Thursday, February 9, 2017

Raking Up Muck: Modern Muckrakers

When muckrake came up as the word of the day on my dictionary app, I decided to take a glance at it even though I knew the meaning. What I found got me to thinking more about words and the role they play in our culture and literature.

Call me crazy, but I like to study words, and it is safe to say I am not the only one. In fact, you can even get a degree in linguistics or etymology, the study of words. I am not that diehard, but I do like to study the meaning of words, as well as where they originated, how they evolved, and if they are still in use. It is fascinating when words take on different meanings or are virtually eradicated from discourse. Yet, it is particularly noteworthy when words continue to be prominent in our culture despite the passage of time.

One such example of a word still in fashion is muckrake, which was first used in 1678 with John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress. In this instance, the word was used in the noun form, which is a tool for raking up muck, such as dirt, waste, or waste matter (i.e. manure). Bunyan, however, used the tool as a symbol for the carnal mind, or rather lust. Eventually, the symbol took on the broader concept of the pursuit of wordly gain.

When Upton Sinclair wrote The Jungle in 1906, the term shifted to the verb form, meaning "to search for and expose real or alleged corruption, scandal, or the like, especially in politics" (Dictionary.com). As you may recall from studying this piece, "Sinclair's interests were political rather than literary," and thus, Sinclair, and others, were called muckrakers "because by exposing social evils they were raking up muck, or dirt" (Holt et. al 522).

Later in 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt gave his infamous speech "The Man with the Muck-Rake" with the intent to discredit yellow journalism, claiming it ruined the reputation of honest people. However, many in the industry took the muckraker title as a badge of honor and associated it with investigative journalism.

I am fairly certain that by the time John Steinbeck wrote The Grapes of Wrath in 1939, the American populace had grown accustomed to the practice of raking up dirt and publishing it in newspapers, books, etc. Nonetheless, many critics took great umbrage with Steinbeck for exposing corruption and placing him in the ranks with other muckrakers. Though I doubt Steinbeck cared much about this label one way or the other, he remains in the top tier of famous muckrakers in America.

My question for all of you is how is the term muckrake applicable to today, and what evidence can you find of it? In other words, what people or organizations are searching for and exposing real or alleged corruption, scandal, or the like, especially in politics? I don't want you to merely bash a person or organization. Instead, think about the people you know, whether personally or on the public stage, and ask yourself if they would be considered a muckraker and why? What has he/she done to expose social evils by raking up dirt? What does this person have to gain or lose from doing this?



48 comments:

  1. Our society is quite a corrupt one. In our history of politics, much search and time has gone into the tragic death of American CIA Agents stationed in Benghazi were attacked by terrorists and killed, some injured. The deaths happened to be of an Ambassador in peace relations, an officer, some american soldiers and a Libyan. Many "muckrakers" dug up serious evidence which in turn illuminated Hillary Clinton as a liar and a corrupt politicain. Clinton had been contacted before the attack when the CIA agents in Benghazi has requested reinforcements, and been declined by Clinton. She had deleted the emails, but they came but from the grave to haunt her. Clinton now has blood on her hands, as well as a hard hit from losing to Donald J. Trump MURICA!

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  2. Today people who are considered muckrakers are, more often than not, in the journalism or news reporting field. I've read how newspapers and the reporters and journalist themselves have been shut down or fired because of what they bring to light on some subjects. For example, a journalist named Laura Frank, working for a small newspaper in Colorado, was fired for digging up the truth of how a nuclear waste plant was turning away former workers who got ill because of poor working conditions. They got sick off of bad ventilation and grew seriously ill in their later years and wanted payment but, the company refused. Frank brought this to light showing people exactly what this company was doing, putting a target on her back in the process. I think she knew that it was possible she could lose her job if she went ahead and reported her findings but, she still did it anyway. This is what truly makes her a muckraker because even though she had something to lose, she still did brought to light the injustice of this company's actions anyway.

