Muckraking and Yellow Journalism
 Who?

Teddy Roosevelt
 What?

Investigating reports of
disgusting conditions in
the meat packing
industry
 Why?

Muckraking techniques
by Upton Sinclair
 How?

Expose the reality,
remove the gild
Fun Fat:
Muckrakers are named such
because they “rake up the
muck” of society in order to
show how filthy it really is!
 muck·rak·ing
(ˈməkˌrākiNG)
 noun: muckraking; noun: muck-raking

the action of searching out and publicizing
scandalous information about famous people in an
underhanded way.
 Journalism
technique that uses facts, images,
and details to expose the reality of a situation,
regardless of social norm.

Investigative journalism about topics that make
people feel uncomfortable.

Poverty, racism, homelessness, child abuse, spousal abuse,
animal neglect… the stuff you don’t talk about.

Jacob Riis

How the Other Half Lives


Upton Sinclair

The Jungle


History of Standard Oil

Rockefeller’s business practices
Lincoln Steffens

The Shame of Cities


Meat Packing Industry… EW
Ida Tarbell


Photo journal of poverty in New York
Corruption in local government
Ray Stannard Baker

The Right to Work

Coal miners
 2014
Pulitzer Prize winner Chris Hamby
uncovered that Coal Miners were being
denied medical rights.

The corruption included doctors, lawyers, and
congressmen.

Check it out here
 yel·low

jour·nal·ism
noun: journalism that is based upon sensationalism
and crude exaggeration.
 Reports
with little to no factual support, but
speculation and half truths. You are trying to
sell papers, make money, or look out for your
own interests, not the well being of others.
 The

Started as a result of wrongful journalism.


Spanish American War
William Randolph Hurst and Joseph Pulitzer owned
different newspapers and wanted to increase sales.
Hurst reportedly said “you furnish the picture, I’ll
furnish the war” to his photographer after the USS
Maine accidently sank.
 Reality: probably a faulty furnace
 They said: the Spanish intentionally sunk it and
killed our sailors. WAR!!!!
Check out other examples here
Find a modern example of Muckraking and
Yellow Journalism
Explain why the piece you found fits into the
category you determine.
1.
2.


3.
What makes this piece a muckraking piece or yellow
piece?
DUE end of class Wednesday.
Post to the discussion board by the end of
class Wednesday.