The History of Muckraking and Why America Needs Them More Than Ever

What America needs right now is a return to the glory days of the muckrakers. Muckrakers became a force to be reckoned with in American because they proved that the pen could be far mightier than the sword or even the dollar. It was Pres. Teddy Roosevelt who gave these rabble-rousing journalists their identifying nickname. Had it not been for these tenacious offspring of the greatest American ever-Thomas Paine-the corrupt politicians and businessmen of the time may well have enjoyed the tremendous freedom from media scrutiny and accountability enjoyed by those in the Bush administration and their masters in the business world.