In the early 20th century, muckrakers were able to influence American society mainly by 4. exposing corruption in business and government. These muckrakers (whose name comes from the idea of raking muck or gunk) were oftentimes reporters writing at a period of unprecedented press production and distribution. With that, they were able to write about corruption and rest assured it would be read by a great number of people who would then speak up against the corruption.
