Sunday, May 25, 2008
By BOB HOOVER
“Taking On The Trust: The Epic Battle of Ida Tarbell and John D. Rockefeller” by Steve Weinberg (Norton, $25.95)
The subtitle of this history is “How An Investigative Journalist Brought Down Standard Oil,” a thoroughly researched effort by a University of Missouri journalism professor.
Neither Tarbell’s 1902-03 series in McClure’s magazine and the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 1911 “brought down” the oil monolith, but forced it to change, a point Steve Weinberg effectively explains. That piece of history, as well as the biography of Rockefeller, has been covered in more depth by other writers.
The impact of Tarbell, a native of Pennsylvania, on American journalism is the author’s real concern. She was in her early 40s and inexperienced with the in-depth research her subject required when assigned the story. The result, later a book, “The History of the Standard Oil Company,” was a seminal moment in investigative reporting as well as the best portrait of unfettered capitalism.
Tarbell showed the way, as Weinberg passionately relates. His book is also a poignant reminder of how American journalism is in danger of running aground in the current sea of red ink and focus on gossip and celebrity.