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  3. Even though the term 'muckraker' is used differently today, there are still people who fit into this category. Many large news sources are muckrakers, specifically The New York Times. Many of these people who write columns and blogs for The New York Times expose topics like politics. Today, Paul Krugman, a columnist for The New York Times, is one of the better known muckrakers. He writes about many serious issues such as health care, trade, and social policy. For example, one of his new 'exposures' is about President Trump's border plan. I think he is considered a muckraker because he tries to expose political injustices in our country. He gathers up his information, true or not, on the specific issue and exposes this in his column. Furthermore, he could gain followers and popularity if the people believe what he is saying, or he could lose followers and respect for making an untrue statement.

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  4. The term muckraker is used to describe someone who digs up dirt whether literally or theoretically. Often times journalists are called muckrakers because they uncover the dirt going on around them and report it. Much of the news is reported by muckrakers. This can be a problem because it is hard to tell what news is real and what news is fake. It is hard to tell who the "muckrakers" of today are. In the 1900's it was easy to tell because their pieces were being published each month. Now there isn't as fine of a line as to who the "villain" is. Some refer to Paul Krugman as one of today's muckrakers. Krugman recently wrote a book, "The Conscience of a Liberal" which discusses many political topics, and goes into detail about how the government policy was setting the country up for financial disaster. Krugman also writes for the New York Times, reporting on politics, health care, social policy, etc. Krugman has also recently jumped the gun on Donald Trump, calling him a "loudmouth racist." Many people read his New York Times columns. Krugman gathers information which he then reports. Many people like what he has to say and many people highly disagree. I don't really think he has a ton to lose because people either agree with him, or they don't. He is already a well recognized writer.

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  5. It is sad to say but I can think of a lot of muckrakers in our society. Lots of television shows and newspapers will start a rumor about something causing everyone to panic and believe that it is true. I can think of many celebrities that have been mad about this past election. In almost ever awards show on TV, they have been talking about the past election. I believe that some celebrities are considered muckrakers. They will do whatever they can to talk about the election no matter where they are: in interviews, on social media, and on TV shows. Some might talk about fake news that they believe to be true so they spread the word about it. This causes them to gain and lose followers on their social media accounts because of what they have said about the topic. In conclusion, I believe that some celebrities are muckrakers.

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  6. CNN is one of the biggest news companies out there today, and with Trump winning the Presidency they have been putting a lot of new out there. Trump has said that he won't respond to their questions because they are the most bias news groups and have sent out a lot of dirt that they have found on him. They are the biggest group of muckrakers I can think of in today's society. But any other news group can have muckrakers hired. They can do anything they want really because they can fact check what they post. They really aren't posting lies, they are just posting things that they have out about a certain person. These news companies can gain or lose followers and supporters because of what they post and put out there. It really just depends on if you like who they are bashing or not. It's pathetic the way some of these companies work. They post private things about politicians so that they can get more followers for their company. They are all bias in a way towards one group or another.

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  7. In today's world, a prime example of muckrakers would be the news system. They thrive on exposing current events and scandal in the world. Right now, they're swarming in on Trump. Magazines are also severe muckrakers. They're objective is mainly to find out dirt about our celebrities and put all the drama they can into an issue. They're rife with pregnancies, cheating couples, divorces, and the latest diet fads. It drags people in and makes them interested. People feed off drama. It's addicting. Magazines and News programs make lots of many based around their view count alone. Of course, they throw in the occasional good news just to keep the viewers in the mindset that it's not all bad. People like juicy content, and that's what news and magazines can supply as muckrakers.

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  8. The media today is so corrupt and superficial. They present only one angle, rather than the whole story. They take serious events and exploit them to create drama, tension, and unease in the population. Rather than focusing on real issues, they nitpick at little things. The whole business with Trump and the many audits from the IRS is also ridiculous. The people that kept bringing it up during the election campaigns painted Trump as being someone who does not pay any taxes and gets out of it illegally. The truth of the matter is that what he did was a business move that is legal. The ones focusing on that were just trying to give him bad press and turn those that don't do their own research completely against him. I believe that a hefty percentage of those in the media are muckrakers that are just trying to stir up trouble. They don't do real reporting anymore, and it is shameful. They choose a side and go with it, rather than delivering news in an objective manner.

