Company, Stannard Baker, standard oil, business practices, labor unions, 19th century, investigative journalism, public records, late 19th, late 19th century, corruption political, corruption political system, lincoln steffens, industrial society, ray stannard baker,
Approximate Word count = 2165
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)
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