1. Upton Sinclair was called a "muckraker." How did Sinclair "muckrake" for social reform?
Muckraking is exposing the injustices of society...what is it that Sinclair exposes or makes the people aware of? Also, how does he make people aware of these injustices? 2. Sinclair was convinced ".... through art one could cause change." What was established as a direct result of the public outcry from this novel? Sinclair exposed some wrongdoings. When he did this, the people and the government decided they needed a law to regulate the meat packing industry. What was the name of this act? 3. What did the author want to happen as a result of his novel? By exposing these wrongdoings, Sinclair hoped something would happen between the bosses and the employees. What is it he hoped would happen? 4. How did the public react to his novel? Upton Sinclair's The Jungle exposed filthy conditions in meat packing plants. The public was outraged and the government responded. In 1992 ABC-News did a similar story, this time in a supermarket. Sinclair exposed some wrongdoings. When he did this, the people and the government decided they needed a law to regulate the meat packing industry. What was the name of this act? 5. Visit PBS "Food Lyin." By exposing these wrongdoings, Sinclair hoped something would happen between the bosses and the employees. What is it he hoped would happen? What did the ABC-News story find was happening in Food Lion stores? After the public read the novel, what happened? How did they feel about what was going on in the meat packing industry? 6. Could Food Lion prove the findings were false? Two producers worked undercover in two North Carolina supermarkets, lying on their resumes to get the jobs. They each wore a wig hiding a tiny lipstick-sized camera, and each carried a concealed microphone. Citing the ongoing case, ABC declined to allow the NewsHour to show any of the footage. Food Lion did not deny the undercover report's allegations. 7. What was the basis of Food Lion's lawsuit against ABC-News? The company filed suit against ABC, charging the network with fraud, trespassing, and other deception. On December 20th last year a Greensboro, North Carolina jury ruled against ABC. Ten days later the jury awarded Food Lion $1,402 in compensatory damages. Their grocery chain had sought twice that amount as compensation for wages paid to producers, plus the company's costs to train them. 8. What was the jury's verdict? A jury's decision to award Food Lion $5.5 million in damages over an ABC News report will have a chilling effect on undercover reporting and discourage the media from trying to serve the public, First Amendment experts say. 9. What was the jurors' rationale for the verdict? Jurors said ABC didn't have to lie to get its information. "The media has a right to bring the news, but they have to have guidelines too," said Gregory Mack, the jury foreman. "When you look at a football game, you see boundaries all around. You go out of bounds, you go out of bounds." Juror Tony Kinton agreed, saying reporters will have to find better ways of "collecting the news without misrepresenting themselves." He added that the award to Food Lion was just a "slap on the wrist." |