Investigative journalism is something we take for granted today. But early in the twentieth century it was just developing as a facet of journalism—one seeded by the fierce desire to expose corruption and foment change. Ann Bausum profiles the emergence of investigative journalism through the work of three pioneers in the field: Ida Tarbell, Upton Sinclair, and Lincoln Steffens. Steffens laid bare political corruption in St. Louis, Minneapolis, and other cities; Tarbell took on the Rockefeller family and the monopoly of Standard Oil that trod on smaller businesses and workers; Sinclair exposed the terrible conditions in the meatpacking industry, hoping to improve the plight of its workers (instead his work horrified the American public about unsanitary food and inspired food safety legislation). Bausum also touches upon the work of other journalists, as well as groundbreaking editors at magazines such as McClure’s who supported and published their work. Brief accounts of key events and individuals in the history of investigative journalism, from the mid-eighteenth century though today, end this eye-opening volume. (Ages 11–15)

Hold the presses Here's the sensational story of the birth of investigative journalism in America. At the turn of the 20th century, news reporters and monthly magazines collaborate to create a new kind of journalism--in-depth, serialized expos s of corporate, labor, and political corruption. Many of these stories become instant bestsellers in book format: books like The Jungle, Upton Sinclair's classic account of corruption in the meat-packing industry.

Ann Bausum's dramatic narrative follows a generation of dedicated journalists who force responsible changes in industry and politics as America thrives. Muckrakers is the inside story of public-spirited journalism right through its evolution, with profiles of latter-day practitioners like Woodward and Bernstein and today's Internet bloggers.

Ann Bausum's storytelling savvy will engage and inspire young people to cherish age-old values such as truth and public accountability. Muckrakers is the scoop on American journalism.

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