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  9. A muckraker is a person or organization bent of revealing the "truth" to the public by revealing corruption, secrets, or scandals. When The Jungle was written it was considered one of the first "muckrake" works because it revealed to the public things that the company didn't necessarily want the people to know. Today, unless something is an advertisement or a recommended professional source, not much good is said about our politicians or our big companies. This is because more and more media feeds people want they believe they have a right to know, (which they do) and whichever media has the dirtiest verified secrets, gets the most viewers because they get to share the news first. Muckraking is a widespread affair in today's society.

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  10. Being in a government class this year has given me great insight into muckrakers and their intentions. Some of the most famous scandals in politics were found out by people purposely looking for anything a politician has done wrong. The more recent scandals include; Watergate, Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky, as well as Trump's "guy talk about girls". The main reason muckrakers go out and try to find the next big scandal is money. Everyone likes scandals and whether or not a muckraker is part of a particular political party doesn't normally affect who they look into. However, those that reveal a fake story or publish it on accident are much less trustworthy. Muckraking can range from something as simple as looking back through a celebrities tweets or even going as far to monitor their every move. All in all, muckrakers are a vital part of news and politics, and, based on how much attention they get, they will be around for decades to come.

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  11. All the time you here a new scandal about a public figure. In the most recent election cycle, the two major Presidential candidates, President Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, had to deal with some of their own scandals surfacing. Trumps problem was that he degraded many people behind closed doors and his shady involvement with Russia. Hillary Clinton was accused of many acts of suspicious judgement and behavior; most commonly known was her role in the 2012 attack on The U.S. embassy in Benghazi, Libya, and the aftermath of that event. This election cycle made it clear that there are muckrakers all around. Whether it's hackers or personal friend, there are people that do anything possible to get the truth out. Today, Wikileaks is a huge source of muckraking. In the last year, they have attempted to expose both Clinton and Trump. They tried to dig up and publicize information on both candidates suspicious doings. They do this to make sure the truth gets out. However, they could ruin relationships, careers, and have all of their prior and future work undermined due to explosive claims against public figures.

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  12. The term muckrakers is still relevant to today's society, especially with the recent election. So many news companies have dug up all the dirt they can find on the new president, and before he was elected, they did the same thing to his running mate. Even credible news outlets such as CNN have been biased about one topic or another, and it can be difficult to know what's fact and what's not at times. Scandals involving prominent public figures surface frequently, which helps prove that muckrakers are still around today.

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  13. As most people know, this year was election year. It came down to two candidates, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. While these two were fighting their way to the top, newspapers and the media were "exposing" them, but they typically only reveal small bits of information and leave the important parts out; it isn't lying, but they aren't telling people the whole truth. These people are the modern day muckrakers. They favor one side of a story rather than sharing everything. They aren't trying to expose people as who they truly are, but more as who they want society to view them, and it isn't only in politics. The media talks about actors and actresses, musicians, models, anyone who is well-known. Often their one motive it to cause a riot among the public rather than leave them thinking hard about the terrible things in this world and how it can be used for change rather than drama.

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  14. There are people all around us that can be considered muckrakers, but the big one today would be the media. Over the last few months we have seen an excessive amount of "dirt" that has been dug up on Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. The media has made it their mission to see the bad in everyone. When they expose people for past mistakes they are hoping that they can get people to go against their beliefs and vote for the other person. The media is not a reliable resource because it is way too easy for someone to just state their opinion.

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  15. Muckraking never went out of style and probably never will. The only way news broadcasting and magazines and basically people survive is by raking up muck (dirt) on other people and organizations and sharing it with the world. Last year especially in the heat of the election season, there wasn't a day that went by where you didn't see something about a terrible injustice that either Hillary Clinton or President Donald Trump did. People who saw these stories ate it up and wanted more and Trump would fight back via social media and it was a never ending circle. The newspapers and news stations and magazines that participate in this muck-raking have money to make. And the only way to make money is to have something juicy that will make people talk and want to hear more of what you have to say.

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  16. The most prominent muckrakers in our society right now are President Trump and the media. President Trump is exposing all of the flaws within out society from the government investigative agencies to the media to the people in charge of our country. He is changing things to make our country less corrupt because people are finally seeing what is wrong from his muckraking. He is changing the cabinet to people who are not politicians but instead they are business leaders and military generals, in other words he is draining the swamp. On the other side of this is the Media. They are saying all of the opposite things because they are all liberals. They are showing the wrongs of President Trump instead of the wrongs of the country. One great example of this is Saturday Night Live. They make funny skits about the President that the viewers laugh at. They are really showing people the wrongs of the people in power by exaggerating these faults. These two examples of the muckrakers of our time.

