Last weekend the Hitching Post sent its Editor-in-Chief, Paul Dehlinger, and its Managing Editor, Blake Fisher, to the Intercollegiate Studies Institute’s 2021 Editors’ Conference in Alexandria Virginia. There, editors from the over 90 college publications all over the country came together to learn from each other and to celebrate the principles established by ISI. Over the weekend the editors got the opportunity to listen to several speakers and panels consisting of ISI alumni, journalists, and intellectuals.
For the first night conservative journalist Andrew Sullivan was the keynote speaker and discussed his own story about starting in journalism and how the industry had changed since then. He also spoke about the current challenges journalism faces, most notably cancel culture, and emphasized the need for the next generation of journalists to stand up against it.
The following day started out with the deputy editor of the Washington Free Beacon, Victorino Matus, who gave advice on how to write a proper article. Followed by Lone Conservative founder, Kassy Dillon, who critiqued the social media accounts of some of the publications in attendance. After Dillon, former Marine Corp journalist and Washington Examiner contributor, Philip Chalk, talked about the 7 Essentials for Digital Journalism. Following the lunch break a panel of former ISI editors consisting of National Review’s Alexandra DeSanctis, The American Conservative’s Cur Mills, and USA Today’s Kelsey Bloom. The panel discussed how to run a college paper as well as their time as Editors. The panel was followed by Daily Caller Editor-in-Chief, Geoff Ingersoll, who talked about the keys to being a strong reporter.
The second to last speaker was venture capitalist/entrepreneur Joe Lonsdale, who talked about the relationship between tech and media. Unsurprisingly, he received a myriad of questions about being conservative in Silicon Valley and what regulation could or should be passed to combat the bias by “big tech.” Lonsdale advocated for a very hands-off approach to combat the problems in social media. He warned those in attendance to be warry of aggressive regulation to combat the problem and instead insisted that innovation would be the ultimate solution.
The night finished off with an award ceremony where fellow Texas publication, The Texas Horn, won the award for Best New Media. The final keynote address was given by ISI vice-President, Daniel McCarthy, who summarized many of the themes talked about over the conference. He addressed the history of conservative media trying to get a foothold in the media landscape, how the end of the fairness doctrine allowed conservatives like Rush Limbaugh to create a new media landscape in the form of talk radio and help the Republicans retake Congress for the first time in 50 years. He tied all of this to America’s history as described by Alex de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America. Lastly, he impressed upon the editors in attendance to remain strong and committed to the principles on which ISI was founded.