Q&A: John Daniel Davidson

By Haley Strack Senior Reporter

Alaska native John Daniel Davidson ’04 is a senior editor at The Federalist, where he covers politics, immigration, culture, and religion. He is the former opinions editor of The Collegian and delivered a talk over lunch at the Center for Constructive Alternatives titled, “The Twitter Files Reveal an Existential Threat.” Davidson, his wife, and their daughter are moving to Alaska this summer, where they plan on homesteading.

Why journalism?

Two weeks after I started at Hillsdale, the 9/11 attacks happened. In the old student union, I watched the second plane hit live. I came to Hillsdale with a vague idea that I wanted to study literature and be some sort of writer — but everything changed after 9/11. I switched my major from English literature to history, and I decided to join the journalism program. I had no way of explaining to myself or to anyone else, what had happened and why. I thought that there must be some deep roots to this. So I needed to study history and become a better educated person. And if I was a better educated person, then maybe I could have something worthwhile to say as a writer.

With the increase in virtual newsrooms, what’s the best way for young journalists to get the experience of a print newsroom?

To the extent that young people can work in an in-person office, a deadline-driven news environment, and be answerable to editors, that is as good of a substitute as you can get for the experience of working in the newsroom of a daily newspaper.

Johnny Cash fan. I had gone down to Checker Records because I knew “American IV” was coming out. I told the guy just before it came out, “I want you to order the CD when you get it in, call me and I’ll pick it up.” That’s how we got music back in the 2000s. So, weeks and weeks go by, the guy calls me he’s like, “got your record in.” The record blew me away and I spent a couple hours driving around back roads listening to this CD. Not long after that, Johnny Cash died. I wrote a short obituary for him. The director of the journalism program at the dia platform you kind of need to have as a journalist. I’m locked out of my Twitter. Have you made appeals to the new Twitter gods to get your account back? education, the mission of the college, and the people who make both a reality,” Nokelby said.

Yeah.

Do you think they’ll work?

No. I don’t think I’m important enough, for one. And for another, I don’t think Elon Musk is totally in control of what’s happening right now. Social media is a dangerous and pernicious development in American public life. And it would be better if it didn’t exist. And if people want to be happy, they should not use social media. To the extent that journalists can, they should limit their use of social media as much as possible and rely on it only to the extent that they have to.

Macaluso and Nokelby recommend students come prepared with lots of questions and hope that attendees will evaluate whether the admissions team might be a good fit for them.

“It may be cheesy, but it’s the people that make this role enjoyable,” Macaluso said. “Not only is our team exceptional and a blast to work alongside, but I have the privilege of still being surrounded by the goodness of Hillsdale and people who push me to be, and recruit, the best that I can.” book traces the history of abortion in America by telling the stories of those involved.

“I think it is really important, regardless of what someone’s view is on the abortion issue, to see that this is a very emotional topic that has affected a lot of people,” Savas said. “Among those people are unborn babies. We want to make sure that these babies are seen as characters in these stories. They are a very real part of the stories we tell.”

Did you have a favorite piece published when you were a student?

In 2003, Johnny Cash died. I was — am — a huge time, Tracy Lee Simmons, shared my little obituary with William F. Buckley Jr., the founder of National Review. Buckley sent back a note saying that it was excellently done. When I heard that I thought, “I’ve made it.”

What’s your hottest Catholic take?

The future of the Catholic Church is the Latin Mass.

At what age should kids have social media?

Social media should be illegal for people under the age of 18. Twitter is a professional hazard. It’s the one social me-

What political philosopher most accurately predicted the modern state of American politics? The standard answer is Alexis de Tocqueville. You have to read him. People should also read John Dewey. His notes and his view of public life in America helps explain the problem of the collapse of Protestantism. You don’t read him because you’re going to agree with his assessment, but his argument represents sort of the void into which we are stepping.

George Washington rises from the grave and asks you for a two-sentence summary of the border crisis. Go. General Washington, there is no southern border. We’re being invaded.

What is the name of the book you’re writing?

“Pagan America: The Decline of Christianity and the Coming Dark Age.” I imagine it will be out at the end of this year.

Journalist to speak on modern religion

By Elyse Apel Opinions Editor

Dominic Green will arrive on campus next week as the next Eugene C. Pulliam Distinguished Visiting Fellow in Journalism.

“Green is an outstanding writer, critic, and historian,” said John J. Miller, director of the Dow Journalism Program. “I’ve read his work with admiration for years, and it will be great to have him here on campus, meeting our students and teaching a course on journalism.”

Green is the former editor-in-chief of the U.S. edition of The Spectator, a British magazine, as well as a contributor to the Wall Street Journal, and a weekly columnist and essayist for the Washington Examiner and the Jewish Chronicle.

Green will give a public talk on “The Birth of Modern Spirituality,” which is also the subtitle of his latest book, “The Religious Revolution,” on Thursday, Feb. 16 at 8 p.m. in Plaster Auditorium.

“We talk about the Agricultural Revolution and the Industrial Revolution as transformative in making modern Western society,” Green said. “This book is an attempt to do the same for the inner life, which has also been transformed in drastic ways.”

He holds master’s degrees from the University of Oxford and Harvard University, and a Ph. D. from Brandeis University. Throughout his career, Green has taught writing and history and also has expertise in politics, foreign policy, and journalism.

During his time on campus, Green will also teach a two-week long seminar class titled “What Journalism Is.” “I regularly meet Hillsdale graduates through my work in journalism and am always impressed,” Green said. “I’m looking forward to working with hard-working and committed students, and meeting faculty members that I’ve previously only been able to correspond with long-distance, by email.”

Junior Olivia Hajicek has taken several Pulliam seminars. “You can learn so much from a person that you just can’t learn from a textbook. I’m super excited for Dominic Green’s seminar,” Hajicek said. “Every one is different, and I never really know going in what I’m going to learn, but I’ve a feeling this one’s going to be really fun.”