Muckraker

143: Muckraker

Preview:

Airdate

February 2, 1991

Last Aired

Date Recorded

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Recorded at

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Album

11: It's Another Fine Day...
11: It's Another Fine Day...

Cassette No.

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Length

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Theme

Responsibility

Genre

[[Category:{{{genre}}} Episodes]][[:Category:{{{genre}}} Episodes| {{{genre}}}]]

Scripture

Proverbs 6:16
Proverbs 6:19

Written By

Paul McCusker

Directed By

Phil Lollar

Produced By

Bob Luttrell
Phil Lollar

Executive Producer

Chuck Bolte

Post-Production

Bob Luttrell

Engineer

Bob Luttrell

Music By

Unknown

Songs By

Unknown

Inventions Used

[[{{{invention}}}]][[Category:Episodes that use the {{{invention}}}]]

Rating

Current user rating: 88% (36 votes)

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Family Store

Train Ride

Muckraker

Someone to Watch Over Me

Summary

Lucy Cunningham-Schultz decides to write an investigative journalism article about the shampoo from the Calvin Bloom Company and gets in over her head.

Plot

Lucy is hot on the trail of a great story for The Odyssey Owl. Apparently, the Calvin Bloom Company, a maker of fine skin and hair products, has been putting a harmful green dye in their Accu-Gel shampoo, despite the Food and Drug Administration’s ban on it. Lucy talks with Calvin Bloom’s public relations director, Jim Norton. Norton tells her that the company has fully complied with government regulations.

But Lucy has already come across a former Calvin Bloom employee who disagrees. This informant has told Lucy that Calvin Bloom continues to use the green dye. The person also informs Lucy about ‘a lot of other things going on out there that people need to be warned about.’

Lucy is excited about her scoop. She writes a defaming article about Calvin Bloom’s alleged cover-up. She is proud of her work, until Mr. Norton informs Lucy that her informant was fired for cheating on her time cards. The woman used Lucy to get back at the company. Lucy is stunned and upset. She writes a retraction, which the Owl prints, and learns a difficult lesson about the power of the printed word and the importance of wielding that power responsibly.

Discussion Questions

1. Why was Lucy so eager to uncover a story about the Calvin Bloom company?
2. How should Lucy have handled what Miss Sadler told her?
3. Why is the written word such a powerful thing?

Cast

Characters	Actors
Dr. Bloomberg	Bob Luttrell
Connie Kendall	Katie Leigh
Dale Jacobs	Phil Lollar
Jim Norton	John Eldridge
John Whittaker	Hal Smith
Lucy Cunningham-Schultz	Genni Long
Marjorie Sadler	Kay Lindley

Notes

Trivia

• This episode was mentioned in #157: “Last in a Long Line” and #181: “It Takes Integrity”.

Quotes

Dale Jacobs: Marjorie Sadler? Oh, no.
John Whittaker: What's wrong?
Dale Jacobs: Marjorie Sadler has visited my office a number of times. Every week she has a new complaint against somebody. The guys in the newsroom call her "the crank lady". Two weeks ago she said that the Nazis were putting drugs in the city water supply to make us all move to Germany.
Connie Kendall: Uh-oh.

---

Lucy Cunningham-Schultz: I may be little, but I'm not a little reporter!

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