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| 'Remington Standard No.7' http://www.flickr.com/photos/19487674@N00/3769550295 |
"Your names shall be immortal"
- Man from Wisconsin
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I wonder what bed-time stories would have been like, had I grown up at the turn of the 20th century. Would they still end with the super-hero saving all of man-kind from evil, with his lightning fast speed and, well, his super hero strength? Or would they simply end with the swift banging of keys on a typewriter?
I believe the latter would be the case. And rather than The Avengers, America was even more lucky, because they had The Fourth Estate Super Hero League. Some of the journalists/ heros who were members of this fictional super hero league were Lincoln Steffens, Ida Tarbell, Samuel Hopkins Adams, David Graham Philips, and Upton Sinclair, just to name a few. Their victory over evil will and has gone down in history.
"These progressive warriors exposed a stunning variety of crimes
Without these journalists so many wrongdoings would have been left uncovered. Their fight to give human kind the true knowledge they deserved, changed journalism forever. Unfortunately, we have in some ways reverted back to not telling the whole truth for fear of the consequences. We just hope someone else will do it for us. We must not fear consequences when we are trying to do what is right. We must make the change.
As the great John Mayer says:
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| http://nieonline.com/grandjunction/images/muckrakersSerialStory.jpg |
I believe the latter would be the case. And rather than The Avengers, America was even more lucky, because they had The Fourth Estate Super Hero League. Some of the journalists/ heros who were members of this fictional super hero league were Lincoln Steffens, Ida Tarbell, Samuel Hopkins Adams, David Graham Philips, and Upton Sinclair, just to name a few. Their victory over evil will and has gone down in history.
"These progressive warriors exposed a stunning variety of crimes
against democracy. They reported the rampant misdeeds of greedy
industrialists and grafting politicians--from the local level
all the way to the U.S. senate...Other reporters revealed the vast differences
between fraudulent claims of patent medicines and the actual contents
of the products, and still others exposed the unsanitary techniques
used in preparing foods"
industrialists and grafting politicians--from the local level
all the way to the U.S. senate...Other reporters revealed the vast differences
between fraudulent claims of patent medicines and the actual contents
of the products, and still others exposed the unsanitary techniques
used in preparing foods"
- Rodger Streitmatter
The man responsible for exposing the unsanitary techniques in preparing foods, Upton Sinclair, is one of the most noted muckrakers of that time. His series of reports titled The Jungle gave the public an understanding of where their food was really coming from.
Without these journalists so many wrongdoings would have been left uncovered. Their fight to give human kind the true knowledge they deserved, changed journalism forever. Unfortunately, we have in some ways reverted back to not telling the whole truth for fear of the consequences. We just hope someone else will do it for us. We must not fear consequences when we are trying to do what is right. We must make the change.
As the great John Mayer says:
Now we see everything that's going wrong
With the world and those who lead it
We just feel like we don't have the means
To rise above and beat it
So we keep waiting
Waiting on the world to change
We keep on waiting
Waiting on the world to change
It's hard to beat the system
When we're standing at a distance
So we keep waiting
Waiting on the world to change
With the world and those who lead it
We just feel like we don't have the means
To rise above and beat it
So we keep waiting
Waiting on the world to change
We keep on waiting
Waiting on the world to change
It's hard to beat the system
When we're standing at a distance
So we keep waiting
Waiting on the world to change
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