Global Muckraking: Investigative Journalism and Global Media by Anya Schiffrin. (Free Columbia University MOOC)
From the webpage:
About this course
Using examples of investigative and crusading journalism from Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe, this course will help you understand how raising public awareness can create political and social change.
This course is a fast-paced introduction to global muckraking, past and present, and includes penetrating interviews with historians and investigative journalists.
Join us to discover the vital role that journalism has played in fighting injustice and wrongdoing over the last 100 years and delve into the current trends reshaping investigative reporting in the digital age.
What you’ll learn
- How journalists can act as government and corporate watchdogs
- The hard and soft pressures on investigative journalism
- Stories of prominent reporters uncovering injustice from the late 19th century to today
- Trends in media innovation
American Exceptionalism is mainstream in US journalism.
Consider the first line of this course description:
Using examples of investigative and crusading journalism from Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe, ….
What? No mention of the class-based corruption, which is preferred by American policy makers over the “corrupt” quid-pro-quo corruption of other countries?
No mention of quid-pro-quo corruption in the US, which resulted in four of the last seven governors of Illinois going to jail. (As of 2012. It hasn’t been long enough to convict another governor of Illinois. Question of when, not if.)
Journalists in foreign countries deserve all the support they can be given.
At the same time, “injustice and wrongdoing” aren’t limited to “over there.”
Anyone who chooses to look, will see injustice and wrongdoing much closer to home.
That said, a history of investigative and crusading journalism may inspire you to take up the banner.
Enjoy!