What is a Muckraker?

A Muckraker is anyone who seeks to expose and reveal corruption or inhumanity within an organization or business. Muckraking can come in many forms, such as novels, journalism or even just pictures. Muckrakers have had a significant effect on laws and policies within the US. The term muckraker came from a part of Theodore Roosevelt's speech: "the man who could look no way but downward with the muck-rake in his hands; Who was offered a celestial crown for his muck-rake, but who would neither look up nor regard the crown he was offered, but continued to rake to himself the filth of the floor". This blog looks at four muckrakers who had particularly significant effects.