Stories That Changed America by Carl Jensen - Book Report/Review Example

of the paper: About the Carl Jensen is a renowned Editor holding a PhD from Sonoma University. He is a founder, national judge and director of Project Censured. In addition, he is Award-winning author of censored yearbooks (1989-1996). He formerly worked as daily newspaper reporter, advertising copywriter, account supervisor, creative director, and vice president with BBDO (Jensen 2000, 1-3). As a writer and editor, Jensen knows very well that despite the obstacles, there will always be some crusading individuals who will be willing to make both financial and personal sacrifices, so as to expose the tricks, the crimes and the swindles. Jensen reveals in the book that he was raised on Horatio Alger and Tom Swift. He saw the country the greatest war and survives the worst economic depression of all times. These experiences gave him the motivation and optimism with which to observe life. This prompted him to believe it is possible to overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles, and that there is always a solution to every problem that encounters us (Jensen 1997, 1-5). Highly informative and exuberantly written, Jensen’s Stories That Changed America examines the work of 21 investigative writers and indicate how their adore efforts helped change USA. In the book you will encounter with great American citizens such as environmentalist Rachel Carson, Margaret Sanger; the former nurse who is associated with the term “birth control”, Malcolm X; African American activist; Ralph Nader, consumer advocate; George Seldes, the most censured American Journalist; John Steinback Noble Prize-Winning novelist and many more. In this book, Jensen describes those who dedicated their lives to fight against civil, social, environmental and political oppressions with their mighty pens. Jensen expands his theme in the book to cover a century of muckrakers. He represents these 21 writers as the pioneers of muckraking and complements the brief excerpts from their work using short biographies (Jensen 1997, 13-15). The book mainly focuses on the journalists and writers who made some sacrifices in order to make a difference through their writing. However, the main thesis of the book is that: problems and challenges are part of life, but with the right people and mind in place, these problems can have a lasting solution. Those who are wiling to make any kind of sacrifice in order to make a positive difference in the society should be encouraged to do so. The best way to fight the evils of Corporate America is to unearth and criticize those evils (Jensen 2000, 205-215). The authors in the book Upton Sinclair The end of the 19th century was a time of prosperity and excess for the power elite in America. By 1860, the country had three American millionaires; however, by 1901 the number had risen to 3,800. Corporate America ruled the nation with few regulations and little government monitoring. It never took a great insight to identify that electoral fraud, unsafe, poverty; monopolistic practices, child labor exploitation, segregation and civil rights violations were leading to the breakdown of the society. A group of men and women reacted to these malpractices and made their voice heard as they challenge these wealthy individuals who were disintegrating the society. One of these great men was Upton Sinclair (Jensen 2000, 54-60). Through his writings, he exposed economic and political corruption and social hardship caused by these greedy businessmen and corrupt politicians. He was an undercover instigative author and he is considered one of the storytellers of the century. He published the novel The Jungle in 1906, which was a research and fact based (Jensen 1997, 23-25). David Graham Philips It was the peak of Progressive Era politics when publishers, journalists, and some legislators complemented each other through an investigative series that lead to exposure and hence correction of the social problems that encountered most Americans. David Graham Philips wrote one of the series of exposes entitled: “The Treason of the Senate” that targeted the Congress. In the series, he accused some powerful senators of drafting legislation benefiting corporations in which they had some personal interests (Jensen 2000, 11-18). Jessica Mitford The selected for this book had a major positive impact on the society. The stories revolt around various critical issues, from political and corporate corruption, the population growth, the environment and the civil rights. They have a common theme: they were critical in making American a better place. Jessica Mitford stories were never different. She exposes each and every unethical practice that existed during her time. It is interesting to note that she was the only author-among those listed in this book-with no formal education. She could respond “nil” when asked about her education. Despite her education background, her works and sacrifices helped changed many lives and hence ultimately made America a better place today (Griffith 2011, 113-119). Going by the introduction of the book, Jensen writes that his collection is designed to “enliven the spirit and inspire the reader to want to make a difference.” As acknowledge by him, the term muckraker was used to describe individuals, journalists and other social reformers who helped change the country for the better. The muckraking excerpts fall into a half dozen general categories: whereby one concerns poverty; three talks about the environment, military issues and politics; four discuss civil rights and six centres on corporate corruption. Some may criticize the author’s methods of selecting writers (Bausum 2007, 89-95). For instance, I might have not considered Betty Freidman and Malcolm X to have been muckrakers; however, these two writers’ influence was enormous and it is understandable how their inclusion could encourage some new writers, while others names might not. Jensen argued that Lincoln Steffens, Ida Tarbell and Upon Sinclair represented that productive period at its best. The book excerpts contain most of the exposed national issues. However, two of these books were fiction: John Steinback’s “Grapes of Wrath” and Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle” (Baron and Sharon 1999, 67-75). One of the books were drawn from TV while the rest from magazines, newspapers and newsletters. All of these individuals in Jensen’s book were attacked in one way or another for their dedicated efforts to make a difference. In most instances, the attacks were at personal level and generally were either spoken or published (Jensen 1997, 31-45). In conclusion, I give credit to the author and muckrake for their efforts of making America a better nation. However, as stated by Jensen, despite the appearance of prosperity during the final days of the 20th century, American is not the prosperous and secure nation as it may seems. Focusing on the skyrocketing stock market and near-record low rates of inflation and unemployment, it becomes apparent that America still has its own social and economic problems. Much more still need to be done, and maybe more people need to sacrifice just like muckrakes did to make this country a greater nation. References Baron, Lindamichelle, and Sharon Sicinski-Skeans. 1999. Skills for super writers: grammar, usage, mechanics, spelling. [Grade 3]. Parsippany, N.J.: Modern Curriculum Press. Bausum, Ann. 2007. Muckrakers: how Ida Tarbell, Upton Sinclair, and Lincoln Steffens helped expose scandal, inspire reform, and invent investigative journalism. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic. Griffith, Kelley. 2011. Writing essays about literature: a guide and style sheet. Boston, Mass: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Jensen, Carl. 1997. 20 years of censored news. New York, NY: Seven Stories Press Jensen, Carl. 2000. Stories that changed America: muckrakers of the 20th century. New York: Seven Stories Press. Read More