The term muckrakers was used to refer to reformist American journalists who attacked political leaders and instutions for their corrupt practices during the Progressive Era. Most of these journalists were popular due to their publications in popular magazines.
<u>Lincoln Steffens and Claude Wetmore wrote an article about St Louis in 1902 in McClure's Magazine. </u>
They wrote about how paradoxical was that people constinously showed pride in St Louis, and how this contrasted with the awful image of the city. They pointed out how people in St. Louis claimed to have very wealthy inhabitants, together with the best banks, industries, etc., but how at first sight it was possible to observe uncared-for streets, dirty alleys, a filthy hospital, the unfinished construction repairs in the town hall, etc.
