Ida Tarbell began doing her research with standard oil. Her
investigative journalism series first appeared in a 1903 issue of Mc Clure’s-
Magazine. Tarbell's
exposé of Standard Oil was the first corporate coverage of its kind, and it
attacked the business operations of Rockefeller, the best-known businessman in
the country at the time, even though he had retired from the oil business
several years before, and was devoting his time to philanthropy.