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  17. As much as I hate to admit it, the first person I thought of as a muckraker is the reporters revolving around Donald Trump. They almost have everything to gain here, getting more views with their stories applying to Trump. They could also be considered to 'dig up' certain aspects to Trumps policies, possibly deciphering his policies or bringing up things Trump has said. They would also tend to fact-check him on almost everything, which is useful for the check and balance system of our government.

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  18. This election was one of the ugliest of the history of the United States. Our nation was divided, and still is now. Throughout the campaign, every candidate had some dirt dug up on themselves, the ideas they supported, or the people they associated with. Hundreds of thousands of people this year tried to dig up bad things about each candidate, especially Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Trump's muckrakers kept going at Clinton about her emails that were deleted regarding the Benghazi attacks. Clinton's muckrakers attacked Trump's comments on women and other nationalities. This is the reason why our nation was truly divided and still is to this day.

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  19. Today the term muckraker is normally used on reporters, magazines, new stations, and even talk to host. Social media now plays a huge role with this and is the most commen way to spread "drama" or any rumors people can dig up. Muckraking is something that has been around obviously for a long time and will continue to be something we see everyday. Over the past year muckrakers in general have been thriving due to the election and all the questions reguarding our new president, Trump. But the news and reporters aren't the only thing raking up muck, it is TV shows too. Shows like SNL having been doing things for years like making jokes about serious topics in the world.

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  20. Throughout history, there has always been muckrakers. Some suggest these people express the truth of the world we live in, while others express their distaste for the muckrakers opinionated works. Either way, it can be proven muckrakers have been around and get paid to uncover the "truth." The most common kinds of muckrakers right now are those from the presidential election. A man named Drew Gibson writes columns that explode virally through works such as Facebook and twitter. He presents to America titles such as "The End of Our Beginning: Trumpism Beyond the Election." In this article he expresses his opinion on how Trump works. It states, Trump opinions of Americas issues is that of what most Republican politicians think. However, his expression without a use of filter is much more appealing to Americans. In this instance I think Gibson is a muckraker depending on your opinion. If you agree with Gibsons opinion and like Trump then to you he is not a muckraker. On the other hand, if you are a Clinton supporter you may believe Gibson to be presenting Trump in a way that is untrue. Clinton supporters may feel Trumps language is both vulgar and unpolitical. Therefore, to them Gibson is a muckraker displaying his work in a corrupted way of President Trump. From this, Gibson could lose viewers and positive ratings of his work. Non-Trump supporters may find Gibson's work corrupt. Overall, there are muckrakers across the world who expose the truth, in this case the truth as seen by the writer.

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  21. Many people in today's society can be considered muckrakers. People in journalism and broadcasting are one of the most noticeable. Broadcasters want viewers to be intrigued by their information so they are more likely to watch, or read what is being published. Many people in politics can be considered muckrakers as well. Through the past election, both Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton brought up as much "dirt" on the other person as they could. The real debates between the candidates, many people find boring to watch. Put it into something like a funny skit on Saturday Night Live, and many more people will laugh at the flaws of big names that we all know. Many different forms of muckrakers can be seen in today's society but journalist and politicians are the most clear example of this.

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  22. In today's society there is not a company or news program that doesn't try and expose someone famous or that they're associated finacially with. News programs, especially with politics expose and twist words that famous people say. Recently with the election between Trump and CLinton so much dirt was pulled to the surface to make the election "more interesting". Many of the reporters did this because they are considered muckrakers. There are a lot of different kinds of muckrakers that can be found anywhere in today's society.

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  23. Any high level news program is a great example of a muckraker. Some do it to expose the truth and others do it to make things more interesting. The latter type of news reporter has made it so hard to know what is true and false currently. A great example I'm sure everyone has used is the election, there was so much information that was completely irrelevant to the election just to make it more interesting. Not to downgrade the journalist that actually are trying to show the public the truth by hard investigating through the muck. These are just the most ovbious muckraking examples that came to mind but I am sure there are many more.

