Chapter 6 MUCKRAKING

Muckraking is a part of journalism that exposes the misdeeds and corruption of big businesses or government to the public. By revealing the wrongdoings, society will be more democratic, and citizens will be freed from monopoly and corrupt government, and to be self-governing. Lincoln Steffens, S.S. McClure, Ida Tarbell and several other muckrakers are the forerunners of the muckraking journalism, and they have revealed the corruption of local government leaders, senators, Standard Oil Company, the meat packing industries, and other big businesses. Without these muckrakers, society will be controlled by dictators and monopolists. Once citizens acknowledge these wrongdoings and have full information about the potential dangers that investigative journalists have exposed, they will protest and ask government and businesses to reform.
The New York Times article “BP Faces Record Fine for ’05 Refinery Explosion” by Steven Greenhouse said that the BP Oil Company is fined again by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, OSHA, “after a 2005 explosion that killed 15 workers at its Texas City, Tex. Refinery”. According to The New York Times’ documents, the BP Oil Company didn’t correct and improve its safety hazards since the last explosion, and there’re more violations that the company had. With the Times has revealed this information to the public, the public awareness will arouse. The public wants the BP Oil Company to be more compliant with OSHA. Otherwise, there will be another explosion. The muckraking doesn’t only focus on exposing big business company’s wrongdoing, but also it also reveals the poor quality of the food, medicine, and so on.