Matt Walsh is a conservative blogger, writer, and speaker. He also regularly contributes to The Blaze. On The Matt Walsh Blog, he provides conservative analysis and opinion on issues ranging from religion and morality to economics and politics. Walsh spoke for Hillsdale College’s Young Americans for Freedom Sept. 15 in Phillips Auditorium.
How did you get into blogging?
I hosted a radio show in Kentucky for about eight years. In 2011, I started writing online, as a way to probe my audience for the next show. Over the next two years and entirely through lengthy Facebook status updates, I grew a following of about 10,000 people. From there, I started my blog in 2013 and within a couple months, I had a post hit a million views. Then, it exploded from there. I have been very blessed to grow a following so quickly.
How do you decide on what to write?
I follow what people are talking about on social media. I also try to follow what the media is focused on for that week then offer my analysis of it. I do not want to pigeonhole myself into being just a political writer or just a pro-life writer, although there is nothing wrong with that. I just think people are more multifaceted than that and the best scenario for a blogger is to maintain an audience interested in a wide variety of topics. Keeping up on everything requires a lot of reading and re-reading. The media these days seems to ride big stories in waves, so keeping track of the stories and their arguments can take a lot of time, but it has to be done.
What are some things you have learned about writing for a public audience?
I like to think I’ve become a better writer. For me, it’s about identifying where people are confused on an issue. That is basically the goal of my writing. As a blogger, there is a real temptation to write just for clicks and shares. Sometimes I am accused of that because I mainly write for people who are on my side of the argument. In my writing, I try to equip my readers with arguments that they haven’t thought of before and give them encouragement to move forward and feel empowered on these issues. It’s also important to me to have a sense of humor. Too many times conservatives confirm the stereotype that we don’t have a sense of humor. We cannot let liberals corner the market on humor and satire because it is a very effective and persuasive way to communicate our ideas.
For many Hillsdale students, this will be their first time participating in a presidential election. What advice would you give them as they contemplate for whom to vote?
A responsible voter will obviously get informed on the issues, which means more than just watching the news. They need to think critically about the issues candidates are talking about. But frankly — and people don’t like this when I say it — the most responsible thing a voter can do is not vote, if they know in their heart that they really are not informed. In that case, you need to recognize in yourself that voting is a sacred responsibility and there is a certain obligation that comes with it. That obligation is to be informed, but if you are not, then you probably should not vote because you don’t want to inflict your ignorance on America.
That’s my first piece of advice. The next is if you are informed, then vote based on your values and beliefs and not on a calculation of how you think other people are going to vote. This is the one voice you have in the political process and a chance to express your beliefs. If you vote for someone you do not believe in, then that, for me, is the wasted vote. It defeats the whole purpose of voting. And that is how we are in a situation today where the two most unpopular candidates in history are running in the same election for president. This didn’t happen by chance. It is the consequence of an old habit of compromising and voting for people we don’t believe in.
Where do you see our country headed, and is there any hope?
I don’t know where we are headed. In the short term, it is not a good place, at least collectively. Our culture is at a point where it is not going to change overnight. If it is going to change at all, it will be a long process. It took many generations to get where we are at. We have slowly been straying from God and truth. And that didn’t just happen with millennials or boomers. If we are going to start turning the culture around, it will be for the benefit of the next generation. All we’re going to be doing is fighting.
One encouraging thing among millennials is their participation in the pro-life movement. When you go to Washington, D.C., for March for Life, there might be 400,000 people there, and 300,000 people are under the age of 35. So the pro-life movement is a young person’s movement, as all revolutions are. Revolution is still a young man’s game. What they are doing to fight the culture is encouraging, and I do take solace in that.
Where do you see the future of blogging and journalism going?
I don’t see a future for journalism. I don’t think it really exists now, and as far as I can tell, journalism is dead. I read a lot more news than I should, but I couldn’t list on one hand actual journalists that are getting to the truth in politics. And this is for liberals and conservatives: We complain about liberal journalist and their biases, but Fox News rarely challenges Trump, and they are merely a platform for him to spew his rhetoric.
As far as blogging goes, there will always be an audience online for commentary and analysis. I hope the future is not in shallow clickbait stuff, but unfortunately, that is most of what we see. Most liberals and conservatives focus on merely tickling the ears of their audience that continues to feed into their preconceived notions and give them a lot of junk food material, although there are some people out there who are writing insightful stuff with deep thoughts, and I think there is a future in that.