Our mission headed into a second full year of news reporting.
Owen Tilman
Editor-in-Chief, The Buckley Beacon
In June, renowned historian Sam Tanenhaus released his long-awaited biography of William F. Buckley, Jr., entitled, Buckley: The Life and Revolution That Changed America.
Tanenhaus, after being hand-picked by Buckley to write the biography in 1998, then spent the next two-and-a-half decades analyzing Buckley’s extensive career as a prominent American polemicist and conservative intellectual. In a sit-down with The Atlantic shortly before the biography was published, Tanenhaus offered a glance at his findings.
“Buckley wasn’t a populist scourge or congressional Torquemada,” Tanenhaus told The Atlantic’s Cullen Murphy. Buckley believed, Tanenhaus argues, that “ideological adversaries could talk to one another, use language as a weapon but also as an instrument of persuasion.”
Just a few months after the release of Tanenhaus’ biography, The Buckley Beacon is headed into its second full year of regular news reporting on Yale’s campus. As editor-in-chief, I remain as determined as ever to honor Buckley’s legacy with honest, principled journalism and idea-testing.
The Beacon seeks to balance the information mainstream at Yale, and offers readers a credible alternative to the Yale Daily News or Yale Politic. In addition to investigative reporting, we feature arts, culture, and scholarly writing—all areas where independent and right-of-center media have historically underperformed. Conservative media has long been a sanctuary for opinion commentary and rank punditry, while it outsourced high-quality journalism to its liberal competitors. With that in mind, The Beacon is pursuing a much needed course correction.
While we freely associate with Buckley’s conservative brand, we welcome writers and contributors of all political persuasions. Part and parcel of our mission is the following rule: We do not pull punches. In an era of populism, identitarianism, and sensationalism, The Beacon is ruthlessly nonpartisan and prioritizes facts, free inquiry, and discipline. Just as Buckley was a champion of firing-line debates and dialogues, we seek out all sides of an issue, and deliver—to the extent that is possible—a fair and objective review.
We look forward to a successful second year. Let’s get to work.