Morton Mintz, Post Reporter with a Muckraker Spirit

Morton Mintz, Post reporter with a muckraker spirit

Morton Mintz, a Washington Post reporter who brought a muckraker’s zeal to business reporting, notably by helping expose the baby-deforming drug thalidomide and General Motors’ efforts to smear a little-known consumer advocate named Ralph Nader, died July 28 at his…

Morton Mintz, Post reporter with a muckraker spirit, dies at 103

(Washington Post) – A pioneer in consumer affairs journalism, he helped expose the deformity-causing hazards posed by thalidomide, a once-popular drug for morning sickness. Morton Mintz, a Washington Post reporter who brought a muckraker’s zeal to business reporting, notably by helping expose the baby-deforming drug thalidomide and General Motors’ efforts to smear a little-known consumer advocate named Ralph Nader, died July 28 at his home in Wa…

Statement by Ralph Nader on the Passing of Morton Mintz at the age of 103 - Ralph Nader

July 28, 2025 Morton Mintz was a consummate ‘beat journalist.’ His pioneering sense of newsworthiness, including reporting what citizen groups were doing, opened up one area of consumer, environmental, and workplace abuses after another for other reporters to follow. He was the drug industry’s consistent “hair shirt.” Many a high corporate executive looked with dread…