USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism sent out an email September 9 notifying students of a free subscription to The Telegraph UK.
The Telegraph is a conservative British daily newspaper. It’s known in the UK, colloquially, as the “Torygraph” because of the links between the paper’s editors and the UK’s Conservative Party. The Telegraph has endorsed the Conservative Party for every UK general election since 1945.
Miki Turner, an Annenberg professor of professional practice, described the platform as “slimy” and “clickbait.”
Turner said, “I don’t know how [The Telegraph goes] about doing their reporting, but a lot of it is blatantly wrong.”
Jordan Peterson, a Canadian political commentator, is a frequent author for The Telegraph’s Opinion section. Some articles he’s posted include: “Trans activism is sexist and delusional,” “Canada is at the forefront of the woke assault on our essential human liberties, " and “This unholy axis of Iranian thugs and Marxist psychopaths is an enemy of Muslims too.”
Some students said they were shocked by these headlines.
Arielle Valera is a graduate student studying public relations and advertising and is skeptical about the newspaper.
“That behavior is unacceptable and shouldn’t be embraced in the USC community because we’re so diverse,” she said. “It just gives off a negative light on USC.”
Blake Stauffer, a senior communications major, said, “It seems like most of these problems are being made much larger because of the news and how they’re portrayed. I think that rhetoric is obviously dangerous.”
Some students believe there should be diversity in the media students’ consume.
Meezer Girmay, a graduate student studying public relations and advertising, said some of the examples of Telegraph stories make her “a little uncomfortable,” but she said being exposed to different viewpoints can be a good thing.
“I think it’s good to be inclusive and give all voices a platform,” Grimay said.
Madison Piker, a junior intelligence and cyber operations major, said that connections with people with differing viewpoints can make someone a “well-rounded” person.
“[It makes] students who identify as conservative feel like they do have a place on campus and [are] not just shut out by the opposing side,” Piker said.
Turner said students would be wise to not get the bulk of their news from The Telegraph, conservative or not, because of the platform’s reporting tactics.
“[The Telegraph] is beneficial in a way because it shows you what not to do,” Turner said.
The Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism did not reply to a request for comment.