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muckraker

[muhk-reyk-er]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

a person who searches for and tries to expose real or alleged corruption, scandal, or other wrongdoing, especially in politics.
The original muckrakers were the journalists who exposed child labor, sweatshops, poor living and working conditions, and government inefficiency in the early 20th century.

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Word History and Origins

Origin of muckraker¹

muckrake ( def. ) + -er ¹ ( def. )

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

In the early 1900s, journalism, the muckrakers, became highly influential, raising awareness about many social ills, including child labor, unsafe working conditions and unsanitary food processing.

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The late journalist and muckraker’s most famous book has inspired a whole subgenre of stunt memoirs.

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Like the muckrakers of an earlier age, investigative journalists bring to light what the powerful often want to keep in darkness.

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Even Lincoln Steffens, the celebrated muckraker who testified on his behalf at trial, wrote in a private letter: “�� do I care if he is guilty as Hell.”

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Greenwald is an itinerant, old-school muckraker, working with small crews, sometimes only himself, to tell stories of oppression and threats to democracy from those who often are not heard.

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muckrake muckrakers

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