Do Journalism Schools Need More Conservatives?
According to its website, there are 32 full-time professors at the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication. According to Lane County voting records, none of them are Republicans. Twenty-six are registered Democrats, one is non-affiliated and five don’t return results in the voter database. If you add in adjuncts, there are 38 total Democrats and two Republicans, both of whom teach technical subjects. You could walk into a head shop in Berkeley and find a bigger conservative presence.
The disparity, as dramatic as it is, mirrors the the political composition of many other journalism schools across the country. A 2005 study of nine top journalism schools by David Horowitz and Joseph Light revealed similar ratios of political affiliation. Columbia University had 15 Democrats and one Republican, while Berkeley had ten Democrats and zero Republicans.
According to a study performed by UO economist Bill Harbaugh in 2006, there are 15:5 registered Democrats in the total UO faculty for every one Republican. The Oregon Daily Emerald reported that 96% of contributions during the 2008 election cycle went to Democratic candidates; in 2004 the figure was 100%.
Academia generally trends to the left, and the concentration of liberal professors at UO isn’t too surprising. In most subjects, politics are irrelevant, but not in journalism. The question of whether or not reporting is fair and objective is reliant upon how the beholder perceives the ideas presented. It is innately difficult to support journalism that reveals an inadequacy or flaw in one’s own ideology. How many times does a pro-choice advocate heap praise on pro-life reporting or vice-versa?
In fact, the two biggest media watchdogs in the business are divided on ideological terms. Media Matters is “dedicated to comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. media.” Newsbusters calls itself “the leader in documenting, exposing and neutralizing liberal media bias.” The bottom line: people rarely push ideas they dislike, and that goes for college professors as well.
“College is supposed to be the marketplace of ideas ” said C.J. Ciaramella, editor of the UO conservative magazine The Commentator. “But it’s more like the Model T of ideas here, you can get any one you want as long as it’s black.”
Jon Palfreman, a long form documentary filmmaker and UO journalism professor, agrees the University can be hostile to Republican thought. “Diversity of ideas means embracing ideas that you hate as well as ideas that you like. We don’t have many smart right-wing ideas on campus here, and you probably won’t survive by promulgating such ideas,” he said.
I’ve been a journalism graduate student at UO for the last year, and though I’ve found the facutly to be generally open-minded, there’s no question that the discourse suffers when half of the political spectrum isn’t represented. Journalism thrives on ideas, not just left-wing ideas or right-wing ideas, but a steady stream of diverse ideas. I don’t think a ratio of 26-0 or 38-2 achieves that. Although, short of a political litmus test (which I’d oppose), I’m not exactly sure what can be done about it.
I think what is missing from this and so many debates is a clear representation of what a “Democrat” or “Republican” is exactly. I think, and your data shows it, that although most are voting Democrat most people tend to float right around the middle if not a bit to the right. If we threw out the bullshit taxonomy we would find that no matter how we all register or vote, most of us think alike.
Cute.
But you’re missing the point.
Maybe what you should be asking yourself is why most career journalists wind up as registered Democrats.
I’m no genius but maybe a career dedicated to investigating and writing about various forms of social injustice has something to do with it.
Even the University of Texas is primarily left leaning. I received my degree there. There really are VERY FEW options in this country if you are looking for a college/university with a balanced representation. And that is really tragic for all whether the left leaning types realize it or not. The reaction on the UO professors’ part is all you need to see to verify the reality. Right now-up is down. The left is in the business of projection and if you are not well-educated and able to think critically, you don’t stand a chance in discerning what is really going on. Like I said–tragic.
Whoops–my comment was meant for the Christian Science Monitor article at: http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0713/p09s02-coop.html
Dan, way to go! I will keep my comment short, but commend you for speaking out about this issue that seems to be a non-issue to colleges across the nation. As a Republican, it is even more evident when I attend my classes and notice these evident biases toward ignoring conservative thoughts on a wide range of issues and it really ticks me off. Is that not the point of having an open discussion, to talk about both sides of an issue?
We need to get away from the discourse of “belief.” It will help with the confusion of Democrat/liberal and Republican/conservative. Then stop confusing “language” with “reality.” We love love love our words.
I went to a very conservative high school. I was ridiculed for reading Thoreau, kicked out of economics class for a project on money laundering, was forced to read literature with allusions only to the new testament, and was only given an euro-centric view of history.
Conservative though is inherently constrictive, and therefore people who like to explore – who like to venture beyond the prescriptive, find more freedom in progressive places, even if they don’t agree 100% with the ideas.
I then went to one of the most liberal universities in the country. I was taught political science by three unique individuals: someone who worked for Reagan’s state department, a Chinese man who grew up during the cultural revolution – and regards the current Chinese gov’t as illegitimate, and a gun toting anarchist. This was the most diverse education available in the country, done at the most liberal school.
If you define diversity by the registration of a person’s political affiliation, instead of their actions- you, Dan, are truly ignorant.
Dan,
I like the article. I think it is interesting to point out that most academic institutions are left leaning, often strongly left leaning. However, I wonder why that is? I think you missed a chance to investigate and possibly point to some evidence in an empirical way that attempts to provide a theoretical foundation for the political leanings of educational institutions.
For example (and honestly I propose this not in jest) , I wonder if professors, teachers, school administrators, etc were at a pay grade closer to business executives if their political leanings would be different? Other than economic status there are other factors that often draw lines between political affiliation. It would be interesting to examine some other socioeconomic factors as well. Oh well, just my 2cents.
Thanks for the article.
Perhaps the reason so few on the right go into academia can be attributed to the saying, “those that can do and those that cant teach.” Its far easier to teach university students than to go out build something in society.