The Journalist as Reformer: Henry Demarest Lloyd and Wealth Against Commonwealth

(Hardback)

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Description

Henry Demarest Lloyd was one of the post-bellum 19th-century's best known journalists and non-fiction writers. In fact, only E.L. Godkin exceeded Lloyd in influence and prestige, and Godkin wrote no book-length expos with the impact of Lloyd's 1894 Wealth Against Commonwealth. This biography, based in part on previously unpublished archival information, is a study of the mentality of the journalist as an advocate for reform. It is an examination of Wealth Against Commonwealth, the most influential expos and starting point for every public investigation of the late 19th-century industrial monopolies. Lloyd's pre- and post-^IWealth^R journalism is investigated as well, including Story of a Great Monopoly, Lloyd's 1881 Atlantic Monthly article said to be the first example of American muckraking, and Lloyd's published investigations of reforms such as cooperatives, labor arbitration, minimum wage, and social security. His contact with a variety of his intellectual contemporaries is also featured, including Horace Greeley, Jane Addams, Ida M. Tarbell, Samuel F. Gompers, Clarence S. Darrow, Joseph Medill, Henry George, William Dean Howells, and Eugene V. Debs.

Reviews

This biography reinterprets the work of the late-19th-century writer as a pioneer journalist instead of a crusading socialist...The author carefully documents how Lloyd critiqued the partiality of some of his own writings before Wealth Against Commonwealth and rededicated himself to persuasion through accurate reporting. An excellent concluding chapter details Lloyd's life and career and explains his legacy on later styles of writing and reporting. With helpful notes and a bibliography that underscores Digby-Junger's scholarship, this thorough and well-written book helps complete information on Lloyd's career and provides insight into turn-of-the-century Chicago and the Chicago Tribune...Highly recommended for all midwestern regional libraries and for serious collections in journalism history.-Choice
"This biography reinterprets the work of the late-19th-century writer as a pioneer journalist instead of a crusading socialist...The author carefully documents how Lloyd critiqued the partiality of some of his own writings before Wealth Against Commonwealth and rededicated himself to persuasion through accurate reporting. An excellent concluding chapter details Lloyd's life and career and explains his legacy on later styles of writing and reporting. With helpful notes and a bibliography that underscores Digby-Junger's scholarship, this thorough and well-written book helps complete information on Lloyd's career and provides insight into turn-of-the-century Chicago and the Chicago Tribune...Highly recommended for all midwestern regional libraries and for serious collections in journalism history."-Choice

Author Bio

RICHARD DIGBY-JUNGER is an Assistant Professor of Journalism./e Before embarking upon an academic career, he worked as a broadcast journalist in Minneapolis-St.Paul, Milwaukee, Duluth-Superior, and Madison, and was recognized for his investigative reporting.