1 00:00:17,280 --> 00:00:19,960 Speaker 1: And we are back with another edition of the Federalist 2 00:00:20,079 --> 00:00:23,440 Radio Hour. I'm Matt Kittle, Senior Elections correspondent at the 3 00:00:23,440 --> 00:00:28,079 Federalist and your experienced Shirpa on today's quest for Knowledge. 4 00:00:28,199 --> 00:00:30,879 As always, you can email the show at radio at 5 00:00:30,920 --> 00:00:34,880 the Federalist dot com, follow us on x at FDRLST, 6 00:00:35,600 --> 00:00:38,759 make sure to subscribe wherever you download your podcast, and 7 00:00:38,920 --> 00:00:41,920 of course to the premium version of our website as well. 8 00:00:42,520 --> 00:00:45,640 Our guest today is Roger Reim, President of the Fund 9 00:00:45,799 --> 00:00:51,200 for American Studies, an educational nonprofit that is developing courageous 10 00:00:51,280 --> 00:00:57,119 leaders inspired and equipped to protect and advance the ideas 11 00:00:57,159 --> 00:01:02,079 of individual liberty, personal responsibility, and economic freedom in their 12 00:01:02,119 --> 00:01:05,159 communities and throughout the world. That is right up our 13 00:01:05,200 --> 00:01:07,760 alley here at the Federalist Radio Hour. Roger, thanks so 14 00:01:07,840 --> 00:01:09,040 much for joining us. 15 00:01:09,799 --> 00:01:12,439 Speaker 2: It's a pleasure to be with the Federalists the Radio Hour. 16 00:01:12,959 --> 00:01:14,359 Thanks so much for having me on. 17 00:01:15,079 --> 00:01:20,359 Speaker 1: Absolutely this is I can't imagine a more important time 18 00:01:20,560 --> 00:01:24,239 in the history of this country than right now to 19 00:01:24,319 --> 00:01:28,239 develop courageous leaders. We seemed to have a short supply 20 00:01:28,359 --> 00:01:32,000 of them. Roger, Well, I agree with you one hundred percent. 21 00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:38,680 Speaker 2: It takes courage today not only to be a conservative, 22 00:01:39,480 --> 00:01:44,079 but to voice your opinion on campus you might get canceled. 23 00:01:45,159 --> 00:01:49,159 So a lot of young people who support limited government 24 00:01:49,319 --> 00:01:54,200 and economic freedom are sometimes intimidated because the environment they're 25 00:01:54,239 --> 00:01:57,200 in on campus. We've seen a lot of harassment of 26 00:01:57,359 --> 00:02:04,239 speakers and attacks on conservatives. So we try to impress 27 00:02:04,239 --> 00:02:07,359 on students the need to have courage in all that 28 00:02:07,400 --> 00:02:09,479 they do and to be willing to speak out and 29 00:02:09,560 --> 00:02:10,520 express their views. 30 00:02:10,960 --> 00:02:13,240 Speaker 1: Is it getting any better on that front in our 31 00:02:13,280 --> 00:02:14,000 college campus? 32 00:02:14,080 --> 00:02:14,120 Speaker 3: Is? 33 00:02:14,159 --> 00:02:16,479 Speaker 1: It seems to me it is, And I think over 34 00:02:16,520 --> 00:02:19,439 the last year, in particular in the run up to 35 00:02:19,479 --> 00:02:23,400 the twenty twenty four election, I am seeing young people 36 00:02:24,159 --> 00:02:28,280 standing up and proudly stating where they stand, getting in 37 00:02:28,319 --> 00:02:31,919 the mix and these college campuses. Are you seeing that 38 00:02:32,039 --> 00:02:36,639 as well? I am encouraged. Yes, we see that. 39 00:02:36,759 --> 00:02:38,960 Speaker 2: You know, with the students who come to our programs, 40 00:02:40,039 --> 00:02:43,560 I think they're concerned about the future, a little more 41 00:02:43,599 --> 00:02:49,240 serious minded about finding opportunities for themselves in their careers. 42 00:02:49,840 --> 00:02:53,719 And also there's a willingness I think both with students 43 00:02:53,840 --> 00:02:57,400 on the right in the middle certainly who are even 44 00:02:57,479 --> 00:03:01,400 maybe not quite as politically interested, to want to listen 45 00:03:01,479 --> 00:03:04,560 to people who may not agree with them. They're more 46 00:03:04,599 --> 00:03:08,479 willing to consider viewpoints that they might not have heard before, 47 00:03:09,039 --> 00:03:11,319 and that's something we encourage. We want to have an 48 00:03:11,439 --> 00:03:17,639 environment that's infused with civility and students can exchange ideas 49 00:03:17,680 --> 00:03:22,120 without personal attacks, without being canceled. And I think on campus, 50 00:03:22,159 --> 00:03:25,159 certainly now there's less tolerance for the kind of anti 51 00:03:25,159 --> 00:03:30,800 Semitic demonstrations we saw on so many campuses, particularly in 52 00:03:30,840 --> 00:03:35,800 the elite universities, the Ivy League universities. And you know, 53 00:03:35,840 --> 00:03:38,560 I've read the stories that no doubt you've read that 54 00:03:39,159 --> 00:03:42,000 students can be a little more open about expressing their 55 00:03:43,039 --> 00:03:48,960 support for President Trump in the past few months. So 56 00:03:49,039 --> 00:03:52,319 that's encouraging that the environment is a little more, a 57 00:03:52,360 --> 00:03:56,840 little less hostile, I think too, kind of diversity that 58 00:03:56,879 --> 00:03:58,719 we want to see in opinions. 59 00:03:59,120 --> 00:04:00,919 Speaker 1: Now here we are in the thick of the battle. 60 00:04:00,960 --> 00:04:04,840 Once again, Please stop me if you've seen this movie before, 61 00:04:05,439 --> 00:04:08,919 I think we all have. Once again, we see the 62 00:04:09,080 --> 00:04:13,639 so called resistance movement coming from the left and certainly 63 00:04:13,879 --> 00:04:17,639 fired up on our college campuses, and it is and 64 00:04:17,759 --> 00:04:21,399 has been for a long time, embedded in corporate media. 