NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Vanderbilt University professor Cecelia Tichi,
author of ExposÈs and Excess: Muckraking in America 1900/2000, will
speak about the comeback of muckraking journalism at two Nashville
events.
Tichi, the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of English at Vanderbilt,
will speak at 6 p.m. Feb. 5 at Davis-Kidd Booksellers to the Women’s
National Book Association. On Feb. 24 at 4:10 p.m., she will address
the Vanderbilt Institute for Public Policy Studies on the topic "Gilded
Ages, Civic Passions."
Both events are free and open to the public. Davis-Kidd Booksellers
is at 4007 Hillsboro Rd. The VIPPS speech will be at the Freedom Forum
First Amendment Center, 1207 18th Ave. S.
Novelists like Upton Sinclair exposed societal ills with
groundbreaking and popular books that fueled public furor and led to
reforms in the early 1900s. In her book, published by the University of
Pennsylvania Press, Tichi argues that a new wave of muckrakers is
reviving the tradition. She makes the case that authors like Barbara
Ehrenreich (Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America) and Eric
Schlosser (Fast Food Nation) are firmly in Sinclair’s tradition.
"Individually, these books stir the minds and hearts of a nation in
crisis," Tichi said. "Collectively, they issue a wake-up call, a
reveille for America that is reminiscent of another group of writers."
Tichi also cites authors Naomi Klein (No Logo: No Space, No Choice,
No Job), Joseph Hallinan (Going Up the River: Travels in a Prison
Nation) and Laurie Garrett (Betrayal of Trust: The Collapse of Global
Public Health) as part of the new muckraking corps. The success of
Schlosser’s and Ehrenreich’s books, both of which have become
best-sellers, indicates the public is receptive of their efforts, Tichi
said.
During the so-called Gilded Age that spawned Sinclair’s The Jungle
and books by Ida Tarbell, Ray Stannard Baker, Lincoln Steffens and
others, the gap between wealthy and poor was widening, business
scandals were commonplace and waves of layoffs squeezed the middle
classes. Many politicians seemed blasÈ about the problems of the poor.
Tichi believes that those conditions have returned and with them the
muckrakers. She further explores whether muckraking can still be
effective in an age where the book medium has been pushed aside by
television and the Internet.
"Social change may proceed slower than wildfire," Tichi said, "but
signs indicate the work of these modern muckrakers is beginning to make
a difference."
Tichi has more than 30 years’ experience as an
educator and researcher. Her books include High Lonesome: The American
Culture of Country Music and Electronic Hearth: Creating an American
Television Culture.
Media contact: Jim Patterson, (615) 322-NEWS
Jim.patterson@vanderbilt.edu