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  24. Many modern reporters have focused their attention on the recent presidential election, but they aren't just focusing on the different political candidates. These reporters are also finding any dirt they can on the people that our new president has chosen for roles such as Education Secretary and Secretary of State. Any piece of information from these people's past, their families, or the people they associate with can be twisted into something negative, depending on the public body's perspective. Supporters and protesters will also do their best to seek out information that will turn society's favor towards their beliefs.

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  25. A muckraker used to always be known as a person who rakes manure. The term has drastically changed since it was originally used, and it is now someone who exposes corruption, mainly in the government. Today many people could be seen as a muckraker in someone's eyes. Since the presidential election, both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump could be considered muckrakers. They both said things that were corrupt and wrong. Both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton may have thought that by just saying one thing, it could win the election for them, even if nothing they were saying was morally correct. Twenty years ago, nobody would have ever thought of stating things nationally like they do today. The term muckraker is changing just as much as our country is.

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  26. Looking around today we can see lots of examples of muckrakers. But in my eyes the most obvious one is the media. You hear all these crazy stories that seem questionable, then we found out that many of these stories are't even true. The news stations are all stretching the truth and making things up. Everybody seems to all of a sudden have dirt on every last person in politics. The biggest one is of course Donald Trump. People are making things up just because they decided "He's not my president" (he is). These crazy people make up crazy stories that other crazy people decide to believe and spread it all over the place. The term muckraker hasn't changed in meaning at all, it's the people who are in their own little world who need their "safe space". They decided to only believe what they want to and disregard anything that doesn't line up exactly with their beliefs. They term hasn't changed in meaning one bit.

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  27. I think that in our society to today muckrakers are in some ways still very prevalent and in others not as much. Between today and 1906, when The Jungle came out, much has changed in the way we receive information. We no longer get the majority of our news from newspapers and other print sources. Today I'd say that most of us get our news from online sources either in text or in video format. This has done two things. It has made news much more accessible, all you have to do is open the news app on your phone. At the same time it has made it much easier to tune out, all you have to do is turn that same phone off. Because of this I think that modern muckrakers like Ben Shapiro have a base audience that already generally agrees with them. People who disagree with a modern day muckraker can just turn their phone off. People like to be told that they're right, why would anyone just sit and listen as a man on a little screen tells them that they are incorrect? Since people these days simply cherry pick their news sources muckraking really has less of an effect on the general public. In my opinion people should try to broaden their media intake and really look to get both sides of an argument before anchoring on one side of a debate.

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  28. The word muckraker is applicable today in many ways. In today's world, only the most outlandish stories seem to garnish attention. This, precisely, is the reason that the media focuses on crazy stories; they help bring ratings up! Many of my classmates have pointed to the media and called them modern muckrakers. Although I do agree that the media can be mildly biased on occasion, I absolutely believe they have become more honest and trustworthy since the Trump Administration assumed office. President Trump has continuously mocked and downgraded the press. In fact, his administration believes that there is an alternative truth, something they like to call "alternative facts". These outlandish statements have outraged the press. In turn, the national media has re-calibrated itself. Now, the media is even more cautious, double-checking its articles and tv shows to make sure they use facts to contradict the new administration. Today, I believe muckraking has started to take on a new definition. Today, muckrakers, such as President Trump, do not have to find dirt about those, such as the media, that they are trying to expose. Modern muckrakers simply have to create elaborate and outlandish lies that people want to hear. Ironically, President Trump is attacking the media with tactics he claims they already employ. He doesn't need dirt to make the press look filthy. In addition, President Trump also has a lot to gain from his muckraking. His entire presidential campaign was run on "me, me, me!" He often repeated statements such as, "I alone can fix it". After trying to create trust between himself and the public, the only thing left to do was to sew distrust between the media and the public. This way, when the media points out horrible things Trump does, he can tell people not to trust the media because they, in his mind, lie. Overall, I believe that President Trump is the epitome of modern day muckrakers. He has everything to gain from his muckraking; if he can convince enough of the population to only trust him, he is just one step closer to taking more power from the people.