65 00:04:21,439 --> 00:04:25,199 You're at an interesting piece on all of this for 66 00:04:25,199 --> 00:04:28,000 a national review recently. I want to open with your 67 00:04:28,360 --> 00:04:32,360 opening line because I think this drives home the point 68 00:04:32,759 --> 00:04:36,519 too often over the past decade, news outlets have seen 69 00:04:36,560 --> 00:04:41,399 themselves as crusaders against the Trump administration and for activist 70 00:04:41,519 --> 00:04:47,560 government in general. That may now be changing. It's an 71 00:04:47,600 --> 00:04:52,279 interesting perspective you go down to talk about how you 72 00:04:52,319 --> 00:04:58,639 know there are some many crusaders left trying struggling for relevance, 73 00:04:58,680 --> 00:05:02,399 but you do believe that that is is changing for 74 00:05:02,480 --> 00:05:04,639 one big reason, as you note. 75 00:05:05,680 --> 00:05:08,759 Speaker 2: Yeah, I do think it's changing. You know, it's going 76 00:05:08,800 --> 00:05:12,959 to take a while for the legacy media to implement 77 00:05:13,120 --> 00:05:16,319 the kind of changes I hope to see. But at 78 00:05:16,399 --> 00:05:19,600 least we've seen some. You know, we saw three prominent 79 00:05:20,079 --> 00:05:24,319 or legacy media newspapers, the Washington Post, the LA Times, 80 00:05:24,319 --> 00:05:27,360 and USA Today that decided not to endorse a candidate 81 00:05:27,480 --> 00:05:31,040 last fall, and you know it led to an uprising 82 00:05:31,079 --> 00:05:33,560 in there in the newsrooms, at least at the Washington 83 00:05:33,600 --> 00:05:36,480 Post and the New York Times. Yeah, at the LA 84 00:05:36,600 --> 00:05:42,160 Times when they did that, but I think when Jeff Bezos, 85 00:05:42,160 --> 00:05:45,839 who owns the Washington Post, announced recently that their new 86 00:05:45,959 --> 00:05:50,279 motto would be personal liberty and free markets. You know, 87 00:05:50,360 --> 00:05:54,959 their opinion at are resigned, some of the reporters have resigned, 88 00:05:55,079 --> 00:05:59,720 but that's an encouraging sign that they're going to be 89 00:05:59,759 --> 00:06:04,800 moved a little more toward supporting I think, less government 90 00:06:04,839 --> 00:06:05,959 involvement in our lives. 91 00:06:06,560 --> 00:06:10,000 Speaker 1: That was a remarkable moment, the Bezos moment, obviously because 92 00:06:10,040 --> 00:06:13,720 of what that newspaper has been, what it has represented 93 00:06:14,160 --> 00:06:17,959 under the direction, of course of this billionaire. One might 94 00:06:18,040 --> 00:06:24,079 even Roger describe him as an oligarch, as Bernie Sanders 95 00:06:24,480 --> 00:06:30,120 goes about on his tour describing wealthy conservatives or those 96 00:06:30,360 --> 00:06:34,439 who align with Donald Trump or allies of Donald Trump, 97 00:06:34,399 --> 00:06:37,240 they're oligarch's. That of course, the left doesn't like to 98 00:06:37,240 --> 00:06:40,079 look at their oligarchs, the George Soroses of the world. 99 00:06:40,079 --> 00:06:45,800 But again back to Bezos, in what he saw at 100 00:06:45,800 --> 00:06:50,480 the time, it wasn't all motivated. I don't think by 101 00:06:50,519 --> 00:06:54,519 an epiphany to Jeff Bezos that, you know, maybe we 102 00:06:54,560 --> 00:06:57,920 haven't been as fair as we should. There's a business 103 00:06:57,959 --> 00:07:00,480 model here, isn't there. I mean, at the end of 104 00:07:00,519 --> 00:07:03,319 the day, this is about dollar signs more than anything. 105 00:07:04,879 --> 00:07:08,439 Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't want to speculate too much about his motive, 106 00:07:08,639 --> 00:07:12,600 of course, But you're right. The business model for the 107 00:07:12,600 --> 00:07:16,040 news media has been changing over a number of years. 108 00:07:16,199 --> 00:07:21,839 You know, they used to rely on advertising dollars and 109 00:07:22,319 --> 00:07:25,480 those dried up with the rise of the Internet and 110 00:07:25,600 --> 00:07:31,839 digital social media that's capturing a lot of the advertising dollars. 111 00:07:32,959 --> 00:07:37,120 So the New York Times, the Washing Post, major newspapers 112 00:07:37,160 --> 00:07:41,800 needed a new model, and the Post was really rescued 113 00:07:41,800 --> 00:07:44,560 by Jeff Bezos. Those reporters there should be grateful he 114 00:07:44,600 --> 00:07:47,399 bought their paper and they kept their jobs for ten years. 115 00:07:48,519 --> 00:07:51,600 But you know, I think that's part of the reason 116 00:07:51,639 --> 00:07:54,360 why a publication like the New York Times and the 117 00:07:54,439 --> 00:08:00,639 Washington Post, those two in particular, tended to be kind 118 00:08:00,639 --> 00:08:03,240 of a house organ for the progressive left because that 119 00:08:03,360 --> 00:08:06,680 was their subscriber base in the New York City area, 120 00:08:06,680 --> 00:08:08,959 in the Washington s area, which the government is a 121 00:08:09,000 --> 00:08:12,279 company town and the company's the government, and so they 122 00:08:12,279 --> 00:08:16,240 had to appeal to their audiences there. But they certainly 123 00:08:16,240 --> 00:08:19,120 went overboard and they stopped reporting. In my opinion, they 124 00:08:19,120 --> 00:08:22,959 stopped reporting the news. Honestly, the news sections of those 125 00:08:22,959 --> 00:08:27,920 papers became advocacy and pushed an agenda. In many cases, 126 00:08:28,040 --> 00:08:31,600 they found themselves reporting things that weren't true, or refusing 127 00:08:31,600 --> 00:08:35,080 to report on things that were true. Note the Russian 128 00:08:35,120 --> 00:08:38,440 collusion story that turned out to not be true, in 129 00:08:38,480 --> 00:08:42,039 the Biden laptop that they wouldn't report on that was true. 130 00:08:42,279 --> 00:08:47,080 So there's been a pushback against that, and it's good 131 00:08:47,080 --> 00:08:47,559 to see it. 132 00:08:48,440 --> 00:08:50,919 Speaker 1: Yeah, quickly to your point, I think the sin of 133 00:08:50,960 --> 00:08:54,600 omission as I have been in the realm of journalism 134 00:08:54,799 --> 00:08:57,600 for longer than I want to acknowledge right now, but 135 00:08:58,200 --> 00:09:02,080 I have seen, you know, the seismic shifts in journalism 136 00:09:02,120 --> 00:09:06,879 and the digital age. You know, I remember some newsrooms 137 00:09:07,039 --> 00:09:11,799 with typewriters to date myself, but you know, we've seen 138 00:09:12,399 --> 00:09:16,799 a lot of change. And as you mentioned, the reporters 139 00:09:16,799 --> 00:09:19,879 at the Washington Post in many ways should have been 140 00:09:19,879 --> 00:09:25,559 grateful that somebody was buying that news organization, but