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Muckraker

mijochelle

Member
Australia, English
Can a lovely American please help me out? I'm translating an article, but have no idea what a Muckraker is... Well, I have some idea, but don't know whether it's a good or bad term, or whether I can just substitute another word for it, or anything, really. If you could explain it to me (synonyms would help), that would be much appreciated!
According to my dictionary, "muckrake" means to search for and expose corruption, so a "muckraker" would be the person who does the searching, but it usually has a bad connotation. A good synonym would be "antagonist," I think.
If this doesn't help, can you give us the sentence ?
"As a writer and journalist, 'Decca' Mitford gloried in the sobriquet 'Queen of the '"

I've had a look around on some dictionary and thesaurus sites, and Muckraker seems to be a term that generally points to a group of political critics in America at the turn of the century. If that's the case, maybe I could just... not translate the term, and leave it as it is? It's lazy translating, but...
"Muckraker" is a political term. It is used to describe a person who digs up dirt to use against a politician running for office.
The term was widely used early in the 20th century in the U.S. It described a journalist who dug into the muck of political wrongdoing, corruption, etc., as well as the wrongs committed by certain industrialists. There was nothing pejorative about the term. It represents journalism that is not frightened off by the power--political or financial--of those under investigation.
If muckracker means someone who is not afraid of the Powers involved, then the term sensationalist / yellow press does not apply!

Ésta me la inventé: "buscador de entuertos".

No conozco la palabra en español.
I very much doubt there is a Spanish equivalent, but "buscador de entuertos" seems to me to miss the mark slightly. I'd look along the line of "desencubridora de corruptelas"! (Corruptela being a word we use here in Argentina for small local nests of corruption)
If you wanted a very literal translation, you could use the invented word "rastrafango," which would literally mean muck raker, but you would have to explain in parentheses something like (término norteamericano para periodista cuya especialidad es desencubrir escándolos).

The term was originally pejorative, referring to journalists who dug into the mud for political "dirt," as sentimental columnists were called sob sisters, and journalists who took money for writing were called hacks, but as Jessica Mitford exemplified, "muckraker" has came to imply a positive view of what is now properly called investigative journalism.
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