The purpose of the Muckrakers is to attack the established institutions and leaders as corrupt. They are journalists that usually have large audiences in popular magazines or journals. Nowadays, they are known as investigative journalists.
In the early 20th century, during the era known as The Progressive Era Period, a group of Muckrakers tried to visibilize that poor labor conditions, urban poverty, prostitution and child labor were and important and left aside issues in the american society.
Two of the most popular Muckrakers in the early 20th century were Upton Sinclair and Fremont Older. The first wrote very controversial fiction about established institutions and America's social issues, and Older wrote as well about San Francisco corruption and about Tom Mooney's case.
