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Magazines, Muckraking and Public Relations. 1900-1917 (subject to some revisions). Today ’ s Story. Cheap magazines in the progressive era allowed writers of exposure to place the wrongs of the nation in front of the American people. First: Magazines & Muckraking. Part 2: Public Relations.
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Magazines, Muckraking and Public Relations • 1900-1917 • (subject to some revisions)
Today’s Story • Cheap magazines in the progressive era allowed writers of exposure to place the wrongs of the nation in front of the American people.
Magazines, Muckraking and Public RelationsLearning Objectives • Explain why muckraking began when it did. • Explain uniqueness of muckrakers. • Explain contributions of muckrakers to American society. • Understand the role muckraking played in the development of public relations. • Understand the contributions of Ivy Lee and Edward Bernays to the development of public relations as a profession.
The Progressive Era Introduction to the the Progressive Era
Muckraking Period • Progressive era of American history • Inauguration of Theodore Roosevelt in 1901 until the United States entered World War I in 1917
1900-1917 • Millions of immigrants were living in ghettoes and tenements
1900-1917 • Business tycoons direct industry • One-tenth of the population owned nine-tenths of the wealth • Trust and monopolies dominated business
1900-1917 • Organized wealth dominated politics • Political corruption between big business and political bosses flourished
Samuel McClure • Capitalists, workers, politicians, citizens--all breaking the law, or letting it be broken. Who is left to uphold it?…There is no one left--none but all of us.”
Progressive Era • Concerns with problems of urban America • Curbing excesses of big government through regulation • Reducing political influence of special interests • Fighting racial discrimination
Muckraking Defined • Period, “The Muckraking Period,” named by T.R. • Brand of journalism practiced by the reporter-reformer • Aim was to expose not solve problems of urban America
Rise of Muckraking • Parallels rise of nationally inexpensive magazines • Mechanical costs drop • Photoengraving develops • Readership increases
Uniqueness of the Era • Writers hammered away at all ills of society • Writing was • Factual • Aimed at the social conscience of the nation • To expose not solve problems of urban America
The Muckrakers • Ida Tarbell • Lincoln Steffens • David Graham Phillips • Upton Sinclair
Ida Tarbell: Works • “The Short Life of Napoleon Bonaparte” • “Early Life of Lincoln” • “The History of Standard Oil Company”
“The History of Standard Oil” • Her series of four years capitalized on two interests of Americans: • The infatuation with the rags-to-riches stories of millionaires • The growing increase over the increasing power of trusts and combinations in big business
“The History of Standard Oil” • Exposed the illegal or at least underhanded practices that Standard Oil used to drive competitors out of business • Found that Standard Oil’s PR agency had contracted with 110 Ohio newspapers to run editorials and “news” favorable to the company
Ida Tarbell: Impacts • Prompted investigations of Standard Oil • Lead to the 1911 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that dissolved the giant corporation into smaller companies • Rockefeller responded by hiring PR counsels
Lincoln Steffens • Epitomized the reporter-reformer
Lincoln Steffens • Wrote • “Tweed Days in St. Louis” • “The Shame of Minneapolis” • Works compiled in The Shame of the Cities
Lincoln Steffens • Examined the structure of city politics • Found corruption was political, financial, commercial, and social • Businessmen colluded with politicians to secure privileges from government
David Graham Phillips • Employed at Hearst’s Cosmopolitan • Wrote “Treason of the Senate”
David Graham Phillips • Nobody in the U.S. Senate had any other reason to be there than his skill in being a valet for some powerful interest • Result: the 17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
Upton Sinclair • Greatest novelist of our time? • Sharpest observer of our time? • Dullest, empty windbag of our time?
Upton Sinclair • A different kind of character • Most translated author in the world • Ignored by academics • Novelist turns politician
Upton Sinclair • Wrote The Jungle • Result: The Meat Inspection Act of 1906
Upton Sinclair’s Race for Governor of California The birth of modern political campaigns in the United States
Ray Stanndard Baker • Wrote “Railroads on Trial” for McClure’s
Ray Stanndard Baker • Result: The Hepburn Act of 1906 • Authorized the Interstate Commerce Commission to tighten railroad regulations • ICC could prescribe rates and schedule tariffs when required • Imposed severe penalties on railroad rebating and unjust discrimination against shippers
Edwin Markham • Wrote “The Hoe-Man in the Making”
Edwin Markham • Result: Child Labor Law of 1916 • Exclude from interstate transportation products of factories that employed children.
William Hard • Wrote “Making Steel and Killing Men” • Result: Workmen’s Compensation Law
Barton J. Hendrick • Wrote “Daughters of the Poor” for McClure’s • Result: Mann Act of 1909 • Prohibited the transportation of females across state lines for immoral purposes
Samuel Hopkins Adams • Wrote “The Great American Fraud” (patent medicines) for Collier’s • Result: Pure Food & Drug Act of 1907 • Penalized fraud and misstatements in labeling.
Decline of Muckraking • Attention turned to World War I • Wilson’s new freedom solved concerns • Advertisers withdrew support • Public grew tired • Muckrakers went too far • Magazines forced into bankruptcy • PR unsold everything
Next Magazines, Muckraking and Public Relations Part 2