Jonah Goldberg sat at the end of the first row of Varsity Theater ten minutes before he was scheduled to speak last Thursday, keeping to himself while reviewing his presentation.
Several excited students shuffled down the aisle, discussing their anticipation. At 7:00 p.m, Goldberg, the editor-at-large of National Review Online, stepped up to the podium, looked over dozens of eager eyes, and began a 90-minute oration filled with witty remarks and sharp insights.
Very seldom do we hear of exciting talks about journalism, but Goldberg is not a standard journalist. He has serious credentials, but he has a personality most journalists lack. His unique presence, outspoken persona, and razor-sharp retorts attract the undivided attention of audiences throughout the country.
There is another distinction about Goldberg that makes him stand out among his journalist counterparts: He is a conservative.
In reference to his experience as a regular political commentator on CNN, Goldberg recalled how his coworkers never overlooked his political persuasion.
“I was their token conservative,” he said. “Being conservative is a permanent label…when I am asked what I think about something, it isn’t considered analysis but conservative analysis.”
ONLINE JOURNALISM
The increasing options of news sources has changed the way people access information and analyze events, but also has put pressure on the mainstream media.
According to Goldberg, it is the blogosphere and other forms of media that “is diluting and diversifying what the public hears.”
Professor Philip Seib, the Lucius W. Nieman Professor of Journalism in the College of Communication, holds a similar view.
“Alternative media sources, such as blogs and Web sites, are valuable because they expand the universe of public discourse,” Seib said. “If you have something to say, no longer do you have to get a printing press and hand out leaflets on a street corner or endure frustrating silence.”
“The range of viewpoints available to news consumers has dramatically expanded, mostly for the good,” Seib continued. “For the most part, the new venues opened by information and communication technologies encourage dissemination of intellectually diverse ideas. Interactivity and the ease of participation in this process are democratizing factors and in various cases around the world have had positive political effect.”
Although Goldberg and Seib may see the emergence of popular media in a positive light, many journalists from college newspaper reporters to Dan Rather see unconventional media outlets as unprofessional and threatening.
“The [mainstream” media wants some sort of “papal” authority” over the dissemination of news,” Goldberg said, addressing the changing nature of the media.
Goldberg's assertions about the “narcissism of the media” and “the guild mentality of journalists” are allegations infuriating to most mainstream journalists.
Using the Valerie Plame controversy and media shield laws as a springboard, he contended that the media is undeserving of the elitist status they pursue. With the rise of bloggers who report from their basement computer, the definition of a journalist is blurred.
“Once you have a journalism shield law, which the elite media desperately wants, you have to ask yourself the question, 'Who is a journalist'”? Goldberg said.
“The answer is...about 5,000 people who went to Columbia journalism school, a few of their friends, a couple people who went to law school instead, and that”s about it. Everyone else isn”t, especially bloggers.”
Goldberg suggested that one of the reasons behind this mind set is that journalism is not that difficult.
“There is a natural tendency among professionals...to create a guild system where we have protection from outside competition, from people who want to reveal that what we are doing is not that difficult,” said Goldberg.
Tim Horneman, a junior journalism major in the College of Communication who attended the speech, took offense to this particular remark.
“I do not think it is as easy as he says it is,” Horneman said. “Theoretically it is easy when it comes to asking a question and getting an answer. But there are other things like writing things correctly, worrying about ethical standards and deciding what is most important to the readership [that makes it more difficult].”
Goldberg also addressed a major lamentation of the mainstream media about lacking diversity as a result of huge media conglomerates. He asserted this stance is “not so much [about how] they want more diversity or think news consumers are being ill-served, [but that] they don”t like heretics or…anyone stealing their thunder [by] giving an alternative view.”
The competition alternative media poses for the mainstream media is making the whole news industry better, especially established, professional news outlets.
Goldberg said, “Now, I can tell you as a writer I am terrified of getting something wrong, because I will get five hundred emails from…[a] reader telling me how I am an idiot if I spell something incorrectly.”
“It [the mainstream media] is more responsive and caring more about whether they make mistakes,” Goldberg went on. “It makes you wonder how much crap came off as truth…before this blogging industry came about. I guess we leave it to history.”
A WARM WELCOME
Goldberg made a little bit of history in his March 30th appearance on campus. He was the first MUSG-sponsored conservative speaker to come to Marquette since Condoleezza Rice in 2000.
Goldberg came just over a month after Eugene Jarecki came in late February. Jarecki was supposed to be a more politically balanced speaker, but some thought he was more liberal, according to Keta Radich, MUSG Speaker Commissioner.
Radich said, “I brought Jarecki and Goldberg because they were both well-received on college campuses. It is essential for someone, especially MUSG, to fulfill all different aspects that Marquette offers. I think Jonah did that.”
Dan Maciejewski, the chair of the Marquette University College Republicans, was very pleased with MUSG for bringing a conservative speaker to campus.
“I hope that it is a sign of things to come. I enjoyed the event a lot. I really hope this is a step in the right direction,” he said.
Radich reported that there were about 100 people who attended the event so the Varsity was far from is seating capacity.
Although students are able to find out about campus events from the news briefs emails, the MUSG Web site, posters, and Checkmarq, there were still complaints about the lack of advertising for this event, which is not a new criticism when it comes to MUSG-sponsored events.
“I did not see as much advertising for Jonah as other MUSG events,” said Maciejewski. “But whenever you have a political event, there is a small fraction of the campus that is politically involved enough to attend these events.”
CONSERVATIVE REALITY
Whether Marquette students are politically attentive or not, Goldberg could talk about a crayon box and still make them laugh.
“I was attracted to him because he is younger and has a contemporary topic,” said Radich. “But he combines his insight with comedy. I didn’t like to bring preachy people to campus. I didn’t get the impression he was that kind of person.”
Goldberg presented a vast array of topics, such as the impact on alternative media on mainstream media and media bias, and made some interesting assertions when discussing politics and current events. He diverted to actually criticize Bush from the right and commented on liberal cliches, too.
Aside from being a conservative, Goldberg presented himself as an individual with worthwhile comments on sensitive topics and themes often ignored by the media.
He did express one of his reservations about the changing nature of the information exchange.
“A common culture is a nice thing to have, and we are losing this because of all this segmentation…[and in these] sorts of casting you lose something,” he said.
Still ending on a positive note, he said, “But you gain a lot from it. Conservatives are realists, and this is the reality that we have, and it is not going away.”
Popularity: 17% [?]
