What Role Did Media Play in Bringing About and Fueling the Progressive Movement?

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What role did media play in bringing about and fueling the Progressive Movement? Assigned Topic: Urban Reform and the Progressive Movement Group 5 Jocelyn Collins Jabari Campbell Bryantt Pannell Andrea Jenkins Natasha Abraham Jonathan Young Professor Freels Research Paper #1 History 1430-LD03 September 30, 2012 Group Five September 30, 2012 Research Paper #1 History 1430-LD03 Freels Urban Reform and The Progressive Movement: What role did media play in bringing about and fueling the Progressive Movement? The Progressive Movement in the US was ignited as a result of the rise in industrialization and subsequent growth of major cities in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. As people moved to cities to seek jobs and a better way of life, they encountered the ails of urbanization including but not limited to: inadequate housing, unemployment, low wages, poor working conditions, class warfare, political corruption, and limited civil liberties. In this era, enterprising journalists, savvy political parties, and politicians, in order to promote reforms, brought to the attention of the American public the ails of urbanization. Media attention led to the growth of the reform movement in urban centers nationwide. Indeed, the media brought about the Progressive Movement with the advent of investigative journalism, fueled the Progressive Movement, and made lasting effects that reverberates way into the early 20th century. Progressives increasingly used scientific investigation (i.e. scientific method) to gather information about required reforms. As a result, they became more effective in advocating for reforms that changed public policy for the better. With the growing phenomena of this approach, more journalists adopted this style of journalism that became known as “muckraking.” These journalists were commonly referred
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