AMERICAN Journalism

F^^ AMERICAN Journalism The publication of the American Journalism Historians Association Volume II (1985) Number 1 t1> AMERICAN JOURNALISM solicits manuscripts throughout the year. Articles are "blind" judged by three readers chosen from the Editorial Board oi Ammcan Journalism for their expertise in the particular subject matter of the articles. On matters of documen- tation and style, American Journalism follows the MLA Handbook- Authors are asked to do the same. They should submit a bibliography as well as footnotes. Four copies of a manuscript should be mailed to the following address: Wm. David Sloan Editor, American Journalism School of G)mmunication University of Alabama University, AL 35486 If the author wishes to have the manuscript returned, he or she should include a self-addressed manila envelope with adequate postage. Inquiries on all matters should be directed to American Journalism's editorial and business offices in the School of G>mmunication at the University of Alabama. Copyright 1985, American Journalism Historians Association AMERICAN Journalism The publication of the American Journalism Historians Association Volume 11 (1985), Number 1 PUBLISHED TWICE A YEAR BY THE ASSOCIATION AMERICAN JOURNALISM EDITOR: Wm. David Sloan, Alabama ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Gary Whitby, Southern Illinois ASSISTANT EDITOR: Johanna Cleary, Alabama BOOK REVIEW EDITOR: Roy Alden Atwood, Idaho GRAPHICS AND DESIGN EDITOR: Sharon M. W. Bass, Kansas DIRECTOR OF PROMOTION: Donald Avery, Alabama ADVISORY BOARD Donald Avery, Alabama Joseph McKerns, Virginia Commonwealth Maurine Beasley, Maryland Russell Blaine Nye, Michigan State Douglas Birkhead, Louisiana State Darwin Payne, Southern Methodist James Carey, ///mow Sam Riley, Virginia Polytechnic Lewis Gould, Texas Kenneth Starck, Iowa }eH Henderson, Central Arkansas James D. Startt, Valparaiso Sidney Kobre (retired) EDITORIAL BOARD Dave Anderson, Northern Colorado; Douglas A. Anderson, Arizona State; Anantha Babbili, Texas Christian; Warren E. Barnard, Indiana State; ]ohn Behrens, Utica of Syracuse; Sherilyn C. Bennion, Humboldt State; Dave Berkman, Wisconsin- Milwaukee; Margaret A, Blanchard, North Carolina; ]axnes Bow, Kent State; Pamela A. Brown, Rider; Michael Buchholz, Texas A& M; Earl L. Conn, Ball State; Anne Cooper, Mary Baldwin; Harold Davis, Georgia State;]o\\n De Mott, Memphis State; Wallace B. Eberhard, Georgia; R. Ferrell Ervin, Norfolk State; Lynn Ganger, Southern Illinois; Thelma Gorham, Florida A ' M; Dennie Hall, Central (Okla.) State; William Huntzicker, Wisconsin-River Falls; Terry Hynes, California State-Fullerlon; Arthur J. Kaul, Southern Mississippi; Lauren Kessler, Oregon; Jim King, Northeast Missouri; Frank Krompak, Toledo; Robert Lance, Arizona State; Bob Lawrence, New Mexico; Deryl R. Learning, Marshall; Alfred L. Lorenz, Loyola of the South; William McKeen, Oklahoma; William McReynolds, Colorado; Charles H. Marler, Abilene (Tex.) Christian; Carolyn Marvin, Pennslyvania; Christine Miller, Loyola of the South; William Ray Mofield, Murray State; Sharon M. Murphy, Marquette; Michael Murray, Missouri-Sl. Louis; Edward A. Nickerson, Delaware; John Pauly, Wisconsin- Milwaukee; Alf Pratte, Brigham young; Jan C. Robbins, Northern Iowa; Nancy L. Roberts, Minnesota; Thomas A. Schwartz, Ohio State; Michael D. Sherer, Nebraska- Omaha; Linda Steiner, Governors (III.) State; Reg Westmoreland, North Texas State (on leave at Pepperdine); Phyllis Zagano EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS: Debbie Wilkinson, Valarie McCrary, Sanjay Saxena, Tomi McCutcheon, Mary Sue Benken Editorial and Business offices: School of Communication, University of Alabama, University, AL 35486 AMERICAN Journalism Volume II (1985) Number 1 5 The Muckraking Books of Pearson, Allen, and Anderson By Douglas A . Anderson 22 A Newspaper Analysis of the John Brown Raid By Lloyd Chiasson 37 The "Blue Book" and Charles Siepmann — as Reported in Broadcasting Magazine By Dave Berkman 49 The Absence of the First Amendment in Schenck v. United States: A Reexamination ByJeremy Cohen 65 Ke Alaka'i: The Leadership Role of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin in the Hawaiian Statehood Movement By Alf Pratt e 79 The Professional Communicator as a Symbolic Figure ByJohnJ. Pauly 93 Book Reviews The Muckraking Books of Pearson, Allen, and Anderson By Douglas A. Anderson Muckraking - possibly defined most succinctly as "reform journalism" that exposes faults in American society - has been categorized as a "cyclical" tradition.^ In a speech on April 14, 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt applied the "muckraking" label to crusading journalists.'^ The label became firmly affixed to the reform journaUsts of the day, "whether or not they deserved the odium explicit in the President's application of the epithet."