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  29. In today's society, news programs and social media have an immense impact on exposing the truth to the public. Years ago, many counted on books or newspapers for information on organizations. Now we can check our phones in an instant or turn on the television and the news is right in front of us. Though "muckraker" is not a commonly used term in this age, we have our own way of releasing truth and telling stories. CNN, for example, is a news outlet that not only reaches out out to its audience through television, but also has multiple sources of access with social media outlets such as Twitter, Instagram, etc.. Our new developing technology makes it easier for people from all over the world to stay in touch with news and for news outlets to make their stories known.

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  30. Today’s muckrakers seem to be our news journalists. They like to pull everything that they can up on a person, whether it be a politician or someone famous. But muckrakers don’t have to specifically be journalists. It could be someone in your life. These people could try to manipulate you, and in doing so they would drag up as much dirt as they could on you. They might have something to gain personally from this, like revenge, or they just do it to feel like they have power over someone else.

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  31. While muckraking still exists today, it has changed in many ways. During the Progressive Era when it first began, muckraking wasn't necessarily an attack on individual people. It was an attack on something wrong with society or an organization as a whole. The main motive behind the journalism was to bring attention to what needed to change to make life better. Now, journalism and the media does more to attack individuals. While social evils are still uncovered, the goal is not to change society. Now, it is simply used to destroy individual's reputations. For example, in modern day politics negative information is often released to affect a voter's decision. Often, in our recent presidential candidates cases, these were indeed social evils. The allegations made by Wikileaks included sexual assault and deleting emails. However, the information was not brought up to help change the world by any means. It was published in hope of bringing down the candidate. The people publishing these articles hope to get their candidate elected. A man I believe to be a true modern day muckraker is Dylan Howard, the editor of the National Enquirer Magazine. This magazine that I always see at the grocery store, has articles and statements where the truth is extremely stretched,and their only goal is to bring down the famous people of the country. For example I can never look at the front of the magazine without their being an affair between members of the White House. They also claimed that Obama admitted to not being born in the states. These stories are considered "evil" however they are doing nothing to change society. The magazine has nothing to gain besides bringing down other people. They use false facts to sell their story, and Americans buy into it without doing a fact check.

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  32. Over time, even since Upton Sinclair wrote, The Jungle, the term muckraker has evolved. It is known as a person who reveals secrets and scandals, but the way this is done has changed. In the past, the goal was to uncover things for the benefit of the public. This is still true, however it has also become for personal gain. In today's society, the most common muckrakers are journalists and news reporters. Often these companies will reveal the worst and most personal things about politicians or celebrities, but not because it's important to inform society. Organizations publicize small pieces of the truth to catch attention and gain popularity. If it benefits them, they will bash individuals with the things they've found out, simply to keep people interested. There are many examples of muckrakers, however the way and reason they uncover the truth has changed over time, just as the definition has.

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  33. As everyone is discussing the news of today, which is a great source of muckrakers, I have an example of a real life muckraker that many of us know and hate. Regina George. That's right, the mean girl off of the movie Mean Girls. I realize that I may seem to have antics of a madman, bringing a movie character into a literature discussion and such, but if the shoe fits... As some of us know, Regina George is the "queen" of her high school and owns and hates most everybody. So obviously she has to have some reason for her hatred, right? She proves her dedication to world destruction by collecting her proof of hate in her "Burn Book". Boom, muckraker. When the pages of the Burn Book get leaked, everybody knows about who was with who, and who did what when and now everybody knows everybody else's secrets, due to the real life muckraker, Regina George. By gathering all of this life altering information about her peers and exposing their evils, Regina feels a sense of empowerment, like she has something above everyone's heads: ie, their secrets which will in turn lead to their social death, and that would probably lead them to their actual death. A real life muckraker doesn't have to live on your tv or phone, they can be your peers, too.

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  34. I remember hearing the first time I heard the word muckraker in my American History class with Steinkuhler. He explained how muckrakers were people who find dirt on popular people in society and expose them for who they truly are or the evil that they have done. In today's society, muckraking is very popular. Newly elected President, Donald Trump has cause a ruckus in the news and social media. News stations such as CNN, FOX News, ABC Tonight, and MSNBC, have all been fighting for the best story on the President. These stations could care less if their story ruins a mans life or career. The same thing goes with celebrates too. Paparazzi's could be considers muckrakers also because they expose the 'secret' lives of our 'idols'. Creating gossips and rumors is what muckrakers thrive on and strive to create. The dirtier the story the better the headline. Overall, muckrakers will take what they can get and if it benefits them, they will use it to their advantage to get what they want.

