Muckrakers - Sounds Bad Does Good

Read the Wikipedia piece at the end of this post to review the history of "muckracking".

Competent journalism is not like the "dirty laundry" tune by the band The Eagles, which sought to expose or protest against a type of reporting which is more like rumor and gossip mongering:

I make my living off the evening news
Just give me something-something I can use
People love it when you lose,
They love dirty laundry

Real journalism lets us know when things are bad and when things are good.

Otherwise the media is simply a propaganda exercise.

Check it out. There is a good purpose for "bad news":

History of Muckrakers