many 141 00:09:25,600 --> 00:09:30,000 of them were not. In fact, many of the reporters 142 00:09:30,039 --> 00:09:35,200 and the editors were very hostile to bes new position 143 00:09:35,919 --> 00:09:38,720 where he wanted to take the newspaper. As you mentioned, 144 00:09:39,320 --> 00:09:42,519 part of this, a big part of this is the 145 00:09:42,559 --> 00:09:48,919 institutions of higher education in America in doctrinating these young 146 00:09:49,200 --> 00:09:54,600 new journalists, the new era journalists. Is that changing at all, 147 00:09:54,679 --> 00:09:59,679 because until that changes. I think we're walking down many 148 00:09:59,679 --> 00:10:04,679 of the same roads, even though you have publishers and 149 00:10:05,200 --> 00:10:10,000 owners of newspapers saying, wait a minute, let's stop doing 150 00:10:10,039 --> 00:10:12,320 what we've been doing. It's costing us a lot of money, 151 00:10:12,320 --> 00:10:14,559 and we're losing the respect of a lot of Americans. 152 00:10:16,080 --> 00:10:19,840 Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, in twenty twenty one, not that many 153 00:10:19,919 --> 00:10:24,639 years ago, I recall a series of stories that came 154 00:10:24,679 --> 00:10:28,159 out one after the other. It was Lester Holt, who 155 00:10:28,240 --> 00:10:31,080 was the NBC News anchor, made a. 156 00:10:31,000 --> 00:10:36,399 Speaker 1: Speech emphasis emphasis on was right, Roger, because as you 157 00:10:36,519 --> 00:10:39,399 note in your piece, he's one of several of the 158 00:10:39,759 --> 00:10:43,120 big players for a long time who've gotten out of 159 00:10:43,440 --> 00:10:44,080 the industry. 160 00:10:45,159 --> 00:10:47,840 Speaker 2: That's right, and he shifted his role at least, But 161 00:10:48,559 --> 00:10:50,679 he said, I think it's in his speech. He said, 162 00:10:50,679 --> 00:10:54,120 I think it's become clear that fairness is overrated. The 163 00:10:54,200 --> 00:10:57,000 idea that we should give two sides equal weight and 164 00:10:57,080 --> 00:11:00,720 merit doesn't reflect the world we find ourselves in. And 165 00:11:00,799 --> 00:11:02,799 he he said, you know, we don't need to hear 166 00:11:02,840 --> 00:11:05,639 both sides. And this from the anchor of a major 167 00:11:05,759 --> 00:11:12,240 network newscast on NBC, where he was arguing for putting 168 00:11:12,240 --> 00:11:16,159 a thumb on the scale when they make reporting, and 169 00:11:16,240 --> 00:11:20,000 we saw a prominent professor, longtime professor at the Stanford 170 00:11:20,639 --> 00:11:24,600 in the Stanford Journalism program, similarly said something like that. 171 00:11:25,279 --> 00:11:28,279 And you know, I know from talking to graduates of 172 00:11:28,799 --> 00:11:32,600 major journalism schools in this country that you know, the 173 00:11:32,639 --> 00:11:37,120 economics textbooks, if they even take any economics, it's Marxist economics. 174 00:11:38,120 --> 00:11:40,840 One friend of mine who went to Columbia Graduate School 175 00:11:40,840 --> 00:11:43,600 of Journalism said he took finally got so fed up 176 00:11:43,600 --> 00:11:45,720 with bias in his classes. He took a course on 177 00:11:45,799 --> 00:11:49,159 writing restaurant reviews, and he said even in that course 178 00:11:49,919 --> 00:11:52,799 it was biased. It was how to write about restaurants 179 00:11:52,799 --> 00:11:55,080 and food from a left wing perspective with. 180 00:11:56,000 --> 00:12:00,039 Speaker 1: A little taste of equity, diversity, and inclusion involved. Right, Yeah, that's. 181 00:12:00,200 --> 00:12:03,679 Speaker 2: Right, that's right. So you know, it's too early for 182 00:12:03,720 --> 00:12:06,440 me to know if the journalism schools will change. I 183 00:12:06,480 --> 00:12:09,639 think they've got to if they want to produce graduates 184 00:12:09,960 --> 00:12:13,320 they can get hired, because if we see the changes 185 00:12:13,320 --> 00:12:16,600 that I think are coming, that it's really encouraging. You 186 00:12:16,639 --> 00:12:19,159 know that the White House has decided to open up 187 00:12:19,159 --> 00:12:25,000 the newsroom to a more diverse press corps. I talked 188 00:12:25,200 --> 00:12:30,879 recently with the press spokesman for George W. Bush Ari Fleischer, 189 00:12:31,519 --> 00:12:33,559 and he said when he was in that role in 190 00:12:33,600 --> 00:12:36,399 two thousand and one, two thousand and two in the 191 00:12:36,399 --> 00:12:39,399 White House, he had someone on his staff checked the 192 00:12:39,440 --> 00:12:42,559 voter registrations of the members of the White House Press 193 00:12:42,559 --> 00:12:45,200 Corps who had credentials and it was twelve to one Democrat. 194 00:12:46,200 --> 00:12:48,879 And he said he was very encouraged what President Trump's 195 00:12:48,919 --> 00:12:52,159 doing because he said, why should the president only get 196 00:12:52,240 --> 00:12:55,279 questions from a hostile media? You know, Kenny's have some 197 00:12:55,360 --> 00:12:57,960 reporters in there that are at least willing to ask 198 00:12:58,120 --> 00:13:02,000 a reasonable question that doesn't come from a biased position. Yeah, 199 00:13:02,039 --> 00:13:03,919 and so I think we'll see that with the changes 200 00:13:03,960 --> 00:13:05,840 that are taking place in the press corps, not only 201 00:13:05,840 --> 00:13:07,919 at the White House, but at the Pentagon and elsewhere. 202 00:13:14,679 --> 00:13:17,240 Speaker 4: Do you believe in the Ghosts of Social Security? 203 00:13:17,320 --> 00:13:20,320 Speaker 3: The Watchdout on Wall Street podcast with Chris Markowski. Every 204 00:13:20,399 --> 00:13:23,120 day Chris helps unpack the connection between politics and the 205 00:13:23,159 --> 00:13:24,879 economy and how it affects your wallet. 206 00:13:24,919 --> 00:13:28,440 Speaker 4: Doje uncovers three hundred and ninety four million Social Security 207 00:13:28,440 --> 00:13:31,600 recipients in this country, more than every living American. We're 208 00:13:31,600 --> 00:13:34,080 concerned about it going bankrupt in ten years, and we 209 00:13:34,159 --> 00:13:36,960 can't even figure out who's getting these checks. Whether it's 210 00:13:36,960 --> 00:13:39,120 happening in DC or down on Wall Street, it's affecting 211 00:13:39,159 --> 00:13:39,799 you financially. 