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You are here: Home / Language / What Does the Term “Muckraker” Mean and Where Did the Word Come From?

What Does the Term “Muckraker” Mean and Where Did the Word Come From?

March 20, 2020 by Karen Hill

When President Teddy Roosevelt called the reporters who exposed political and corporate corruption “muckrakers,” the term caught on and is now used to describe tabloid journalism.

Muck is manure, and the word was borrowed from John Bunyons’s book Pilgrim’s Progress.

A man, even though he had been promised a celestial crown, constantly kept his eyes and his muck rake on the filth of the floor instead of looking only to his halo.

Someone who exposes political corruption called a “muckraker”.

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Filed Under: Language

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

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