McClure's Magazine And The Muckraking Movement(1893-1911)

At the turn of the 19th and 20th century,with the propelling of the Second Industrial Revolution,the United States began its transformation towards modern society.Durring this time,a large number of social problems emerged and penetrated into all areas of politics,economy and society.A group of journalists began to lash out at social ills,hoping to awaken the social conscience and promote social reform.This movement is known as the Muckraking Movement.The McClure's Magazine,which was founded in 1893,is the leader and main force of this movement.This article is consisted of four parts.The first part of this article will focus on the background of the birth of McClure's Magazine and its development and characteristics,explore the reasons why the magazine has achieved outstanding position in the movement.The second part of the article will conduct monographic studies of the investigative journalism published in McClure's Magazine,summarize the main social issues that the magazine attacked,and explore the reform methods proposed by journalists.The third part of the article will focus on the relationship between the McClure's magazine and the political,social reforms,analyze the ideas behind it.Finally,the article will comment on the position,influence and limitations of the magazine in the Muckraking Movement,explore the inspiration for the media responsibility in the contemporary age.This article argues that the McClure's Magazine tried to promote top-down political reforms and bottom-up social reforms through the disclosure of corporate monopolies,municipal corruption,labor conflicts,racial discrimination and other social issues.Journalists of this magazine mostly inherited Hamiltonism,also guided by morality and Christianity,formed a unified view of reform.Throughout,McClure's Magazine tried to keep an isolated position,relying on the reform ideas of journalists,and prepared the public opinion and blue prints for social reform.This article uses the archive of the McClure magazine and personal autobiography of S.S.McClure and editors of the magazine as primary source,using the method of history,supplemented with the theory of journalism,hoping to conduct a macroscopic research of McClure Magazine.The article will explore the social problems that reflected in the magazine and view the magazine as a collection of ideas dedicated to promoting social reform.It will also conclude the enlightenment for the modern social media.