扒糞記者

《麥克盧爾》McClure's Magazine (cover, Jan, 1901)著名的「扒糞」刊物

扒糞記者（英語：muckraker）也稱做扒糞運動、黑幕揭發記者、黑幕揭發運動，是指美國19世紀末20世紀初掀起的一股新聞報導浪潮，一些記者和報刊致力於深入調查報導黑幕，揭發醜聞，對社會陰暗面進行揭示。其名稱源於西奧多·羅斯福總統的一次演講。此演講中，羅斯福將20世紀初一批致力於揭醜爆料、暴露、煽情等報導的記者，比作英國作家約翰·班揚小說《天路歷程》中的一個反派人物，他從不仰望天空，只是手拿糞耙，埋頭打掃地上的穢物。但是被批評的揭醜記者卻不以為然，反而欣然接受這個稱號。後來，人們便將這種新聞及報導這些新聞的記者和報刊稱為扒糞運動、扒糞記者、扒糞報刊等，就如同人們將赫斯特報刊的煽情報導稱為黃色新聞一樣。

代表

代表刊物

• 《麥克盧爾》(McClure's Magazine)
• 《世界主義者》(Cosmopolitan)
• 《柯里爾》(Collier's)

文章及作者

• 《城市之恥》 - 林肯·史蒂芬斯
• 《美孚石油公司的歷史》 - 艾達·M·塔貝爾(Ida M.Tarbell)
• 《屠場》 - 厄普頓·辛克萊(美國小說家)。此文描寫了芝加哥一家肉類加工廠令人作嘔的罐頭加工過程的黑幕，成為扒糞運動中第一部小說。

西奧多·羅斯福演講原文

Theodore Roosevelt Describes the Muckrakers, 1906

"In Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress" you may recall the description of the Man with the Muck-rake, the man who could look no way but downward, with the muck-rake in his hand; who was offered a celestial crown for his muck-rake, but who would neither look up nor regard the crown he was offered, but continued to rake to himself the filth of the floor.

In "Pilgrim's Progress" the Man with the Muckrake is set forth as the example of him whose vision is fixed on carnal instead of on spiritual things. Yet he also typifies the man who in this life consistently refuses to see aught that is lofty, and fixes his eyes with solemn intentness only on that which is vile and debasing. Now, it is very necessary that we should not flinch from seeing what is vile and debasing. There is filth on the floor, and it must be scraped up with the muck-rake; and there are times and places where this service is the most needed of all the services that can be performed. But the man who never does anything else, who never thinks or speaks or writes, save of his feats with the muck-rake, speedily becomes, not a help to society, not an incitement to good, but one of the most potent forces for evil.

There are, in the body politic, economic and social, many and grave evils, and there is urgent necessity for the sternest war upon them. There should be relentless exposure of and attack upon every evil man whether politician or business man, every evil practice, whether in politics, in business, or in social life. I hail as a benefactor every writer or speaker, every man who, on the platform, or in book, magazine, or newspaper, with merciless severity makes such attack, provided always that he in his turn remembers that the attack is of use only if it is absolutely truthful.

影響和評價

扒糞記者所掀起的黑幕揭發運動在美國歷史上掀起了一次浪潮，被視為第四權利的重要體現。記者無冕之王的地位再次被鞏固。在一定程度上對美國社會空氣的淨化起到了非常巨大而正面的影響。與此同時產生的連續性報導和深入報導在美國媒體上得到傳承，其報導方式和關注點對美國新聞界影響巨大。