- Finalist for the Sperber Prize for journalism biography
- Noteworthy in 19 Books to Read in 2020, The Week
- Honorable mention in 2020 Books of the Year, World
- Featured with books by Brian Stelter, Franklin Foer, Margaret Sullivan, and Ethan Michaeli in “Can Democracy Survive Without Journalism?” – Atlantic Books Briefing
- Excerpts in LitHub and BELT
A fascinating history of the rise and fall of influential Gilded Age magazine McClure’s and the two unlikely outsiders at its helm—as well as a timely, full-throated defense of investigative journalism in America
The president of the United States made headlines around the world when he publicly attacked the press, denouncing reporters who threatened his reputation as “muckrakers” and “forces for evil.” The year was 1906, the president was Theodore Roosevelt—and the publication that provoked his fury was McClure’s magazine.
One of the most influential magazines in American history, McClure’s drew over 400,000 readers and published the groundbreaking stories that defined the Gilded Age, including the investigation of Standard Oil that toppled the Rockefeller monopoly. Driving this revolutionary publication were two improbable newcomers united by single-minded ambition. S. S. McClure was an Irish immigrant, who, despite bouts of mania, overthrew his impoverished upbringing and bent the New York media world to his will. His steadying hand and star reporter was Ida Tarbell, a woman who defied gender expectations and became a notoriously fearless journalist.
The scrappy, bold McClure’s group—Tarbell, McClure, and reporters Ray Stannard Baker and Lincoln Steffens—cemented investigative journalism’s crucial role in democracy. From their reporting on labor unrest and lynching, to their exposés of municipal corruption, their reporting brought their readers face to face with a nation mired in dysfunction. They also introduced Americans to the voices of Willa Cather, Arthur Conan Doyle, Robert Louis Stevenson, Joseph Conrad, and many others.
Reviews
“Smart and illuminating … in their heyday [Ida Tarbell] and McClure, with help from Baker and Steffens, showed America and the world something new: the power of long-form investigative reporting.”
DENNIS DRABELLE, WASHINGTON POST
“All great editors have an eye for talent. After reading Citizen Reporters, I’m convinced that McClure had the greatest eye of all time. … Well-crafted and readable … [with] nuanced character portraits.”
BEN YAGODA, WALL STREET JOURNAL
“In Citizen Reporters: S. S. McClure, Ida Tarbell, and the Magazine That Rewrote America, Stephanie Gorton … focuses on how a ‘hothouse’ collaboration happens. She explores the clash and interplay of talents that created an entity greater than the sum of its parts, absorbed in an endeavor as important now as it was then: molding coherent narratives that help readers—surrounded by a cacophony of daily stories—grasp the changes they are living through.”
LIZA MUNDY, THE ATLANTIC
“Reading Stephanie Gorton’s smart and engaging Citizen Reporters summoned rhythms of a past whose cadence can be felt in the present. … Gorton offers the magazine’s storied history in rich detail, but also delves deeply into the lives and characters of Tarbell, McClure and others … [and] seeks to also locate the magazine in a particular historical moment, one that bears great resemblances to our own. She succeeds admirably.”
LORRAINE BERRY, MINNEAPOLIS STAR-TRIBUNE
“Strong, well-written, and compelling … Extensively researched, the book is written with flair. Readers will find themselves caught up in the story and rooting for the protagonists.”
TERRY W. HARTLE, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR
“Citizen Reporters not only etches a detailed portrait of the electrifying rise and astonishing fall of a publisher and his magazine intertwined with a moving biography of the incomparable Tarbell but also maps the emerging magazine industry that made them household words and the rich cultural, political, and economic territory of the incipient Progressive Era.”
MICHAEL DOLAN, HISTORYNET
“[E]xceptional and colorful … beautifully written … Gorton tells both a captivating love story and a tale of class warfare.”
AMERICAN JOURNALISM: A Journal of Media History, Volume 37 (2020)
“Gorton’s colorful history is effectively a dual biography of depressive McClure and relentless Tarbell … Vividly recounting the rise and fall of McClure’s, Gorton highlights the magazine’s dynamism and its determined coverage of lynchings, corruption, and fraud during its brief reign.”
THE NATIONAL BOOK REVIEW (“5 Hot Books” feature)
“[As] Gorton reveals, McClure’s magazine (1893–1931) was instrumental in paving the way for reporters to battle corruption and drive change in society.… Readers interested in Gilded Age history and its parallels to contemporary society will enjoy learning about this trailblazing publication.”
