Mulvihill 1
Leanna Mulvihill
Mrs. St. John
AP Language
14 January 2008
Muckrakers
Jessica Mitford embraced her title as “Queen of the Muckrakers” because her pursuits were noble. Though Theodore Roosevelt used the term as an insult, muckraking was very important in this time and other eras in history. Muckraking informs the readers of stories that affect them and facilitates justice for those who have been wronged.
Muckraking journalism tells the hard stories that are controversial because of the effect they have on the general public. The Watergate scandal in 1972 over President Nixon’s Committee to Re-Elect the President breaking into Democratic headquarters was revealed by journalists Burnstein and Woodward. The American public found out that their leader, who they should be able to trust, was in fact a crook. As president he was supposed to make smart, moral decisions that benefit the country and its people. Instead he made an immoral and selfish decision and failed to cover it up properly. During Teddy Roosevelts’s time Upton Sinclair wrote The Jungle which showed middle class America the wretched state of New York City slums and particularly the unsanitary conditions in the meat packing industry. The Jungle revealed the need for widespread social change and a firmer control over the way meat was processed. Had Teddy Roosevelt not read it and been disgusted with his morning sausage, the meat industry would not have changed and millions of Americans would have continued to eat contaminated meat. Muckraking brought this issue to the attention of people in power. Along the same lines, Ida B. Tarbell wrote a book exposing the malpractices of Standard Oil and how they systematically bought out or eliminated their competition. The public was made aware of how Standard Oil had the power short change them due to its monopoly. Muckrakers need to let people know when they are going to be negatively affected by controversial events.
Best of all, muckraking facilitates justice. After Nixon was exposed he resigned from office and was no longer betraying America as its leader. Teddy Roosevelt passed the Food and Drug Act after reading The Jungle. Food and medicine now was regulated and labeled with its contents. Teddy Roosevelt also passed an anti-trust act that broke up monopolies like Standard Oil so that Americans were not taken advantage of by “big business”. Muckraking is necessary.
Exposing the dirty truth informs the public and prompts the people in power to correct the situation. Mitford was absolutely entitled to celebrate being called a muckraker. Because if no one goes that far, how will we ever know?