Which term describes a journalist who exposed corruption and abuses in society through investigative reporting?

• A. Journalists
• B. Propagandists
• C. Muckraker
• D. Correspondents

Answer: (C)

The term describes a journalist who exposed corruption and abuses through investigative reporting. In the Progressive Era, reporters who dug into political and corporate wrongdoing to reveal social ills were known as muckrakers. They aimed to spur reform by bringing hidden abuses to light, with famous examples like Ida Tarbell’s work on Standard Oil, Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle on the meatpacking industry, and Lincoln Steffens’s exposes of political corruption.

Journalists is too broad a label; propagandists are those who push a particular viewpoint, often with biased or misleading information; correspondents are reporters stationed in a location who cover events, not necessarily focused on investigative reform. The word muckraker specifically captures the idea of investigative exposure of corruption to prompt change.