212 00:13:39,879 --> 00:13:42,200 Speaker 3: Be informed. Check out the Watchout on Wall Street podcast 213 00:13:42,279 --> 00:13:44,919 with Chris Markowski on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get 214 00:13:44,960 --> 00:13:45,600 your podcasts. 215 00:13:49,000 --> 00:13:52,600 Speaker 1: Well, it's interesting. Yeah, absolutely, there are many many other 216 00:13:52,679 --> 00:13:55,279 reporters out there, and some you know, with a clear 217 00:13:55,360 --> 00:13:58,360 and they don't hide it a conservative perspective, the Federalist 218 00:13:58,480 --> 00:14:01,600 being one of them. But these are the same news 219 00:14:01,679 --> 00:14:05,720 organizations unlike the ones we've been talking about in the 220 00:14:05,759 --> 00:14:08,759 so called mainstream what I like to call in many 221 00:14:08,759 --> 00:14:15,720 cases the accomplice media. They totally took for gospel, or 222 00:14:15,759 --> 00:14:20,240 took as gospel the word of you know, the administration, 223 00:14:20,879 --> 00:14:26,240 the Biden administration, what has been coined as the deep state. 224 00:14:26,639 --> 00:14:31,840 You know, fifty one so called intelligence professionals on Hunter 225 00:14:31,919 --> 00:14:36,600 Biden's laptop. That's a disgrace to the business of journalism. 226 00:14:36,759 --> 00:14:38,559 And just to point back to what you were talking 227 00:14:38,600 --> 00:14:43,600 about with Lester Holt, Lester stole that philosophy of not 228 00:14:44,879 --> 00:14:49,559 no longer asking both sides their thoughts, their perspective on 229 00:14:49,639 --> 00:14:54,600 the question. That doesn't matter anymore. That we should be 230 00:14:54,639 --> 00:14:57,360 more activist in our journalism, he still let from Aaron 231 00:14:57,480 --> 00:15:03,000 Sorkin in a show called The Newsroom starring Jeff Daniels 232 00:15:03,320 --> 00:15:05,879 years before he said that, And I'm not kidding you. 233 00:15:05,960 --> 00:15:08,799 I feel like I remember watching that show at the 234 00:15:08,879 --> 00:15:12,440 time back in I don't know when it was twenty twelve, thirteen, 235 00:15:13,240 --> 00:15:16,759 And then thinking back over the years, Oh my god, 236 00:15:16,840 --> 00:15:19,519 Aaron Sorkin wrote the blueprint for the mess that we 237 00:15:19,559 --> 00:15:23,360 are in now. Do you do you see that connection 238 00:15:23,559 --> 00:15:29,440 going on? Hollywood style journalism, activism, leftist journalism as opposed 239 00:15:29,440 --> 00:15:33,240 to what was traditionally the objective field, or more so 240 00:15:33,360 --> 00:15:35,960 the objective field of journalism. 241 00:15:36,399 --> 00:15:38,960 Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, and that's an interesting point. I'm old 242 00:15:39,080 --> 00:15:45,000 enough to remember how Watergate changed journalism. You know, kids 243 00:15:45,039 --> 00:15:47,759 coming out of journalism schools in the seventies wanted to 244 00:15:47,759 --> 00:15:51,720 be like Woodward and Bernstein. Yeah, and you know, they 245 00:15:51,919 --> 00:15:56,080 were searching for stories. They wanted to be investigative journalism journalists, 246 00:15:56,120 --> 00:15:58,559 but they were doing it with a perspective, with a 247 00:16:00,200 --> 00:16:03,080 to make a name for themselves, a reputation. They could 248 00:16:03,320 --> 00:16:06,759 write books and be famous from doing it. So it's 249 00:16:06,759 --> 00:16:09,519 no wonder given that, and given what you just mentioned 250 00:16:09,519 --> 00:16:12,480 that trust in the media, according to the Gallop polling, 251 00:16:12,639 --> 00:16:16,720 is the lowest it's ever been. And it almost tracks 252 00:16:17,000 --> 00:16:21,440 with you know, starting with the Russian collusion stories. The 253 00:16:21,480 --> 00:16:25,159 first Trump turn is when the media became such an 254 00:16:25,159 --> 00:16:29,600 oppositional press with an agenda, and it's the trust that 255 00:16:29,639 --> 00:16:31,799 the American people had in the media was just falling 256 00:16:31,840 --> 00:16:35,799 precipitously in the mainstream media because they saw it was 257 00:16:35,919 --> 00:16:39,960 just you know, no longer looking to tell what happened. 258 00:16:41,279 --> 00:16:43,639 I have a friend who's we have a professor in 259 00:16:43,639 --> 00:16:47,840 our program actually, who has been a longtime journalist, has 260 00:16:47,840 --> 00:16:52,600 been writing in practicing journalism since the seventies. But he's 261 00:16:52,600 --> 00:16:54,759 some when he went to graduate school, to a good 262 00:16:54,840 --> 00:16:58,080 journalism school, you know, they were taught to report on 263 00:16:58,120 --> 00:17:02,679 what they see, not slanet one way or the other, 264 00:17:02,759 --> 00:17:06,279 but go witness an event, cover an event, and then 265 00:17:06,359 --> 00:17:09,279 report to people what you saw. He said, It's almost 266 00:17:09,319 --> 00:17:11,000 like when he would come home from the movies and 267 00:17:11,039 --> 00:17:13,880 his grandmother said, tell me about the movie you saw. Yeah, 268 00:17:13,960 --> 00:17:16,920 he'd tell her about it. But that certainly was lost 269 00:17:16,960 --> 00:17:21,119 in this country and the media, and I think it 270 00:17:21,160 --> 00:17:24,000 can be recovered. But we saw just kind of a 271 00:17:24,039 --> 00:17:27,480 disappearance between the difference between the editorial and opinion section 272 00:17:27,559 --> 00:17:31,480 and the news section. They didn't need to really separate 273 00:17:31,559 --> 00:17:34,880 him anymore some major newspapers because he read as much 274 00:17:34,960 --> 00:17:38,119 opinion as you did reporting on the news pages. 