Judge — April 2, 1910 — page 9: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This political cartoon satirizes the **muckraking journalists** of the Progressive Era (early 1900s) — investigative reporters who exposed corporate and political corruption. The image shows a figure wielding large pipes/tools, attacking or "raking" at a **Standard Oil storage tank**, the most prominent target of muckraking exposés. The globe held aloft reads "MILLIONS FOR PROGRESS AND THE BETTERMENT OF HUMANITY," sarcastically suggesting the muckrakers claim noble motives. The satire implies muckrakers were destructive, reckless agitators who — despite their rhetoric about public welfare — were essentially attacking major American industries and institutions. Judge magazine, a conservative publication, appears skeptical of these reformers' actual impact and methods.