What term describes early 20th-century journalism devoted to exposing misconduct by government, business, and politicians?

• A. Muckraking
• B. Yellow Journalism
• C. Investigative Reporting
• D. Propaganda Journalism

Answer: (A)

The main idea here is a label for a reform-minded wave of journalism in the Progressive Era that sought to expose corruption and abuses by powerful institutions. This approach is known as muckraking. It describes reporters who dug into government graft, corporate wrongdoing, and unsafe business practices to reveal them to the public and push for reforms. The term reflects the image of journalists raking through the “muck” of society to uncover hidden problems, not just sensational headlines.

A few famous examples help anchor the concept: Ida Tarbell’s investigations into Standard Oil highlighted monopolistic practices, Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle exposed the harsh realities of the meatpacking industry (helping spur food safety laws), and Lincoln Steffens exposed urban political corruption in his Shame of the Cities. These works were aimed at informing citizens and motivating legislative or regulatory change.

Yellow journalism, by contrast, focused on sensational stories to increase newspaper sales and often sensationalized content rather than systematically exposing misconduct to drive reform. Investigative reporting is the broader modern term for in-depth journalism that can cover many areas, but muckraking specifically refers to that Progressive Era movement focused on reform-minded exposure of corruption. Propaganda journalism isn’t a standard historical label for this phenomenon.