American novelist and journalist Upton Sinclair (1878-1968) was best known for his book The Jungle, which exposed unsanitary conditions in American meat-packing plants in 1901. During the first decade of the twentieth century, Sinclair was associated with a circle of investigative reporters called "muckrakers," because they exposed the seamier (unwholesome) side of American life. Muckrakers are considered to have been excellent reporters who thoroughly researched their stories and based their reports on provable facts. Nevertheless, President Roosevelt lumped those writers with more sensationalistic journalists who wrote stories without presenting evidence to back their claims.

The term "muckraker," was, in fact, coined by President Roosevelt in a colorful speech he gave on April 15, 1906 (see Theodore Roosevelt primary source entry in volume 3). Quoting from Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan, he labeled journalists who focused their reporting on the seamier side of American life...