Standards of Journalism
Although journalists gained more influence in the 1800s, as newspapers started circulating to all parts of the United States, female journalists rarely made the front page.
newspaper circulation
Many newspapers became very popular, including Pulitzer's New York World.
"The 1890s were the years when a florid Victorian style was overthrown by a new 'realistic' aesthetic....Writers and artists rebelled against...Victorian culture and sought to live objectively... without idealization or avoiding the ugly." |
Newspapers revolutionized their readers' connection to the world, giving journalists a new, important role. "[It is] dedicated to the cause of the people...[and] expose all fraud and sham, fight all public evils and abuses...[and] serve and battle for the people." |
muckraking
President Theodore Roosevelt coined the term "muckraker" in his 1906 speech "The Man With the Muck Rake" in order to describe Bly and her counterparts.
"Now, it is very necessary that we should not flinch from seeing what is vile and debasing. There is filth on the floor, and it must be scraped up with the muck rake; and there are times and places where this service is the most needed of all the services that can be performed."
-President Roosevelt
Contrary to the norms of the time, muckraking journalists took social responsibility to expose corruption and injustices.
Progressive Muckrakers
Muckraking journalists assisted Progressives by exposing societal issues to the public.
"Muckraking climb[ed] its way up the levels of public interest...[It] became an outlet in which to speak out but also proved a progressive tool for change because it spread information to the everyday person."
-Cecelia Tichi, Exposés and Excess: Muckraking in America
Muckraker Jacob Riis published "How The Other Half Lives," a series of photos from the 1880's.
Progressives used his work as a way to fuel theirs. "The reformers' problem was to rouse the public from its lethargy, make consciences uneasy, and stir genial good will into enthusiasm for social betterment." |
female journalism
Often, women were made to write only about fashion, gardening, or superficial topics.
"Most women wrote for what was called 'The Women's Page,' that showed the kinds of stories...women supposedly liked...and that women reporters would be best at."
-Matthew Goodman, author of Eighty Days
"This dress is the color styled cheveux de la reine...printed in a very rich black design."
-Example of women writing in Godey's Fashions for July 1864