275 00:17:38,839 --> 00:17:42,000 Speaker 1: Yeah, it is. It's been quite a change, and it's 276 00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:44,680 been jarring, and as you mentioned, it hasn't slipped the 277 00:17:44,680 --> 00:17:47,880 attention of the American news consumer. Our guest today is 278 00:17:48,039 --> 00:17:52,960 Roger Reim, president of the Fund for American Studies, going 279 00:17:53,000 --> 00:17:55,119 to talk a little bit more about the good work 280 00:17:55,440 --> 00:17:58,279 that organization is doing here in a moment, but to 281 00:17:58,319 --> 00:18:03,599 further expound upon your piece National Review regarding the state 282 00:18:03,960 --> 00:18:10,599 of that media in essence in the main corporate media. Again, 283 00:18:11,079 --> 00:18:14,559 I'm old enough to remember the same kinds of principles. Now, 284 00:18:14,640 --> 00:18:18,240 you just report on what you see, give me the numbers, 285 00:18:18,559 --> 00:18:24,880 show me the documents, and never ever bring an anonymous 286 00:18:24,920 --> 00:18:28,079 source unless you've got a bunch of backing on that 287 00:18:28,200 --> 00:18:32,000 with documents and just how it was until, of course, 288 00:18:32,440 --> 00:18:34,920 I was told, you know, what we really want to 289 00:18:34,960 --> 00:18:39,519 focus on is community journalism. That was the phrase that 290 00:18:39,640 --> 00:18:42,160 was used, Roger, And then I found out quickly what 291 00:18:42,279 --> 00:18:46,640 community journalism was. I was doing an investigative piece on 292 00:18:46,960 --> 00:18:51,960 a supermarket Chaine at a newspaper where I worked, and 293 00:18:52,039 --> 00:18:55,799 I found some alarming things about that. I got a 294 00:18:55,839 --> 00:18:58,759 source and got some very good documents to show it, 295 00:18:58,880 --> 00:19:01,519 and the story didn't see the light of day. And 296 00:19:01,640 --> 00:19:03,400 of course that had nothing to do with the fact 297 00:19:03,440 --> 00:19:08,680 that the grocery store chain, supermarket chain was our number 298 00:19:08,759 --> 00:19:14,160 two advertiser. So economics certainly has always played part or 299 00:19:14,200 --> 00:19:17,480 has long played a part in journalism, uh, and at 300 00:19:17,559 --> 00:19:22,119 newspapers and at news outlets. But it really is becoming 301 00:19:22,160 --> 00:19:27,559 more and more desperate for these organizations. But still oftentimes 302 00:19:27,599 --> 00:19:29,440 they're not getting it, are they. 303 00:19:30,559 --> 00:19:34,880 Speaker 2: Yeah? I remember that uh that that you know, push 304 00:19:34,960 --> 00:19:39,400 forward community journalism, very well funded heavily by the Pew 305 00:19:39,480 --> 00:19:43,720 Charitable Trust, pushing that around the country. You know. The 306 00:19:43,839 --> 00:19:46,640 one example which I don't know that I touched on 307 00:19:46,720 --> 00:19:48,599 in my piece that I think is the most telling 308 00:19:48,640 --> 00:19:54,599 one recently was the President Biden's health. Uh you know 309 00:19:54,720 --> 00:19:57,480 it was it was the best kept secret or what 310 00:19:57,599 --> 00:20:00,319 is the u It was not a good, very well 311 00:20:00,400 --> 00:20:04,400 kept secret because people realized his mental acuity was slipping, 312 00:20:04,960 --> 00:20:07,720 but the media wouldn't write about it. And then when 313 00:20:07,720 --> 00:20:10,480 the Wall Street Journal did a story in late May 314 00:20:10,480 --> 00:20:15,119 early June of twenty twenty four about, you know, citing 315 00:20:15,160 --> 00:20:19,119 lots of unnamed sources, members of Congress, foreign foreign to 316 00:20:19,880 --> 00:20:23,039 heads of state and their officials that the President was 317 00:20:23,880 --> 00:20:27,400 not participating actively in meetings, that they were questioning his 318 00:20:27,480 --> 00:20:30,640 mental acuity. The Wall Street Journal got attacked viciously by 319 00:20:30,720 --> 00:20:33,839 the New York Times, by the networks for making up 320 00:20:33,880 --> 00:20:37,039 the story, for not citing their sources, saying it's not true. 321 00:20:36,799 --> 00:20:40,000 The mainstream media was covering up for the president's health. 322 00:20:40,759 --> 00:20:43,799 And then, you know, a few weeks later, he debated 323 00:20:44,200 --> 00:20:48,200 Donald Trump, and it was like the curtain was pulled 324 00:20:48,240 --> 00:20:52,640 back and everyone realized it. But there was a withering 325 00:20:52,680 --> 00:20:55,599 attack on the Wall Street Journal for writing a story 326 00:20:55,720 --> 00:20:58,599 questioning his health because they were breaking from the orthodoxy 327 00:20:58,640 --> 00:21:02,920 of the mainstream media, and uh, you know, it was 328 00:21:03,000 --> 00:21:08,599 just a complete cover up. Reasons it was a complete 329 00:21:08,640 --> 00:21:09,039 cover up. 330 00:21:09,039 --> 00:21:11,480 Speaker 1: I remember the New York Post with a similar situation 331 00:21:11,519 --> 00:21:14,599 with the Hunter Biden laptop. And I remember this organization, 332 00:21:14,680 --> 00:21:19,960 my beloved organization, the Federalist not only being attacked for 333 00:21:20,759 --> 00:21:25,799 debunking the Russian collusion hoax, because that's that's what it was, 334 00:21:26,240 --> 00:21:32,359 and Uh, we quickly ultimately learned. Quickly, we ultimately learned 335 00:21:33,079 --> 00:21:37,279 just the political mechanisms going on, you know, the people involved, 336 00:21:37,359 --> 00:21:41,599 the d NC, the Clinton campaign buying opposition research and 337 00:21:41,680 --> 00:21:47,240 that being published without any responsible journalism going on by 338 00:21:47,319 --> 00:21:52,200 so many. But not only was the Federalist attacked and 339 00:21:53,240 --> 00:21:59,880 criticized for you know, reporting on what the accomplice media demand. 340 00:22:00,119 --> 00:22:06,640 It was a false storyline. We were censored. In fact, 341 00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:12,359 as we speak right now, our editor in chief Molly 342 00:22:12,400 --> 00:22:16,640 Hemingway is on Capitol Hill testifying about the censorship that 343 00:22:17,519 --> 00:22:22,160 attempted to wipe out news organizations like the Federalists simply 344 00:22:22,240 --> 00:22:29,440 for doing what good reporters should be doing, questioning the storyline. 345 00:22:29,799 --> 00:22:32,799 That's a big problem that is not going to be 346 00:22:32,960 --> 00:22:37,039 solved overnight. Is that problem going to be ultimately solved 347 00:22:37,079 --> 00:22:38,279 in your estimation. 