[the-dude]

I think so. At least here in NL, the journalist class decided somewhere in 70s or early 80s, they had an obligation to do 'good' instead of only doing inpartial reporting.

Of course, their defintion of 'good' might differ from mine or yours.

[adolph]

The muckrakers were reform-minded journalists in the Progressive Era in the United States (1890s–1920s) who exposed established institutions and leaders as corrupt.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muckraker

[the-dude]

What is the saying, and from whom?

To paraphrase, only things people don't want you to write is journalism, the rest is propaganda.