Which term best fits investigative reporting aimed at exposing wrongdoing?

• A. Public relations
• B. Muckraking
• C. Sunshine laws
• D. Reporter's privilege

Answer: (B)

Muckraking is the term that fits investigative reporting aimed at exposing wrongdoing. It reflects a tradition in which journalists dig beneath the surface to uncover corruption, abuses, and social injustices with the goal of prompting reform. This approach became prominent in the Progressive Era, with famous examples like Ida Tarbell’s exposure of Standard Oil, Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle revealing unsafe conditions in meatpacking, and Lincoln Steffens’s portraits of political corruption in cities.

Public relations, by contrast, is about shaping and managing how organizations present themselves to the public, not about uncovering wrongdoing. Sunshine laws are about providing access to government records and information to promote transparency, which supports investigations but is not the act of investigative reporting itself. Reporter's privilege is a legal protection for journalists to shield sources, a tool within reporting, not a label for the investigative approach aimed at exposing misconduct.