348 00:22:39,559 --> 00:22:43,440 Speaker 2: Well, I think it will be. And you know, I 349 00:22:43,440 --> 00:22:48,960 have great admiration for the Federalist and your editor, Molly Hemingway, 350 00:22:49,119 --> 00:22:53,400 who received a Phillips Foundation Robert Novak Journalism Award, which 351 00:22:53,440 --> 00:22:55,839 is a program we now run at the fun for 352 00:22:55,839 --> 00:23:01,200 American Studies. It's places like the Federal List and a 353 00:23:01,240 --> 00:23:05,319 few others I could name that Fortunately, we're reporting the 354 00:23:05,359 --> 00:23:09,799 truth through these various different scandals in the media, and 355 00:23:10,799 --> 00:23:13,400 they were getting censored for it. Many of them were 356 00:23:13,799 --> 00:23:18,519 suspended from Facebook or Twitter other sites for a time, 357 00:23:20,200 --> 00:23:26,200 and yet you stuck to publishing the truth. And now you've, 358 00:23:26,359 --> 00:23:28,720 you know, in a sense, I guess got some redemption 359 00:23:28,839 --> 00:23:32,519 from it, and in that you're now you know, I 360 00:23:32,519 --> 00:23:37,359 think there's been a great, great pushback against censorship, but 361 00:23:37,440 --> 00:23:40,279 we have to keep alert at all times. Eternal vigilance 362 00:23:40,400 --> 00:23:43,440 is the key on that matter of free expression and 363 00:23:43,519 --> 00:23:48,559 free speech, or it'll happen again. But at least you 364 00:23:48,559 --> 00:23:52,240 didn't power. You were courageous, and you're an example we 365 00:23:52,319 --> 00:23:55,680 can teach to other journalists of being a courageous leader 366 00:23:56,839 --> 00:24:00,799 by you know, still reporting despite the to get you 367 00:24:01,200 --> 00:24:04,400 We just we recently had the enter of the Babylon 368 00:24:04,519 --> 00:24:06,240 Bee speaking on e vent of ours and they were 369 00:24:06,240 --> 00:24:10,079 another one that was you know, canceled from Twitter, that 370 00:24:10,160 --> 00:24:13,440 was fact checked for satire. They were publishing just to 371 00:24:13,519 --> 00:24:17,799 maze and you know, fortunately we withstood that because you know, 372 00:24:17,799 --> 00:24:21,880 there are plenty of examples in history where censorship goes 373 00:24:21,920 --> 00:24:24,799 too far and you go past the point of no return. 374 00:24:24,920 --> 00:24:28,720 But fortunately we're seeing a fresh breeze blowing through our 375 00:24:28,720 --> 00:24:31,000 country right now. In that regard, Now. 376 00:24:31,000 --> 00:24:34,680 Speaker 1: You talk about in your piece that the industry, the editors, 377 00:24:34,839 --> 00:24:39,200 the publishers, the owners of these news organizations are learning 378 00:24:39,240 --> 00:24:44,079 some lessons. They've been painful lessons, mainly on the financial side. 379 00:24:44,480 --> 00:24:48,960 But as you note the Gallop polling showing just thirty 380 00:24:49,160 --> 00:24:55,640 one percent of Americans have you know, substantial faith in 381 00:24:56,480 --> 00:25:01,119 the media industry. First of all, yeah, I want to 382 00:25:01,160 --> 00:25:04,480 know who those people are. I'm an all shaded reporter, 383 00:25:04,599 --> 00:25:07,279 so maybe maybe you've got to discount me. But it's 384 00:25:07,759 --> 00:25:11,039 it's it's amazing, isn't it Just what we've seen over 385 00:25:11,079 --> 00:25:14,039 the last decade plus in this country, the erosion of 386 00:25:14,079 --> 00:25:16,640 trust in journalism. 387 00:25:16,960 --> 00:25:20,319 Speaker 2: Yeah, it started, you know, I saw the figures in 388 00:25:20,359 --> 00:25:23,480 the nineteen seventies, trust in the radio, and then it 389 00:25:23,519 --> 00:25:28,279 was mainly newspapers, TV and radio. But it was about 390 00:25:28,319 --> 00:25:31,680 two thirds of Americans trusted, you know, we listened to 391 00:25:31,720 --> 00:25:34,960 Walter Cronkite and Huntley and Brinkley at night and felt 392 00:25:34,960 --> 00:25:37,160 that we were getting most of the news reported fairly. 393 00:25:37,920 --> 00:25:40,960 But by the late nineties it was down to fifty 394 00:25:40,960 --> 00:25:45,519 three percent, and now it's down to thirty one percent, 395 00:25:45,559 --> 00:25:49,599 as you said, and thirty three percent do not trust 396 00:25:49,599 --> 00:25:54,920 the media very much at all. So it's worrisome. It's 397 00:25:55,000 --> 00:25:59,400 very worrisome. And of course, as everyone knows, the media 398 00:25:59,440 --> 00:26:03,200 has become very divided. There's there's the you know, left 399 00:26:03,200 --> 00:26:07,000 of center media that people with that inclination generally watch, 400 00:26:07,039 --> 00:26:11,519 and then there's the centrist right right of center media 401 00:26:11,640 --> 00:26:14,240 that people of those views tend to watch. And so 402 00:26:14,319 --> 00:26:19,240 it's caused great polarization in our society. But you know, 403 00:26:19,400 --> 00:26:22,480 we need to get back to trusted media sources like 404 00:26:22,519 --> 00:26:26,039 the Federalists that people can read and know they're getting 405 00:26:26,039 --> 00:26:30,000 good information or good opinion, you know, and you know, 406 00:26:30,079 --> 00:26:32,920 people need to be able to be critical thinkers and 407 00:26:32,960 --> 00:26:36,279 separate the opinion they get from the reporting they get. 408 00:26:36,960 --> 00:26:39,720 Speaker 1: You know this in your piece, and I think before 409 00:26:40,160 --> 00:26:43,119 we conclude our conversation, I really wanted to touch upon this 410 00:26:43,160 --> 00:26:46,960 point you said. Recently, some outlets have highlighted a supposed 411 00:26:47,680 --> 00:26:51,640 historic war on traditional media by the Trump administration. Others 412 00:26:51,680 --> 00:26:55,839 accused the administration of developing quote a new state. Media 413 00:26:56,480 --> 00:27:00,799 Reporters Without Borders described American press freedom as being quote 414 00:27:00,880 --> 00:27:05,799 under siege one month into Trump's term. Others call for 415 00:27:06,000 --> 00:27:11,400 increased solidarity among