← Scoopfeeds — Intelligent news, curated.
When a Journalist Took on Corruption, He Used a Tool That Hadn’t Been Used Much in American History: the Unvarnished Truth
publications

When a Journalist Took on Corruption, He Used a Tool That Hadn’t Been Used Much in American History: the Unvarnished Truth

Smithsonian · Jun 11, 2026, 10:00 AM · Also reported by 1 other source

Lincoln Steffens was a reporter so dogged that political party bosses called him a “born crook that’s gone straight.” He and his fellow muckrakers redefined modern journalism

Read full story on Smithsonian → More top stories

Also covered by

The Atlantic A Moment of Truth for American Grass

More in publications

Smithsonian
A Moment of Divine Inspiration Helped Melvil Dewey Bring Obsessive Order to the Infinitely Disorganized Stacks in the Library
NY Times
The World Cup
NY Times
Trump Shrugs Off Surging Inflation, and Why a Groundbreaking Social Media Ban Is Floundering
The New Yorker
This Summer’s Hottest Audiobooks for Dogs
The New Yorker
Was Ray Howell Responsible for His Crimes?
Aggregated and edited by the Scoop newsroom. We surface news from Smithsonian alongside other reporting so you can compare coverage in one place. Editorial policy · Corrections · About Scoop