“In her finely sourced and lively first book, Gorton tells the complex, entwined stories of these two ardent innovators and their temperamental differences, symbiotic friendship, and reverberating achievements. … Including incisive portraits of other McClure’s journalists, Gorton’s fresh and vivid biographical history ultimately affirms the essential role an independent press of conscience plays in our democracy.”
DONNA SEAMAN, BOOKLIST
“With fiery editor S. S. McClure at the helm during the magazine’s rise as a social force, McClure’s played an instrumental role during the Progressive Era as the nation pivoted from its rural origins while confronting an urban reality that makes modern problems seem almost trivial.”
JIMMY P. MORGAN, TOPANGA NEW TIMES
“An artfully written, well researched narrative … As she documents the magazine’s meteoric rise and fall, Stephanie Gorton brings Tarbell, McClure, and many others to life in a fascinating historical narrative.”
GEORGE LONGENECKER, RAIN TAXI
“Citizen Reporters recounts the heady days of progressive journalism with a flourish. Stephanie Gorton provides a lush narrative of the magazine alongside the biographies of two crucial pieces in the magazine’s growth: founder and star reporter. The successes and trials along the way make for an engaging book. A must-read.”
“Citizen Reporters is one of the best journalism books you will read, a deeply researched biography that traces McClure’s from its meteoric rise to its swift and dramatic fall.”
“Eminently readable … [Gorton] is to be commended for taking us beyond stereotypical views”
ROB WEIR, OFF-CENTER VIEWS
“Citizen Reporters is a vibrant tale of courage and perseverance. With a thorough and steady hand, Stephanie Gorton guides the reader back in time, telling the origin story of America’s long tradition of bold and incisive journalism. Ida Tarbell and S.S. McClure’s inner lives are interwoven in a story of feminism and American reporting that will have a lasting impact on its readers.”
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT
“Exciting . . . Stephanie Gorton has written more than a beautifully crafted and original narrative history. She reminds us of the courage and passion that fearless magazine journalists must find once again to reveal the true American landscape.”
MICHAEL CAPUZZO, NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF CLOSE TO SHORE AND THE MURDER ROOM
“In an era newly conscious of journalism driven by exposing wrongdoing, Citizen Reporters stands as an essential read of America’s long history with reporting on urgent matters of social justice.”
ELIZA GRISWOLD, PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING AUTHOR OF AMITY AND PROSPERITY
“Citizen Reporters is beautifully written, deeply reported, and worthy of its very worthy subjects. Through the stories of S. S. McClure, his star reporter Ida Tarbell, and the writers associated with McClure’s magazine, Stephanie Gorton gives us a fascinating glimpse of a formative time in American history—and reveals the urgent and necessary role played by investigative journalists.”
LOUISA THOMAS, AUTHOR OF LOUISA: THE EXTRAORDINARY LIFE OF MRS. ADAMS
“In an era echoing our own, two trailblazing journalists—one a fearless woman—confront the monied interests and political corruption that distort the fundamental fairness of American society. Stephanie Gorton’s beautifully shaped and closely researched narrative shows how the same manic energy that propelled its founder to embrace such a high-risk and pioneering venture ultimately led to McClure’s demise. We can be grateful that its legacy lives on.”
PETER STARK, AUTHOR OF YOUNG WASHINGTON
“Anyone who loves journalism will revel in this story of an unlikely partnership that shaped the media business, helped to define investigative reporting, and showed Americans the injustices and inequities in our midst. We wouldn’t be the country we are today without McClure’s.”
SASHA ISSENBERG, AUTHOR OF THE VICTORY LAB
“Citizen Reporters offers a fascinating exploration of the adventurous work produced at McClure’s. In Stephanie Gorton’s crisp, fast-moving narrative, we come to know, love, and fear visionary editor S.S. McClure. Even more memorably, we meet top journalist Ida Tarbell, whose stamp on the science and craft of in-depth reporting remains indelible more than a century later. This is a fun, absorbing story with surprises on just about every page.”
EARL SWIFT, AUTHOR OF CHESAPEAKE REQUIEM
“S.S. McClure altered the realm of magazines while educating the public. Then Ida Tarbell, while breaking gender barriers, altered American democracy for the better. Bravo for Stephanie Gorton for bringing the saga to a new generation of readers.”
STEVE WEINBERG, FORMER EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF INVESTIGATIVE REPORTERS AND EDITORS