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Your comment exposed me to the big gap between the meanings of muckraker in US and UK English: 1. (US) One who investigates and exposes issues of corruption th

by taejo 10y ago

Your comment exposed me to the big gap between the meanings of muckraker in US and UK English: 1. (US) One who investigates and exposes issues of corruption that often violate widely held values; e.g. one who exposes political corruption or the poor conditions in prisons. 2. (Britain) A sensationalist, scandal-mongering journalist, one who is not driven by any social principles.

smt88 10y ago
Interesting! I'm going to change my language from "muckraking" to "investigative journalism". Thanks for pointing this out.
idlewords 10y ago
The term was coined as a perjorative (by Teddy Roosevelt) and then co-opted as a term of honor by the journalists he was attacking.
- davidmr 10y ago
  At least in my schooling, Upton Sinclair was held up as the very model of a muckraker, and he was certainly anything but (2) above. Perhaps sensationalist on occasion, but strongly principled.
  - idlewords 10y ago
    Roosevelt was applying the term to journalists at publications like McClure's. There's a great book about this period by Doris Kearns Goodwin (The Bully Pulpit) that I can't recommend highly enough.
hoorayimhelping 10y ago
I'm American and I've only heard a muckraker described as number 2.
- smt88 10y ago
  ProPublica, one of my favorite investigative news sources, describes some of their articles as "muckreads". They use the word proudly, with the implication that they've gone to lengths that the general public would/could not to find out important information. As someone said, it was a pejorative term that was reclaimed, and that makes a lot of sense to me now.
  - johnpowell 10y ago
    Talking Points Memo does the same. http://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker http://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker
- omonra 10y ago
  It was part of the American History 11th grade course I took in HS in the early 90s. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muckraker https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muckraker

by taejo 10y ago

smt88 10y ago

Interesting! I'm going to change my language from "muckraking" to "investigative journalism". Thanks for pointing this out.

idlewords 10y ago

The term was coined as a perjorative (by Teddy Roosevelt) and then co-opted as a term of honor by the journalists he was attacking.

davidmr 10y ago
At least in my schooling, Upton Sinclair was held up as the very model of a muckraker, and he was certainly anything but (2) above. Perhaps sensationalist on occasion, but strongly principled.
- idlewords 10y ago
  Roosevelt was applying the term to journalists at publications like McClure's. There's a great book about this period by Doris Kearns Goodwin (The Bully Pulpit) that I can't recommend highly enough.

hoorayimhelping 10y ago

I'm American and I've only heard a muckraker described as number 2.

smt88 10y ago
ProPublica, one of my favorite investigative news sources, describes some of their articles as "muckreads". They use the word proudly, with the implication that they've gone to lengths that the general public would/could not to find out important information. As someone said, it was a pejorative term that was reclaimed, and that makes a lot of sense to me now.
- johnpowell 10y ago
  Talking Points Memo does the same. http://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker http://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker
omonra 10y ago
It was part of the American History 11th grade course I took in HS in the early 90s. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muckraker https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muckraker