muckraker

[ muhk-reyk-er ]

noun

1. a person who searches for and tries to expose real or alleged corruption, scandal, or other wrongdoing, especially in politics:

   The original muckrakers were the journalists who exposed child labor, sweatshops, poor living and working conditions, and government inefficiency in the early 20th century.

Word History and Origins

Origin of muckraker¹

muckrake ( def ) + -er ¹( def )

Example Sentences

Greenwald is an itinerant, old-school muckraker, working with small crews, sometimes only himself, to tell stories of oppression and threats to democracy from those who often are not heard.

From Los Angeles Times

David Mitchell, a muckraker whose tiny California newspaper challenged the violent drug rehabilitation cult Synanon and, as a result, became one of only a handful of weeklies to win a Pulitzer Prize, died on Oct.

From New York Times

I suspect future culture historians will view "Soylent Green" in the same manner that they today regard the 1906 novel "The Jungle" by progressive muckraker Upton Sinclair.

From Salon

Ida Tarbell, a pioneering muckraker turned Lincoln biographer, believed they were real.

From Washington Post

His Watergate reporting, with Bob Woodward at The Washington Post, brought down a presidency and inspired a generation of muckrakers.

From New York Times