It’s easy to talk about wanting to “make a difference.”
But at The Daily Signal, we don’t just talk about it. We actually do make a difference. That’s how we measure our success.
One of our goals is to report on issues the media too often ignores. By combining strong news stories with conservative commentary and analysis, we’ve helped shine the spotlight on people and policies that need attention.
For us, journalism isn’t just about clicks and page views. As the multimedia news organization of The Heritage Foundation, outcomes are more important than outputs.
Here are four examples of the kind of impact The Daily Signal had in 2016:
1) Investigating Operation Choke Point
The media largely ignored the harmful effects of Operation Choke Point, a secretive Justice Department program designed to fight mass market fraud. But since joining our team in 2014, senior news producer Kelsey Harkness has doggedly pursued the story with investigative reporting about its victims.
Whether intentional or not, the Obama administration initiative has hurt hundreds, perhaps thousands, of legitimate business owners who abruptly lost access to basic financial services. The harm occurred after government officials—mainly banking regulators—grouped these Americans’ businesses in with what they considered unseemly, if not illegal, enterprises and pressured banks to terminate their accounts.
Harkness brought Operation Choke Point to light and life by explaining what the program was for the first time to many Americans, by reporting on actual victims around the country, and by holding government officials accountable for their roles.
The Daily Signal’s watchdog reporting drove debate in Congress. And in February, the U.S. House voted to end the shadowy government program.
2) Exposing Government Theft
Daily Signal senior news reporter Melissa Quinn first wrote about the story of Charles Clarke in July 2015. The 24-year-old man had $11,000 seized by the federal and state law enforcement at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport a year earlier—what’s known as civil asset forfeiture.
Clarke’s $11,000 in cash was “the culmination of five years worth of savings from various jobs, financial aid, gifts from family members, and benefits from his mother, a disabled veteran,” Quinn reported in her widely read story.
The money was seized after an airport worker notified agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration and airport police department that Clarke’s bag smelled like marijuana. Clarke allowed police to search him and his bags. No drugs were found, and Clarke was never charged with a crime—yet law enforcement did not return his money.
It’s one of many forfeiture cases Quinn has covered since joining The Daily Signal in 2014. Often involving people who have little help fighting the powerful government, she’s brought attention and exposure to these stories.
And in the case of Clarke, the federal government finally agreed to give his $11,000 back—with interest—as Quinn reported earlier this month.
3) Defending the Electoral College
Timing is everything, right? On Nov. 7, The Daily Signal’s Jarrett Stepman published an op-ed defending the Electoral College, explaining why we use it and why it’s better than the popular vote. A day later, on Nov. 8, Donald Trump won the 270 votes he needed in the Electoral College—but lost the popular vote.
Stepman’s op-ed making the case for the Electoral College went viral. He followed it up with two more commentaries as liberals made a push to end the practice that dates to the founding of the United States. It’s certainly not the first time liberals took issue with the Constitution, but The Daily Signal was prepared to vigorously defend it.
Daily Signal senior contributor Genevieve Wood went to interview some of those angry protesters at nearby George Washington University when she came across a college student who defended the Electoral College. The video also went viral, drawing nearly 1.5 million views. We followed it up with more videos about why liberals were wrong about the Electoral College and explaining the value of the Electoral College.
All this attention seems to have shifted public opinion. A new Gallup poll shows a dramatic change in how Americans view the Electoral College. In 2000, about 35 percent of Americans thought we should keep the Electoral College. In 2011, it was the same percentage. But now? Gallup’s poll from early December showed 47 percent of Americans want to keep it—a 12-point increase.
4) Giving a Voice to Americans
We believe it’s important to give a voice to people like you, especially when Americans face threats to their constitutional liberties.
Since 2014, The Daily Signal’s Harkness has closely tracked the story of Aaron and Melissa Klein, an Oregon couple who faced a $135,000 fine after refusing to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding. The Daily Signal’s 2015 video about the couple was viewed 4 million times on Facebook—our most popular ever.
That same year, Harkness also investigated Brad Avakian, commissioner of the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries. (A judge from the bureau recommended the Kleins’ $135,000 fine.) Her investigative reporting revealed that Avakian was corresponding with an LGBT advocacy group, which actively spoke out against the Kleins. The relationship raised questions about whether Avakian and other agency employees were using the Kleins’ case to pursue a political agenda.
Fast forward to this year when Avakian ran for Oregon secretary of state. Running as a Democrat in liberal Oregon, he lost his election. What’s even more remarkable: No Republican had held statewide office for two decades.
“The people of Oregon have spoken,” Aaron Klein told The Daily Signal. “Hopefully with the guy that won, we’ll see religious freedom start to grow in this state.”
Talk about change.
We Need Your Help
The Daily Signal couldn’t report on these issues and deliver hard-hitting analysis without your support. It’s an incredible blessing to work at a news outlet dedicated to impact, not profit.
And so, I hope you will consider donating to help support The Daily Signal’s work in 2017 and beyond. Because there’s a still a lot left to report on, investigate, and expose—and we need your help to do that.
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