McClure’s Magazine and the birth of investigative journalism
It’s 1893, and the United States is in the middle of an economic panic. People are rushing to the banks, eager to take out all their money before it becomes worthless. The national unemployment rate hovers near 18%, and hundreds of companies and banks go out of business. Into this inauspicious moment, a new magazine eager to forge a new idea of American letters prints its first issue. For thirteen years, the irrepressible Samuel S. McClure helmed an enormously talented staff whose work helped bring forth a new era of journalism. Samuel McClure (the middle name Sidney was added later) was born in Ireland on February 17, 1857. His family became impoverished with the death of his father when he … Continued