Where are the Conservative Journalists? Over at the Politico, Jonathan Martin writes, “GOP losing the new-media war.” The article is generating some thoughtful discussion from conservative tech folks inside the Beltway, even though it has already been addressed by mainstream outlets (yours truly on more than one occasion) and other conservative bloggers.
Where are the Conservative Journalists?In his piece, Martin writes:
While conservatives are devoting much of their Internet energy to analysis, their counterparts on the left are taking advantage of the rise of new media to create new institutions devoted to unearthing stories, putting new information into circulation and generally crowding the space traditionally taken by traditional media. And it almost always comes at the expense of GOP politicians.
Very similar to a point I made yesterday, while discussing recent moves by Matthew Yglesias and Spencer Ackerman. I also think it’s worth noting that Martin himself worked briefly at National Review, and for Republican Rep. Christopher Shays before being hired by the Politico. So, he’s a firsthand observer of the dilemma he’s writing about. But it also calls into question this quote from David Brooks in the article:
“In the past 60 years, only one employee of the National Review, Weekly Standard or any conservative magazine has actually been hired as a reporter for a newspaper,” says Brooks, who researched the question a few years ago.
With apologies to the crack research team Brooks enjoys at The New York Times, I can offer two examples within the past three years of employees of National Review being hired as reporters for mainstream publications: Jonathan Martin and myself. Yeah.
The Weekly Standard also employs at least four top reporters and editors: Stephen F. Hayes, Matt Labash, Matthew Continetti and Jonathan V. Last. With the exception of Continetti, these guys don’t get a lot of attention from conservative bloggers, but that doesn’t negate the insightful and often groundbreaking reporting they do.
Some reactions from over at the Tech Republican site:
Source: blogs.cqpolitics.com via politisite
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