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  35. There are many examples of muckrakers today. For the most part they are newspapers, whether it's online or on paper. This aspect of muckrakers have not changed. However, there has been a new version and that's social media as a whole. No matter what you look at, there are always people trying to expose organizations, people, etc. It's a continuous cycle of trying to figure out who said what and what did they do. More often than not, in the effort to show people what was found, this information gets mixed up, making it false. This makes the idea of muckrakers dangerous, because it is rare that anyone will know the truth.

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  36. Muckrakers can be found all over. Sometimes we don't even realize we're reading a piece that is muckraking. Most muckraking today is found in newspapers, magazines, and blogs. These are places where people can voice their opinions on specific topics and expose people or things. Journalists are often good at writing this way and like to put their noses in other people's business. By doing this, muckrakers are able to get their thoughts out to the world and get others on their side. They can become well known for writing about something, or they could also become despised for their opinion. Good luck stopping them though, they are good at it and enjoy what they do.

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  37. The definition of muckraker: to search for and expose real or alleged corruption, scandal, or the like, especially in politics. When I think of muckrakers, I think of how different types of news channels can twist every piece they can find. Trump is a good example for this. CNN, ABC, Fox, and many more all have the same type of story for the most part, but they all cover it differently. I can personally tell which news channels are very biased against him. By doing this, they might think that they can persuade viewers to be against or for him. The person/news channel can make it seem like they're doing their job, but they're really doing the opposite when they start to loose viewer due to their biased beliefs.

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  38. I believe muckrakers are still the same today as they used to be, but they partake in situations that are relevant in this time period. Many newspapers or evens news shows on TV can be considered muckrakers where people share their opinions while exposing other people. Basically anybody who ran in the election could have been considered a muckraker because they all bashed each other and spread dirt/rumors about one another all over live TV. In the end, muckrakers gain some popularity or attention when their stories are shared out to the world, but said attention will soon die down and once it does their information they dug up could turn on them in many ways.

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  39. Muckrakers are still around everywhere today. I think they are mainly still in the media. If you look at paparazzi, they are a perfect example of muckrakers. They will do anything they can to dig up celebrities' secrets and bring them to the light. In doing so they are ruining the privacy of the celebrities and the way the public views them. Paparazzi do this for their jobs but I am sure a small part of them finds joy in doing their job. The paparazzi then give their photos to journalist and they are the ones that bring the stories to paper. The journalist companies do this because they want their magazines to become famous so that they can get their paycheck. They are just doing it for themselves and that is what muckrakers of the past did too.

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  40. Everywhere in the world there are people searching through the piles of lies just trying to find the truth. Many places are more crowded and others have less people, different examples of this would be politics verse personal lives. At the moment there are large numbers of people, organizations, and theories, circling all the politicians and everyone has played a part in those. Articles, books, news, organizations, and even churches, have been influencing people regarding many things. The churches usually stay within people's lives, trying to bring "truth" to the people that attend. All that are trying to reveal the truths are making gambles. Many people are not happy with change or surprise and when a truth becomes exposed it can cause them to become fearful. Thus, every single place or person that has been a muckraker is gambling.

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  41. Today's muckrakers can be your news reporters or the paparazzi. They collect information and dirt on other people for their own self gain.The paparazzi will find the gossip and share it with the internet or other news reporters. It doesn't matter what the information is, if it could help that reporter's career, they will share it with everyone they can. Other muckrakers can be politicians. They only care about themselves and reaching their goal of president, governor, etc. They will do whatever they can to get ahead and show the country they are better than their opponent. These are just a few examples of muckrakers, but defiantly not the only people who are seen this way. Everyone can be a muckraker, it just depends on whether or not they plan to share the information they have gathered.

