Upton Sinclair

Upton Sinclair (1878-1968) was an American muckraking journalist, remembered today for his 1906 novel The Jungle. The book exposes in horrifying detail the plight of factory workers, many of them vulnerable immigrants, in Chicago’s meatpacking industry. The novel’s success led to new laws protecting consumers from tainted meat, but that was not Sinclair’s intention: he wanted to protect workers from rapacious plant owners.

Less well known today is Sinclair’s 1919 self-published The Brass Check, an indictment of American newspapers and the Associated Press. The title of this non-fiction work refers to metal tokens used in American brothels for clients to choose services. He argued the news industry prostituted itself to plutocrats, who either owned newspapers and magazines or advertised in them, thereby exercising iron control of what got printed. These Captains of Industry worked assiduously, molding public opinion to defend and expand their own markets and to protect capitalism from assaults by left-wing activists.

The Brass Check paints in dizzying detail an ethics-free era in journalism. Editors and reporters faked documents, cleverly misquoted, planted evidence, torqued dispatches, killed positive items about adversaries, and abused the courts to crush enemies. Especially targeted were fledgling unions and anti-capitalist movements, especially socialism. The first half of the book documents the journalistic assault on Sinclair himself.

Not all journalists were sycophants. Some raised objections in their newsrooms to the lies inserted into their articles. Some even quit in protest. Most grimly acquiesced, though, in need of a steady pay packet to feed and house their families. They had little choice. The plutocrats had a lock on the news business. Radio arrived only in the 1920s. The Associated Press at the time was in thrall to business. Starting a magazine or newspaper was capital-intensive, from printing presses to distribution. A few renegade journalists tried and failed, Sinclair notes, often driven to bankruptcy through advertising boycotts ordered by the Captains of Industry.

Lest we feel too smug about our own era, the plutocrats are back. Billionaires wield enormous power over governments, and some still own newspapers (i.e., Jeff Bezos, Rupert Murdoch). Lots of sycophant journalists still take dictation at the feet of the wealthy and powerful. Noble causes continue to be marginalized by newsrooms. But at least ethical journalists have options that were unavailable a century ago. The digital age has cut the capital costs of creating renegade publications to almost nothing, including distribution. Citizens can have unfettered access to their voices. And perhaps most important, we don’t need to wait for another tome like The Brass Check to expose the ethical rot.

Jan. 18, 2022