Theodore Teddy Roosevelt, president of the United States from 1901-1908, nicknamed these investigative reporters muckrakers. He adopted the term from John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, in which a profligate was used to dig up garbage and muck. The term caught on, and many journalists were proud to be recognized as muckrakers. Muckraker was used in the Progressive Era to distinguish reform-minded American journalists who criticized established organizations and leaders as dishonest. Investigative journalists view the muckrakers as early influences and a succession of watchdog journalism.
Individual rights are explained in the constitution as inalienable and granted upon birth by our creator, while a balanced government is seen in the checks and balances system with three branches to control each other and prevent others from gaining too much power.
