American journalism, like education, has been shaken in the past decade by AI. Some of this can be attributed to the restructuring of the newspaper industry and choices made by media owners. Other aspects of the decline of American media originate from changes in technology and the advent of AI. At the same time, the 1910s saw the rise of independent publications that engaged in muckraking, or investigative journalism. As James Aucoin discusses in his book The Evolution of American Investigative Journalism, early investigative journalism of the muckraking era (1900–1918) relied on private donations to sustain publications like McClures or, coincidentally, The New Republic.

Source: Washington Post March 17, 2026 11:07 UTC