Fair and balanced leaders in journalism are hard to find these days, but luckily a unique few have committed their lives to the pursuit of truth-seeking journalism. The New Guard got the opportunity to sit down with one of these very journalists just last week. Eliana Johnson is National Review’s Washington Editor. After her presentation to National Journalism Center students at YAF HQ this May, she took the time to chat with this reporter about her remarkable career covering public policy and higher education. Johnson (who attended multiple YAF conferences as a student) has an impressive resume, beginning with her graduation from Yale University in 2006. Formerly a producer at Fox News and a research associate for the Council on Foreign Relations, she currently makes regular appearances on leading television and radio programs across the country. But before she ever walked onto the set of MSNBC or Fox News, or earned a prestigious byline on National Review, Johnson worked as a reporter for The New York Sun. There, Johnson covered higher education, focusing much of her energy on exposing campus controversies. During our conversation, Johnson shared one of her most interesting experiences covering college news. Back in October 2006, a conservative group at Columbia University invited the Minutemen Project to speak on campus. The Minuteman Project was an activist group founded in 2004 with the intention of monitoring the Mexican border. While Jim Gilchrist, the founder of the organization was speaking, a group of students stormed the stage and forced the Minutemen to sneak out the back. Johnson’s coverage of the story garnered national attention. That job covering higher education ultimately led Johnson down the path to her successful career at National Review. Johnson’s job as Washington Editor requires her to constantly change the way she works and what she is writing about. No day is typical for her. While she doesn’t feel that you can always be prepared for those changes, she gave this piece of advice: “What I most try to do is to make sure that my work is as good as possible, and I think if you’re doing that, good work transcends climate.”
