As stated by the Social Security Administration, Upton Sinclair was highly praised-specifically by Edmund Wilson-saying: “Practically alone among the American writers of his generation, Sinclair put to the American public the fundamental questions raised by capitalism in such a way that they could not escape them” (Social Security History). Even though The Jungle drew attention towards industry in America, Sinclair also wrote about a variety of issues and covered international events. While Sinclair wasn’t initially aiming to influence the Food and Drug Administration, his honest and at times revolting depictions of the industry and its sanitary conditions was one of the driving factors for the implementation of the Pure Food and Drug Act (Social Security History). Arguably his most famous novel, The Jungle is a book that was written as a scandalous report exposing the meat packing industry in Chicago. Sinclair was a self-proclaimed socialist who focused on journalism and literary realism as a journalist, Sinclair was known for his muckraking pieces meant to expose working conditions and the lives of the poor and working class in America. The next time you wonder about the beef on your plate, you might think of Upton Sinclair - and ask yourself why it's still such a media jungle out there.Author of The Jungle (1906), Upton Sinclair was a famous American writer and social revolutionary from California. And no big media outlet is really calling for an end to poverty in America. Department of Agriculture lacks the legal authority to order tainted meat off the market, something that Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman asked Congress for late last month.
In 1934, Sinclair ran for governor on a campaign platform named EPIC - "End Poverty in California." When he won the Democratic primary, business leaders panicked and took the unprecedented step of hiring an advertising agency to smear Sinclair with huge quantities of negative publicity.ĭespite an intense media battering that included constant denunciations by California's largest newspapers, Sinclair placed second in a three-way race with 38 percent of the vote. The editorial lamented that the club's podium was used "for such ungodly purposes" by "an effeminate young man with a fatuous smile, a weak chin and a sloping forehead, talking in a false treble" and uttering "weak, pernicious, vile doctrines."
When he moved to Southern California and gave a speech to the Friday Morning Club of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Times printed an editorial under the terse headline: "Upton Sinclair's Ravings." Such opinions, expressed by a tireless and renowned author, did not endear Sinclair to newspaper executives around the country.
0 kommentar(er)
