Upton Sinclair
Wrote many books criticizing the abuse and exploitation of people by corporations. His most famous work, The Jungle, exposed the horrific working conditions of the Chicago meatpacking industry.
About muckraking
The term muckraker was first coined during the Progressive Era of the early 20th century. Muckrakers were investigative journalists who targeted government officials and corporations for their misdeeds and corruption. These journalists often called for sweeping reforms in the interest of protecting the public and workers.
The Progressive Era and muckrakers rose in response to the excess and corruption of the Gilded Age during the late 19th century. Many people became concerned at how corporate monopolies were abusing workers, consumers, and the environment while the government did nothing to stop these power grabs. How could a government allow its people to be at the mercy of for-profit institutions? Simple: the government itself had been bought by the very corporations it was charged with regulating.
This should all start to sound familiar. Muqrakr takes its name, and its purpose, from them.
Notable muckrakers
Nellie Bly
Early in her career, went undercover for ten days as a patient at a notoriously harsh psychiatric hospital to gather evidence of the staff's abusive behavior.
Louis Brandeis
An outspoken critic of monopolies, big banks and big business, collected in Other People's Money and How the Bankers Use It. A lifelong public advocate who carried that advocacy to the Supreme Court.
Ida M. Tarbell
An early investigative journalist who wrote extensively about the trusts controlling the American economy. Her talent for making complex subjects understandable helped bring about the Clayton Antitrust Act.