9 minute read
Teaching Truth-Seeking Journalism in a Post-Truth World
By Emily Jashinsky, Director of the National Journalism Center and Culture Editor at the Federalist
Dan Rather exposed his biases in due time. Over the course of his long tenure at CBS, the vaunted newsman did not, however, insist from his pulpit that conservatives were necessarily bigots. Now, even stoic nightly news anchors are forced to accept and reinforce the cultural Left’s radical standards, which defi ne those even slightly more conservative than President Joe Biden as bigots. In June of 2020, the New York Times was attacked by many of its own employees, who accused the paper of endangering their safety simply by publishing an op-ed by Senator Tom Cotton. The pressure campaign worked—the op-ed was retracted and an editor was forced to resign. This means that a group of journalists at the top of their profession believe mainstream conservative opinion constitutes actual violence. These are the media profession’s standard-bearers on whom Americans depend to interpret the news and hold the powerful accountable. It is in this climate that the National Journalism Center (NJC), founded by M. Stanton Evans and now in its 44th year, prepares aspiring young journalists. NJC offers a premier journalism program, combining hands-on media placements with classroom training, to ensure the next generation of media professionals is positioned to succeed. Students face the daunting task of pursuing truth-seeking
New York Times Editor James Bennet is forced to resign in 2020 following the paper’s publishing an op-ed by Senator Tom Cotton.
The National Journalism Center
Young America’s Foundation’s National Journalism Center (NJC) is the premier journalism training program in Washington, D.C., combining hands-on media placements with educational sessions dedicated to promoting truthseeking journalism. Founded by M. Stanton Evans in 1977, NJC provides aspiring journalists with the opportunity to learn the principles and practices of responsible reporting. NJC’s 12-week internship program gives interns the tools and experiences to combat liberal bias in the mainstream media. Students are matched with media outlets that refl ect their interests and experiences, including the Washington Times, Fox News, C-SPAN, WMAL, the Santa Barbara NewsPress, the Federalist, Roll Call, the Washington Examiner, and others. These placements help young journalists develop practical journalism skills and a better understanding of media, society, and public policy and how the three intersect in Washington, D.C. and across the country. To learn more about the National Journalism Center, please contact NJC Director Emily Jashinsky at ejashinsky@yaf.org or 800-USA-1776.
Federalist Senior Editor and National Journalism Center Board of Governors member Chris Bedford leads a spring 2020 National Journalism Center session on independent research and opinion writing.
journalism in a post-truth world, where facts get people fi red. Equipping young people to operate in this new environment involves facing reality head-on. NJC has incorporated interactive, weekly discussions into the curriculum, teaching students how to evaluate contemporary examples of quality journalism. Robert Novak’s invaluable memoir, Prince of Darkness, is required reading, and students dive deeper into the roots of media malfeasance and societal problems by exploring texts like Coming Apart by Charles Murray and Alienated America by NJC alumnus Tim Carney. Students also meet with working conservative journalists who form their professional networks, building bonds that will help them stand strong in the face of bitter intimidation campaigns. Make no mistake, recent college graduates have imported radical cultural leftism from the classroom into the newsroom—and into corporate boardrooms and Hollywood writers’ rooms, for that matter. Conservatives have long decried the Fourth Estate’s partisan bias, but the unrest of 2020 propelled the media into a new era of corruption. To merely restore the press to its prior state of partisan bias is now a herculean task. First, conservatives and their allies must expunge the Left’s progressive-orbigot threats from the corridors of power, including tony coastal newsrooms. That is a diffi cult task, given it involves deprogramming a generation of hardened radicals with elite degrees who haunt the halls of legacy media outlets, convinced of their righteousness. It is even more diffi cult a task when we consider how dissenters are treated.
