Conservative spotlight: Herb Berkowitz

Center for Media and Public Policy

The Nationai Journalism Center trains college students and those just out of college in journalism. A gaggle of other groups, including Young America's Foundation and the Leadership Institute, work with college students to improve, among other things, their communications skills, Now the Center for Media and Public Policy, a new program of the long-established Heritage Foundation, aims to cater to the more experienced.

"This is brand new for us," said Herb Berkowitz, vice president and director of the center. "We're starting a graduate school in communications for conservatives. That's how we view it. Nearly everything aimed at conservatives is aimed at college students." Berkowitz. with 30 years' experience in dealing with the media, believes that conservatives need to stop complaning and start learning about how to face powerful media institutions populated by liberal journalists.

"We buy into the notion that the people who control the maini6eam media are far more liberal than we are," Berkowitz said. "But that doesn't mean we can't get our message acros using the mainstream media." He said that Republicans in Congress "need a lot of help," but added, "Ibey don't sing from the same songbook, and they will probably never have a unified Republican message. The RNC has its agenda and its masters, the House leadership has its ...."

He pointed to conservatives who do use the media effectively. "The-CATO Institute uses the media well, and so do some of the state think tanks. They don't use the liberal bias, real or imagined, of the media as an excuse. " He also pointed to Pat Buchanan as a controversial conservative who has achieved a lot of press and communicated his message far and wide. "You don't have to agree with Buchanan to admire how he uses the media every time he runs for President," Berkowitz said.

The Media Center says its "mission is to improve the communications knowledge and skills of conservatives in the public policy arena, increase the media's understanding of conservatives and the ideas inspiring conservatism, and help bridge the gap between the conservative policy community and the mainstream media." The center even offers an office suite to journalists visiting Washington.

The National Advisory Board of the center includes such well-known personalities as columnist William E Buckley, Jr., M. Stanton Evans of the National Journalism Center, Charles Krauthammer of the Washington Post, and Tom Phillips, chairman of Eagle Publishing, HUMAN EVENTS' parent company.

Less than a year old, the center already offers seminars on dealing with the media, writing for the media, public speaking, and a special series for congressional press secretaries. "We want to teach conservatives more about the media," Berkowitz said. "Their knowledge is abysmal. They're never going to tame the beast without knowing it." What is their biggest mistake? "They don't even try" Berkowitz said. "We want to teach people to approach the media like any other businesslike relationship. They should't question journalists' political views. If a businessman is selling a product, he doesn't ask the potential buyer about his views. You have a product to sell, which is your ideas. And journalists are your potential buyers."

So, Berkowitz continued, conservatives should ask themselves when dealing with journalists, "What do your potential buyers need? They need you to be ont he news they need brevity...."

Another problem: "Conservatives don't take the time to get to know people I net when I became actively involved was Stan Evans. I went down to Indianaplolis and I met him."

Next year, the center plans to introduce its distinguished journalist lecture series. "Conservatives have got to get over their hang-ups, and go out and meet these people."

Another part of the program is "to open journalists' minds to conservative ideas, making them more hospitable," said Berkowitz. "We don't have to change their minds, we just have to change their stories. We're going to identify schools that work., charities that work, and take journalists to visit these places. We're not going to rely on what Washington says works." And the center has set up "computer-assisted research and reporting. At Heritage, we have computer resources that are unexcelled in Washington."

James Hill, formerly of the Los Angeles Times, and Mark Tapscott, formerly of the Washington Times, assist Berkowitz at the center, make possible by part of a $10-million unrestricted gift to Heritage form Tim Mellon.

"Virtually everything we make available to the conservative movement will be free of charge," said Berkowitz. The center will even offer small stipends to those who need them. "Our most important job is mission ary. Conservatives can play the game and win," said Berkowitz.

The Center for Media and Public Policy Heritage Foundation 214 Masschusetts Ave. N.E., Washington D.C. 20002 (202-546-44[; fax.- 202-544-6979, website: www.heritage.org).

Copyright Human Events Publishing, Inc. Nov 19, 1999
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved