Lydia+-+pro+-+SP12

__Background:__ Lincoln Steffens was born in San Francisco, California in 1866 where he grew up in a wealthy family, the son of a businessman, and later joined the //New York Evening Post// as a journalist after his military career. He specialized in investigating at writing about corruption in the government and also in politics. The new investigative journalism was then called muckraking. His collection of articles entitled //The Shame of the Cities//, were published as an attempt to reform government in urban cities throughout America. His distinctive and useful tactic to create awareness of the government and politics was to create havoc and turmoil in the country by using examples of the corrupt government in his articles. His pieces were so in depth that they required careful reading. He had a direct approach to the reader with forceful words that were persuasive and strong.

__Problem:__ Lincoln Steffens was strongly against corrupt government and unfair politicians running the country. He began his fight against the unjust as a journalist for the //New York Evening Post.// During his career there he hired, worked with, and assisted many important figures and made the paper a hit. He also created a new type of journalism called muckraking. This involved more in depth research for stories and interviews from features people included in the articles.

__Solution:__ In order to “spread the word” about the different government plans or politicians, Lincoln Steffens would jump into the story with exclusive interviews. Then, he would write about them in his articles and publish them for the public to read. In 1919 and 1921, Steffens visited Russia where he was introduced to communism. His famous words “I have seen the future and it works” are still repeated in many variations today. With his inspiring and persuasive articles, Lincoln Steffens was able to get the word out about the disasters just waiting to hit America and how to change them.

"Lincoln Steffens - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." //Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia//. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Jan. 2012. .
 * Bibliography**

"Lincoln Steffens : Biography." //Spartacus Educational//. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Jan. 2012. .