^ Judson A. Grenier defined Progressive Era muckrakers as those "who participated in the expose movement... by writing investigatory articles for mass-circulation magazines and newspapers."* Louis Filler wrote that "the crux of muckraking was the realistic analysis of the deeper maladjustments of society."^ This same historian pointed out that muckraking has two reputations: "significant exposure without fear or favor, on one side, and of shabby and malicious rumor-mongering, on the other."* John M. Harrison and Harry H. Stein wrote: "Some have argued that the definition of muckraking depends on the political and ideological sympathies of those who do the defining."^ The writers continued: Muckraking has evoked strong, even visceral reactions because it has dealt with the kinds of issues in this century — prison conditions, abuse of political office, and economic exploitation, for instance — that nearly guarantee such evocations.^ Roosevelt applied the label "muckraking" in a derogatory manner, but perceptions of the term have fluctuated. According to Grenier: Invective slipped from its syllables, connotations of evil faded and disappeared. Raking the muck on Rooseveltian conditions DOUGLAS A. ANDERSON (Ph. D., Journalism, Southern IlHnois University) is associate professor of journaHsm at Arizona State University. He is the author of A "Washington Merry- GoRound" of Libel Actions, Electronic News Editing, Contemporary News Reporting, and Contemporary Sports Reporting. He has authored articles that have appeared in Journalism Quarterly, Newspaper Researchjournal, and other scholarly and professional journals. American Journalism II (1985): 1 (commercial gain, pursuit of the devil) gave way to a name summing up the entire expose movement, the good with the bad. It remained for the magazine writers themselves to accept the term, and like the contemporary advertising specialist to em- phasize the positive aspects.' Muckraking during the twentieth century's first decade commanded much attention, but articles of investigative exposure still abound. Muckraking was widely practiced during its classical period of 1902-1912. It waned, but oc- casionally was found in the 1920s. Revived during the Depression, it existed on a small but noticeable scale after World War II, and gained increasing attention during the social unrest of the 1960s and Watergate revelations and political scandals of the 1970s.*" Historians have emphasized that during periods of perceived prosperity, like the 1920s, muckraking is not likely to flourish." The reform spirit was kindled during the 1930s, however, partially through the efforts of syndicated columnists Drew Pearson and Robert S. Allen. '^ One writer capsulized the importance of the "Washington Merry-Go-Round" column in keeping the muckraking spirit alive during this bleak period: Mixing gossip and muckraking, the columns and broadcasts of Drew Pearson from the 1930s onward achieved considerable public influence despite mild support from the mass media and mass audiences for muck-raking.'^ The Progressive Era muckrakers wrote on a variety of themes; the most pervasive centered upon "big business,'"* government,*^ and consumer protection.'* These themes, still apparent in the writings of reporters of investigative exposure today,'' have been a staple of the "Merry-Go-Round" since the column was launched more than a half century ago. Pearson, for example, called for Medicare, better meat inspection, oil pipeline safety, and health warnings for cigarettes — all before these causes became fashionale. He used the "Merry-Go-Round" to push for legislation he favored. Pearson even carried his influence one step further: he often instructed his legmen to "warn (congressional) committee members of reprisals if they voted wrong."'* His work fits solidly into the muckraking tradition. Time magazine, shortly after World War II, said Pearson's "brand of ruthless, theatrical, crusading, high-voltage hypodermic journalism" had made him "the most intensely feared and hated man in Washington." The magazine also noted that, "Like oldtime muckrakers Lincoln Steffens and Ida M. Tarbell, Pearson hates wickedness. But these reformers had more time to draw a bead on it, and never needed, or thought they needed, seven sen- sations a week to stay in business."" When Pearson died in 1969, the New York Times editorialized: Drew Pearson was a descendent of the tradition made feared and famous by such earlier practitioners as Lincoln Steffens and Upton Sinclair. For 36 years until his death at 71, his column adapted the untiring and often merciless skill of investigative Muckraking Books political reporting, known popularly as muckraking, to the modern idiom of the insider's gossip.^" Anderson once wrote of his predecessor: "Of all the names he

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