media organizations through boycotts and walkouts against 416 00:27:11,400 --> 00:27:15,279 the White House. One prominent media executive even suggested a 417 00:27:15,920 --> 00:27:21,880 quote NATO for news to defend mainstream media against the 418 00:27:21,920 --> 00:27:25,640 Trump administration. And this is my question, my ultimate question 419 00:27:25,680 --> 00:27:30,200 for you, Roger. When I remember at the beginning of 420 00:27:30,279 --> 00:27:33,920 the first Trump administration, I've told this story before on 421 00:27:33,920 --> 00:27:39,160 this podcast. My source was receiving a whistleblower award from 422 00:27:39,319 --> 00:27:44,119 a local Freedom of Information Council chapter, and it was 423 00:27:45,000 --> 00:27:48,680 an interesting affair. I walked in, though, and I see 424 00:27:49,359 --> 00:27:54,160 all of the traditional journalists from the local newspapers, the 425 00:27:54,200 --> 00:27:58,839 state newspapers, the television stations, and they're all wearing resistance 426 00:27:59,119 --> 00:28:02,480 TV shirts. Again, this is like a few months into 427 00:28:02,559 --> 00:28:07,000 the first Trump administration, and there were, you know, speeches 428 00:28:07,119 --> 00:28:11,160 about how journalism was under assault by the Trump administration 429 00:28:11,440 --> 00:28:15,240 and by conservatives in power at that time. It seems 430 00:28:15,319 --> 00:28:19,200 that the more things have changed, the more they've stayed 431 00:28:19,240 --> 00:28:23,240 the same, just by what you have written about. Will 432 00:28:23,359 --> 00:28:28,319 we get past this kind of thing where everything, it 433 00:28:28,440 --> 00:28:34,440 seems in journalism, in corporate media journalism in particular, is 434 00:28:34,599 --> 00:28:40,880 all about trying to undermine the Trump administration. For every 435 00:28:40,960 --> 00:28:42,519 single thing it proposes. 436 00:28:44,839 --> 00:28:47,440 Speaker 2: I think we will. And that's one thing we're focused on, 437 00:28:48,119 --> 00:28:52,440 the fun for American studies. We a little over two 438 00:28:52,519 --> 00:28:56,400 years ago we started a Center for Excellence in Journalism 439 00:28:56,480 --> 00:29:00,359 and we're going out to college campuses and we're we're 440 00:29:00,400 --> 00:29:06,119 supporting the creation and trying to sustain independent newspapers on 441 00:29:06,200 --> 00:29:12,559 campuses and involving students with the opportunity to get a 442 00:29:12,599 --> 00:29:15,640 taste of journalism when they're in college, a chance to 443 00:29:15,680 --> 00:29:19,000 gain some experience in it, to write, to do investigative reporting, 444 00:29:19,920 --> 00:29:23,599 and get it published in these independent papers in many 445 00:29:23,640 --> 00:29:27,400 schools where the official newspaper may not support them. So 446 00:29:27,640 --> 00:29:29,960 we're giving them training and then we hope to feed 447 00:29:30,000 --> 00:29:34,039 them into fellowship programs that we sponsor when they graduate, 448 00:29:34,279 --> 00:29:38,240 so they will pursue careers in journalism. You know, many 449 00:29:38,240 --> 00:29:41,480 of these kids otherwise would probably go into investment banking 450 00:29:41,599 --> 00:29:44,839 or to law school. We jokingly call this the law 451 00:29:44,880 --> 00:29:48,359 school prevention program because if we can, if we can 452 00:29:48,400 --> 00:29:51,559 give them a fellowship or an internship or something that 453 00:29:52,000 --> 00:29:55,000 gives them a taste for a career in journalism, then 454 00:29:55,119 --> 00:29:59,000 hopefully they'll be they'll fall in love with the career 455 00:29:59,119 --> 00:30:02,359 choice and they'll go in to news media and then 456 00:30:02,440 --> 00:30:06,519 we can try to get them placed at major media organizations. 457 00:30:07,079 --> 00:30:10,240 Speaker 1: Roger, can I tell you something, just with just with 458 00:30:10,480 --> 00:30:16,000 that area of your mission, you're doing the Lord's work again, 459 00:30:16,480 --> 00:30:20,720 diverting kids from the practice of law, although you're sending 460 00:30:20,720 --> 00:30:24,200 them into journalism and old Jada journalists like myself. I 461 00:30:24,240 --> 00:30:27,640 wonder sometimes, but no, you are doing the Lord's work 462 00:30:27,640 --> 00:30:30,319 in that. But let me ask you this. We're seeing 463 00:30:30,920 --> 00:30:35,880 a lot of money thrown out there from leftist organizations 464 00:30:36,160 --> 00:30:44,000 that have infiltrated newsrooms and the production of news across 465 00:30:44,039 --> 00:30:48,640 this country. Can you keep up with that onslaught that 466 00:30:48,680 --> 00:30:52,440 we're now seeing state by state at state bureaus across 467 00:30:52,440 --> 00:30:52,960 the country. 468 00:30:55,000 --> 00:30:59,279 Speaker 2: Well, well, that remains to be seen. I think the 469 00:30:59,319 --> 00:31:03,720 efforts were There's some other organizations we work with as 470 00:31:03,720 --> 00:31:08,559 well that are trying to, you know, develop better reporting 471 00:31:08,599 --> 00:31:12,319 at the local level, at the state level. I think 472 00:31:12,359 --> 00:31:15,480 the fact that that the administration has opened up the 473 00:31:15,519 --> 00:31:21,480 newsrooms to this alternative media, with the flourishing of media 474 00:31:21,559 --> 00:31:25,240 like the Federalists and other online sources, I think there'll 475 00:31:25,279 --> 00:31:29,519 be lots of opportunities for talented young journalists who are 476 00:31:29,559 --> 00:31:34,240 courageous to get into the profession, and you know, we don't. 477 00:31:34,240 --> 00:31:36,200 We're waiting to see what happens at places like the 478 00:31:36,319 --> 00:31:38,599 Washington Post. But that's a place where we hope we 479 00:31:38,640 --> 00:31:42,880 can get some of these conservative journalists. And they may 480 00:31:42,920 --> 00:31:46,119 not even use the labeled journalists conservative rather, but they're 481 00:31:46,160 --> 00:31:49,200 fair reporters and they know how to report a story fairly. 482 00:31:49,720 --> 00:31:53,200 If we can get them placed at places like the Journal. 