Talk:Muckraker

Michael Moore

Could Noam Chomsky be considered a muckracker? - sandiego4

Michael Moore didn't make it onto the combined list. Is this deliberate? --KF 17:25 13 Jun 2003 (UTC)

As the article states Muckrakers "serve the public interest" but unlike the Man with the Muckrake, from John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, the text quotes President Roosevelt warning muckrakers to pursue their claims, "...with merciless severity makes such attack, provided always that he in his turn remembers that the attack is of use only if it is absolutely truthful."

Hopefully this clears up any lingering confusion as to the "deliberate" failure to draw any parallels between Michael Moore's work and that of a Muckraker.

(from another user).... hmmm, god forbid somebody puts out a "biased" documentary. and please, enough with the "mask his true agenda" stuff, the dude might be misguided but hes not out to kill you.

Wow - that long and unsigned diatribe really was SO helpful in explaining why MM is not a muckracker...NOT! Plently of other Muckrackers accepted praise and financial reward from those who agreed with their desire to expose that which they felt was unjust. Upton Sinclair's profits from The Jungle essentially financed his future works. I would welcome a more reasonable wikipedian to wigh in on this issue and tell us why Michael Moore is or isn't a muckracker. Just leave your POV at the door thank you.Lisapollison 19:37, 7 November 2006 (UTC)

I'm with you on that. MM belongs. Why can't he be added?

As a teacher in a public school . . . in Michigan . . . Michael Moore was a journalist with a small Flint paper, called the Flint Voice which later became the Michigan Voice, he also went to work for Mother Jones. One could look at his early work to determine if he is 1) a journalist, and 2) if he fits the defination of a Muckraker. Personally, I don't see him as a crazy Socialist zealot, franky he makes a lot of money, has a nice place in Traverse City and doesn't live the life of a somebody trying to take away the American dream of earning $. Is he trying to expose coruption, un-ethical behavior of corporate America or our government by using film or TV? I'd say yes, which frankly puts him in the camp of a a Muckraker. Frankly, Jesus should be listed as a Muckraker too, afterall he tried to show people the corruption of greed, materialism, government officals and some people in the business class, so Michael Moore is in good company and I'd give him a thumbs up vote for Muckraker. But what do I know, I'm just an American History teacher. -Thinking Late-

MM belongs on the list for the very reason that he is the quintessential 21st century muckraker (truth-challenged and all). And for that same reason Drudge does not belong here. I'll try to dig up my old notes on this from J-school and add some sources. I actually studied it for a semester. Stop the revisionism. This is ridiculous.Konastephen (talk) 21:17, 5 August 2010 (UTC)

A lot of the classic muckrakers were selfish hypocrites, so yeah, by that standard, let's throw Michael Moore in there! 2600:1702:1C60:8AB0:E04E:3A0F:27CB:7665 (talk) 23:03, 25 August 2024 (UTC)

Early muckraking of insane asylum

Two Years and Four Months in a Lunatic Asylum by Rev. H. Chase from 1868 predates the asylum muckraking works listed in the article.

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/46179 ~2026-31965-48 (talk) 07:24, 30 May 2026 (UTC)

It does, but it was a memoir of a man who was forcibly committed after a mental decline, not an example of investigatory journalism. Schazjmd (talk) 12:38, 30 May 2026 (UTC)