Take the case of Bari Weiss, a center-left New York Times editor with heterodox views on political correctness and feminism whose own colleagues regularly leaked personal attacks on her to other outlets. Weiss left the Gray Lady for Substack, a subscription newsletter platform. Weiss’s case is instructive because it highlights the market demand created by media corruption. One clear outcome of the Trump era is that the media’s gates are rapidly closing to centrists, let alone conservatives, thanks to collusion between the corporate press and Silicon Valley. This is most true on cultural issues. Legacy outlets such as the New York Times, NBC, and CNN cover economic policy poorly, but they would not retract an op-ed arguing for tax cuts. Their approach is instead about enforcing the progressive vision for American life, which insists conservative and anti-progressive ideas are necessarily expressions of bigotry. As legacy outlets alienate more and more consumers, new media is sprouting in a way not unlike the bustling blogosphere Through insightful books and other readings, NJC’s curriculum ensures students learn about the roots of media malfeasance and societal issues in America.
— EMILY JASHINSKY
of the early 2000s. This time, newsletters, podcasts, and YouTube are becoming important channels for heterodox journalists like Weiss to publish their work and make a good living. That means the power of the corporate press will continue to diminish, and consumers will keep clustering in niches—many on selfpublishing platforms like Substack and Patreon. In addition to entering the profession with a clear understanding of the industry’s corruption, aspiring journalists must be equipped to produce their work on new media channels and adapt to the inevitable shifts brought on by technological developments. Alongside its heightened efforts to expose the media’s ideological corruption, NJC is incorporating new media training more heavily into the curriculum. Students hear from top podcasters, YouTubers, listserv journalists, and photographers, ensuring they are prepared to package their work into whatever format the media landscape demands. Silicon Valley, unfortunately, is home to several enormous companies that act as media publishers and share the legacy press’s disdain for free-thinking journalists. This presents yet another challenge that students must learn to address. Along with mass media came a press that focused on appealing to the whole country, eager to earn advertising revenue from news consumption. This encouraged the objectivity the press still purports to uphold today, although that is deliberately being dispensed with as more journalists accept the argument that objectivity is impossible and unproductive in the face of the bigotry they defi ne broadly as conservatism. Technology and streaming have Americans splintering back into niches as media bias escalates to another level of corruption. The resulting market demand is a silver lining. If the corporate press insists on de-platforming conservative voices, then attracting consumers to new platforms from outlets committing journalistic malpractice is a step in the right direction. In this environment of chilled speech and ever-changing technology, that step will not be easy. This is why it is critical to educate the next generation of journalists with the resolve and know-how to restore the industry’s credibility. NJC has a responsibility to prepare students to thrive in this environment, one where conservatives are not welcome at mainstream outlets but where innovative platforms will allow them to build audiences. With greater consumer demand and diminished mainstream opportunities, NJC is developing aspiring conservative journalists—fostering confi dence in their values, providing a toolkit of relevant skills, building a robust network of support, and setting realistic expectations about the industry. NJC’s expectation is that its students and alumni prioritize truth-seeking journalism, covering every lawmaker without fear or favor and holding the powerful to account for pillaging our culture.
Recent NJC alumnus Yuichi Kakutani, now a Washington Free Beacon reporter, publishes a piece investigating American universities’ ties to the Chinese Communist Party, an under-covered topic among legacy media organizations.
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Young America’s Foundation offers a wealth of online resources that you can use to sharpen your conservative principles
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@YAFGaming YAF’s Twitch channel is the newest platform for young conservatives to engage in online culture. Join YAF staff as they livestream today’s most popular video games, discuss the news of the day, and host question-and-answer sessions. @YAF_ YAF’s offi cial Instagram platform offers memes, IGTV videos, and the opportunity to engage with thousands of like-minded peers. Keep up to date with what students nationwide are doing to advance freedom.
Podcasts By subscribing to YAF’s free podcasts, Books with Burt and The Top Leaders of the Conservative Movement, listeners can learn from YAF’s speakers on a wide range of topics overlooked by educators, including economic history, the right to life, the U.S. Constitution, and more.
YAF.org/polling As the authority on young Americans, YAF regularly conducts surveys and polls of students nationwide. Visit our polling platform to view our exclusive fi ndings now.
The New Guard The largest network of on-theground student activists makes YAF the best source for breaking campus news. Visit the New Guard, YAF’s historic magazine-turned online news platform, at YAF.org/tips for timely information about campus issues.
Tik Tok One of YAF’s fastest-growing social media platforms, Tik Tok reaches middle school, high school, and college students with 30-second clips of the Foundation’s signature conservative lectures and videos.
