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Nellie Bly's article "Inside the Madhouse," written for The New York World in 1887.

Nellie Bly and Other Stunt Girls (and Boys) of the Late 1880s-Early 1900s

Bly was one of the most visible and attention-getting exponents of undercover reporting -- "stunt" or "detective" reporting, as this precursor of full-scale investigative work was known in her day -- though by no means the first or the only.
Headline and highlights of Nellie Bly's article "Behind Asylum Bars," written for The New York World in 1887.

"Behind Asylum Bars" and "Inside the Madhouse" - Nellie Bly - New York World

One of the best-remembered undercover investigations of all time. Nellie Bly feigns insanity to get herself committed to the Women's Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell's (now Roosevelt) Island.
Negative commentary on Nellie Bly's stint in the Asylum for Women on Blackwell's Island.

Nellie Bly of The New York World

A gathering of the undercover and experiential reporting of Elizabeth Cochrane, later Seaman, who wrote under the pen name of Nellie Bly.
Bly gets herself arrested to experience life for a woman in jail.

Jail Time Undercover

Reporters have worked as guards or gotten themselves arrested -- sometimes with the aid of authorities and sometimes without -- to investigate conditions inside prisons and jails.
Chicago Daily Times article titled, "Reporter's Experience at Kankakee." Written by Frank Smith as part of his series, "Seven Days in the Madhouse!"

"Seven Days in the Madhouse!" - Frank Smith - Chicago Daily Times

Frank Smith's series, under the editorship of Louis Ruppel at the Chicago Daily Times, got national attention and was, according to Time, a real circulation-builder for the newspaper.
'The World' newspaper article with graphic of crowded tenements.

Journalistic Acts of Race, Class, Ethnic and Gender Impersonation

Journalism that required costuming or even physical transformation by reporters reporting on racial, ethnic, gender or social groups not their own.
This piece is provided for comparison purposes.

Other People's Work

Reporters encounter or inhabit the lives of very hard-laboring others.
Headline and highlights of Nellie Bly's article "Behind Asylum Bars," written for The New York World in 1887.

Asylums Undercover

Since the 1870s, journalists have been posing as patients or attendants to expose horrid conditions and treatment inside mental hospitals. Nellie Bly, incidentally, was not the first. 
Article titled: The Lobby King Returns

Uncloaking the Lobbyists

 Reporter efforts to get inside the world of lobbyists, both on Capitol Hill and in the statehouses.
First New York World Telegram and Sun article written as part of Michael Mok's series, "I Was A Mental Patient At Kings County."

"I Was a Mental Patient" - Michael Mok - New York World-Telegram & Sun

One of a number of high-impact undercover investigations undertaken by the New York World Telegram & Sun in the 1960s, including Woody Klein's worst tenement series, Dale Wright's migrant workers series, and George N. Allen's Undercover Teacher. Mok's series won the prestigious Albert Lasker Medical Journalism Award and the Heywood Broun Memorial Award.

"Working with the Working Woman" - Cornelia Stratton Parker - Harper's

Cornelia Stratton Parker engaged with low-wage earning women in six different jobs so she could "see the world through their eyes" and for the time being, close her own. Her six-part series appeared in Harper's Magazine between June and December of 1921 and as a book, published by Harper Brothers, the following year.
Nellie Bly's article "What Becomes of Babies?" written for The New York World in 1887.

Exposing Predators

Across the world, journalists have used undercover techniques to expose individual predators and as well as major sex crime rings.
Rare, major CBS News "Sixty Minutes" investigation of stem cell hucksters abroad who claim to help those with illnesses for which there is no known cure. The program used hidden cameras and telecom to investigate.

Quacks, Thieves, Scam Artists and Hucksters

These are stings to expose scam artists, quacks and hucksters who prey on the needs or naivete of their customers, clients, or patients.
Female undercover reporter at business event.

The Presidents Club Scandal and Other Such Undercover Exposes

 An undercover investigation by the Financial Times of behavior toward hostesses at The Presidents Club's annual men-only charity event in London and reaction to the story.