Question

What was a muckracker

Answer 1

muckrakers were investigative reporters who wrote about corrupted politics.

another word you could use for them could be journalists.

Good Luck! :)

Answer 2

The term muckraker was used in the Progressive Era to characterize reform-minded American journalists who attacked established institutions and leaders as corrupt. ... The term is a reference to a character in John Bunyan's classic Pilgrim's Progress, "the Man with the Muck-rake", who rejected salvation to focus on filth.