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  42. Anyone today can be a muckraker. One of the most obvious examples, however, is the media. Everywhere I look, on any social media, there are stories about celebrities or events. I believe that muckraking is very different today than it was then. Then, the things that were discovered were probably more truthful than today. I'm sure occasionally there were stories that were made up, but there were less things to lie about. Today we never really know what is true and what someone made up just to get more money. That is just in the media, however. I don't think muckraking on a personal level has changed much. While today it might not be peeping over someones back fence to catch them doing something distasteful so they can gossip about it to their friends, we still do it. We want to catch people in lies because it makes us feel good about ourselves and provides entertainment. So really muckraking has not changed too much.

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  43. In magazines, websites, and newspapers, organizations are trying to expose things that aren't even true to get attention. False information is posted on covers of magazines daily. Some even claim that certain celebrities are together even though they were just seen in the same room. With politics everyone always shines a bad light on Donald Trump. Many articles in Cosmopolitan have showed him as a bad person. Even calling his ban on terrorists a "Muslim Ban" and that it was unfair for Muslims. This was a ban on terrorist countries to attempt to keep the US safe. Everywhere these publishers are just trying to make some money and start some drama so you'll by their magazine. They are trying to expose Trump but they are false. The sad thing is the world is believing it. All of these false facts for publicity of their company and money. It's quite a shame.

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  44. We may not use the term "muck raker" as a tool any longer, but the term is still applicable as an adjective, especially in more modern times like the last couple of months. I'm sure if our president was more known to the term "muckraker" being used negatively towards journalism, he would apply this to all the sources he deems "fake news" as well. But this term can fit into more than just politics and news outlets. "Muckrakers" could be someone close in your own life. Perhaps that person that you know loves to spread rumors, and constantly be involved with drama. Spreading around fake facts about people would definitely earn the title "muckraker" to me. These people risk losing friends, their reputation, and even their respectability if the people they are betraying take a stand against them.

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  45. Muckrakers are a group of people that will be around for as long as there is somebody in power. Generally speaking, journalists are the most notorious for being muckrakers. However, this isn't exclusive. While we generally think of people being muckrakers towards the government, people can be small-scale muckrakers. Gossiping could be considered muckraking. It's such an easy thing to do in today's day and age because we're in the midst of an information era. Almost anything you could want to know is at your fingertips.

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  46. The word muckraker means someone who digs up information. Often times newspaper journalists are called muckrakers because they uncover the “dirt” or news around their community and report it. Newspaper journalists have time to research the information while television news reporters are trying to be the first station broadcasting breaking news information. News channel reporters are muckrakers in our society because they don’t have all the information when they report it. In addition, news channels like CNN and Fox News tell their opinions relating to a news topic. It seems as though Fox News talks badly about the Democrats and reports good things about the Republicans. On the other hand, CNN will favor the Democrats and give their oppositional opinions about the Republicans. During the election, one could listen and see the views of the reporters on these television channels. The reporters on certain news channels are muckrakers because they research and find the dirt or information to help certain political parties or candidates.

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  47. After reading this blog post many things came to mind about our society now compared to then and the many people who could be considered muckrakers themselves. The greatest of which was todayƛ polotics. You have journalists racking up as much info on the candadites. Some Journalism companies used it as a means to promote the canadate in their fight for the election. It was also used as a means of bashing the other canadate and making the later look like the better choice for the american people. By raking up the deep dark secrets of their competitor that opens the gates for a flood of continuous battle for who can give evidence of greater mistakes of their competitor than that of their own mistakes made to seem lesser of an issue to improve their own popularity and decrease that of the other. So as you can see the term may not be used as frequently but the events of the present prove the meaning to still exist a great deal throughout the present time.

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  48. Muckrakers today I have found out often try to expose a danger to the public's well being in the fight against a big business or government that might not be looking out for us as much as we would hope they would. Morgan Spurlock is a great example of a modern Muckraker. Morgan starred and directed the famous documentary, Super-Size Me. In the movie he eats McDonald's for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And if they ask if he wants to supersize it, he must say yes! By doing this experiment on himself, we see the negative effect of eating McDonald's and other fast foods often. He becomes sick, depressed, and overweight. The movie and its coinciding popularity prompted McDonald's to remove its Super-Size option. This is an example a company or organization being changed because of popular opinion brought up by a muckraker.

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