Muckraking Journalism In The Progressive Era

Corruption is one word, representing many problems throughout society. In some instances, the general public is aware of the corruption and could make an effort to fight it, but in other circumstances, the public is not, and the corruption could be left untouched. In the Progressive era, there were many instances where the corruption was not being handled. Journalists who tried to discover this corruption were considered muckrakers. Their reports helped convince Americans to act on the problems in America. This tactic in journalism did not end with the Progressive Era as it is still seen today. Muckraking journalism made an impact in the Progressive era, is effective in today’s world, and is still necessary for the future. During the Progressive
A first example is the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. It is a group of journalists that use muckraking journalism to show many issues in the world today. (icij.org) A second person using muckraking journalism today is Sonia Nazario. Nazario wrote Enrique’s Journey, a book following the journey of a Honduran boy trying to make his way to America to find his mother. It depicts all of the harsh realities these children go through. Nazario believes that the children coming to America not because of economic reasons, but instead out of fear for their lives, should be treated as refugees. She thinks that deporting these children is inhumane. (nbcnews.com) Another way muckraking journalism is used in today’s world was in New York Times. They did a piece on Dasani, a child along with the other 22,000 children who are homeless in New York City. The journalist, Andrea Elliott, said that she wanted to show modern American child poverty. (huffingtonpost.com) Lastly, The Human Capital Project was an investigative journalism study by The Center for Medical Progress. It showed how Planned Parenthood was selling parts of aborted babies. Their goal was to show the public and stop this do to it being unethical and against laws. (centerformedicalprogress.org) All of these examples, depict real people in today’s society trying to discover corruption and show it to the public so that it can be fixed.
One major topic that could need attention from muckrakers is the gap between the rich and the poor. The median American income shrunk 8% between 2007 and 2012. This means that more people are making less money, less people are making more money. The top 10% of Americans owned 75% of America’s wealth in 2010, which is an increase from 67% in 1989. This shows how only a tenth of Americans own the majority of America’s wealth and that it is growing. (time.com) Relatably, the richest 85 people in the world have the same combined wealth as the poorest 3.5 billion. This shows that half of the world makes the same amount of money as the 85 individual people. (huffingtonpost.com) As the divide between the rich and the poor increases, future muckrakers may be needed to draw attention to this issue. Another issue that could be needing a muckraker is the environment. At the current time, the US only is making up less than 5% of the world’s population, and yet it is using 30% of the world’s resources. This could eventually lead to a lack of resources which would be a huge issue. (treehugger.com) Studies have shown that by 2100, the world’s waste will grow to be about 11 million tons per day, tripling the current amount of waste per day. This could affect more than just people, but our entire environment as well. The conservation of species is also important. Each year,