483 00:31:53,240 --> 00:31:56,480 We've got them at the Wall Street Journal and then 484 00:31:56,519 --> 00:31:58,759 at the Washington Post. You know, I think they will 485 00:31:59,279 --> 00:32:02,440 have a great career in the future, and the creamal 486 00:32:02,559 --> 00:32:05,400 rise to the top if they're good reporters. So I 487 00:32:05,440 --> 00:32:08,640 sure hope we're successful at this because you know, a 488 00:32:08,759 --> 00:32:12,319 free country, a democracy, every country needs an honest and 489 00:32:12,400 --> 00:32:17,279 fair news media, both to hold public officials to account, 490 00:32:17,880 --> 00:32:21,920 to promote transparency, to create an informed citizenry. So a 491 00:32:21,960 --> 00:32:24,799 lots at stake here, and we're going to do our 492 00:32:24,799 --> 00:32:27,519 best to see that we accomplish what we're trying to accomplish. 493 00:32:27,759 --> 00:32:32,240 Speaker 1: I couldn't agree with you more. It is effectively and 494 00:32:32,799 --> 00:32:37,279 my humble opinion, I mean that is a free press. 495 00:32:38,039 --> 00:32:42,640 A free press that is a fair press is absolutely 496 00:32:42,680 --> 00:32:45,759 foundational to the survival of the Republic. Let me ask 497 00:32:45,799 --> 00:32:50,319 you our final question for you, the human resources question 498 00:32:50,599 --> 00:32:54,759 or the job interview question. Where do you see this profession? 499 00:32:54,839 --> 00:32:57,960 Where do you see this industry ten years from now? 500 00:33:00,039 --> 00:33:03,680 Speaker 2: Yeah, that is a great question because that's what young 501 00:33:03,720 --> 00:33:06,119 people want to know if they're going to go into 502 00:33:06,119 --> 00:33:08,039 this as a career. They want to make sure they 503 00:33:08,079 --> 00:33:12,559 can make a career of it. But I think it 504 00:33:12,599 --> 00:33:16,640 has a future for good journalists. They'll always be a 505 00:33:16,640 --> 00:33:22,480 desire for getting news of what's happening in the country. 506 00:33:22,599 --> 00:33:26,039 It'll come in different ways. You know, the printed newspaper, 507 00:33:26,640 --> 00:33:31,160 you know, I still like that, but you know, more 508 00:33:31,200 --> 00:33:36,279 and more students, young people rather learn their news online, 509 00:33:36,960 --> 00:33:41,440 through different websites, through listening to podcasts, So those are opportunities. 510 00:33:41,480 --> 00:33:45,720 You know, a journalists today not only carries a notepad 511 00:33:45,759 --> 00:33:48,119 to write down notes and write a story, but he 512 00:33:48,200 --> 00:33:51,160 has a phone in his hand, he does video, he 513 00:33:51,279 --> 00:33:56,160 does tweets and Instagram postings and things on the website. 514 00:33:56,240 --> 00:34:00,680 So I think it requires multi talented skills, and most 515 00:34:00,680 --> 00:34:05,079 young people are developing those. So if they do and uh, 516 00:34:05,200 --> 00:34:07,240 you know, they know how to write. That's another thing 517 00:34:07,319 --> 00:34:10,000 that can be a challenge for some young people. Indeed 518 00:34:11,079 --> 00:34:15,360 they can have a successful career and uh as a journalist, 519 00:34:15,639 --> 00:34:18,719 so I think it's worth pursuing as a career. 520 00:34:19,599 --> 00:34:22,079 Speaker 1: Well, the old timers like to talk about back in 521 00:34:22,079 --> 00:34:24,920 my day, but I remember calling in a story on 522 00:34:25,199 --> 00:34:31,119 deadline on a payphone, so that that's something I don't 523 00:34:31,119 --> 00:34:36,679 think the young journalist of today could even imagine that 524 00:34:36,679 --> 00:34:39,480 there was, you know, a phone that you would put 525 00:34:39,920 --> 00:34:42,119 you know, quarters into at that time. It was a 526 00:34:42,159 --> 00:34:43,039 dime before that. 527 00:34:43,159 --> 00:34:48,960 Speaker 2: But yeah, yeah, you'd explained to the younger people listening 528 00:34:49,280 --> 00:34:50,280 what a payphone is. 529 00:34:51,239 --> 00:34:55,360 Speaker 1: I should ah, much as much has changed as you say, 530 00:34:55,400 --> 00:34:58,519 and we will see more and more change moving forward. 531 00:34:58,599 --> 00:35:02,199 I hope ultimately change comes in a good direction. I 532 00:35:02,239 --> 00:35:07,039 think that we're seeing the growth of citizen journalism is helping. 533 00:35:07,559 --> 00:35:10,079 There are some limitations to that as well, but I 534 00:35:10,079 --> 00:35:13,760 think that's a big part of what could be positive 535 00:35:13,880 --> 00:35:17,159 moving forward on this front and holding our government and 536 00:35:17,199 --> 00:35:22,119 our leaders accountable. But we shall see. Time will tell. 537 00:35:22,960 --> 00:35:28,079 It is an interesting and an important conversation to have, 538 00:35:28,400 --> 00:35:31,000 and the work that you folks are doing is, as 539 00:35:31,039 --> 00:35:32,559 I said before, absolutely critical. 540 00:35:33,519 --> 00:35:35,320 Speaker 2: Well, thank you, it's been a pleasure to talk about 541 00:35:35,360 --> 00:35:38,559 this important topic. I just think you know who doesn't 542 00:35:38,559 --> 00:35:44,800 want impartial objective reporting and truth telling. And I don't 543 00:35:44,840 --> 00:35:47,119 care whether you're on the left, the right, or the middle. 544 00:35:47,519 --> 00:35:49,719 That should be something we should all agree on. Let's 545 00:35:49,719 --> 00:35:54,559 have impartial, objective reporting and truth seeking by journalists, and 546 00:35:54,599 --> 00:35:58,199 that'll help us all make better decisions, both in our 547 00:35:58,280 --> 00:36:00,719 lives as well as in the arena. 548 00:36:01,239 --> 00:36:05,000 Speaker 1: Absolutely thanks to my guest today, Roger Rehim, president of 549 00:36:05,039 --> 00:36:09,280 the Fund for American Studies. You've been listening to another 550 00:36:09,400 --> 00:36:12,199 edition of The Federalist Radio Hour. I'm Matt Kittle's senior 551 00:36:12,239 --> 00:36:16,079 elections correspondent at the Federalist. We'll be back soon with more. 552 00:36:16,519 --> 00:36:34,719 Until then, stay lovers of freedom and anxious for the fray.