Left-wing media is being used as a political tool to sway elections, but conservative journalists should try to hold it to account, according to panelists at the “Communication is Key” political journalism panel hosted by Hillsdale College Republicans Oct. 3.
“How are you supposed to infiltrate a 95/5 institution?” said panelist Nainoa Johsens ’18. “Do you want the mental drain of being that person? I would say yes, I would love to see that happen, but I feel bad for the person that has to do it.”
Johsens is former RNC Director of Asian Pacific American Communications, and he was joined by three other alumni working in political journalism: Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell ’24, reporting fellow for the The Daily Signal, Reagan Reese ’22, White House Correspondent for the Daily Caller, and Haley Strack ’23, a William F. Buckley Jr. Fellow at National Review.
The panel focused on the bias in legacy media, the need for journalistic integrity, and the strengths of each party’s messaging.
“Bias has eroded almost every legacy media institution that we have,” Strack said. “They handle Democrats with kid gloves and treat Republicans with contempt, and more often than not, Americans listen.”
Reese spoke firsthand on her reporting about legacy media bias, saying top executives at CBS news made major donations to Democratic campaigns.
“It’s pretty damning how many top executives who work with the news department at CBS are pledging their allegiance to the Biden campaign, to the Harris campaign now,” Reese said. “I think that is a violation of the ethics of journalism.”
Journalistic integrity is an extremely important practice for conservative journalists who want to hold left-wing media to account, according to the panelists.
“When you see people who started off at the conservative outlets going into mainstream media, they usually change,” Mitchell said.
Reese said practices like barring political donations and fact-checking both sides have helped her organization defend itself from accusations of bias when holding the left-wing media to account.
“I think sometimes conservative journalists can turn a blind eye to the things that Donald Trump and J.D. Vance do, but you have to be really disciplined as a journalist,” Reese said. “I’m sure conservative media can show bias, but I would hope that I am not amongst those journalists.”
The panelists also said Republicans are worse than Democrats at serious political messaging, but Democrats are not as effective at appealing to humor.
“The left can’t meme,” Johsens said. “The RNC research guys are really good, whether it is a clip of Biden stumbling over himself or what, the left just loses its mind, and the DNC equivalent is just not funny.”
Strack said conservative journalists are frustrated by the Republican attempt to use left-wing media for messaging.
“Republican operatives in D.C. give the best stories to liberal outlets, but the Democrats through the media are very good at messaging to their own base and within their own base,” Strack said.
Hillsdale College Republicans President and junior Joseph “Hinson” Peed said he hoped people would leave the event with a different perspective on the media from behind-the-scenes players.
“We see the negative effects of the left-wing media, but you know, all four of these people are great people, great journalists,” Peed said. “As Hillsdale College Republicans, we were really looking to show students all the different options they have to get involved in politics, including journalism and communications.”
Sophomore Josiah Jones said he took from the event an appreciation for Hillsdale’s alumni network.
“We had panelists who worked in the upper ranks of the RNC and are in the White House press conference room who just graduated from Hillsdale a few years ago,” Jones said. “We have one of the most impressive alumni networks of any institution of higher education in the United States.”