The College Fix

The College Fix
Type of site
Political
News
Higher education
Available in English
Owner Student Free Press Association
Created by John J. Miller
Editor Jennifer Kabbany
Website www.thecollegefix.com
Alexa rank Negative increase 58,450 (Global 06/2018)
Launched 2011

The College Fix is an American libertarian-conservative news website focused on higher education. It was created in 2011 by journalist John J. Miller and is published by the non-profit Student Free Press Association. The site features "right-minded news and commentary"[1] and often attacks what it describes as "political correctness".[2]

The SFPA and The College Fix are designed "to groom young conservatives for careers in the news media by placing college students in internships with right-leaning publications."[2] Miller had long desired "to help other conservative and libertarian campus journalists" and The Fix gives them a platform where they will get "more attention than from just the campus level."[3]

The website does not list it's funding sources but public records show it receives major support from two closely related donor-advised charities, the Donors Capital Fund and Donors Trust which distribute grants to conservative and libertarian organizations with close ties to the Koch Brothers.[4]. From 2011 to 2014, the two funds combined have granted $1.1 million dollars to the SFPA[5].

As of 2015, The Fix has three full-time editors and one part-time editor who oversee a network of approximately 75 contributors.[2]

The Chronicle of Higher Education reported in 2015 that some subjects covered by The Fix had accused the website of misreporting their stories. Fix editor Jennifer Kabbany defended the site's coverage and said the site offers those it covers an opportunity to comment.[2] In addition, Kabbany told NPR in April 2018 that the site "has publicly denounced any vile emails that a professor might get."[6]

In February 2017 Inside Higher Ed probed whether The Fix had failed to disclose its relationship to the son of Betsy DeVos, weeks before her appointment as the U.S. Secretary of Education. As early as 2015 Rick DeVos had served as a board member of the Student Free Press Association, though this relationship was not disclosed in the site's coverage of DeVos.[1] Days after the report John Miller apologized for his "oversight."[7]

Notable stories

The Fix's April 2018 report on a George Washington University diversity workshop designed to combat "Christian privilege" led to that very phrase trending on Twitter for hours on April 3.[8]

In March of 2018, The Fix's report on Stanford's rejection of the College Republicans' choice of logo -- the American flag -- garnered a lot of media coverage[9], and a few days later the university changed its mind.[10]

In July of 2017 Claremont College retracted its appointee to the role of LGBTQ center director after The Fix publicized tweets of the director professing his suspicion "of white gays and well meaning white women."[11]

In March of 2017 The Fix reported that a Rollins College student was suspended for challenging a Muslim professor’s purportedly “anti-Christian” statements.[12] The story was picked up by national news outlets[13][14] but some described the controversy as "fake news."[15] The professor ended up resigning from Rollins[16] claiming she had received hateful messages and threats, but she remained a full professor at Valencia College.[17]

Staff

  • John J. Miller, founder and executive director
  • Katherine Miller, founding editor-in-chief[18]
  • Nathan Harden, editor-in-chief from 2012–2014[19]
  • Jennifer Kabbany, current editor-in-chief

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Betsy DeVos's connection to The College Fix, a conservative higher education news site". Retrieved 2018-06-15.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Higher Education's Internet Outrage Machine". The Chronicle of Higher Education. 2015-09-08. Retrieved 2018-06-15.
  3. "New Balance". Default. Retrieved 2018-08-09.
  4. "Report: Think tanks tied to Kochs". POLITICO. Retrieved 2018-09-09.
  5. "DonorsTrust and Donors Capital Fund Grant Recipients - SourceWatch". www.sourcewatch.org. Retrieved 2018-09-09.
  6. Kamenetz, Anya. "Professors Are Targets In Online Culture Wars; Some Fight Back". Retrieved 2018-06-15.
  7. Miller, John J. (8 February 2018). "DeVos and disclosure". The College Fix. Retrieved 27 June 2018. Although the makeup of SFPA’s board is available in public documents, we did not put a disclosure statement in the articles posted on The Fix. We should have done this. I apologize for the oversight. The fault is mine.
  8. Graham, Ruth. "GWU Is Conducting a Seminar on "Christian Privilege" and Right-Wing Media Is Very Displeased". Slate Magazine. Retrieved 2018-08-09.
  9. Parke, Caleb (2018-03-08). "Stanford rejects College Republicans' proposed logo because it shows American flag". Fox News. Retrieved 2018-08-09.
  10. Parke, Caleb (2018-03-13). "Stanford reverses decision, will allow American flag on College Republicans' apparel". Fox News. Retrieved 2018-08-09.
  11. "After Tweet Controversy, Dean Launches Search for New QRC Director". The Claremont Independent. 2017-07-08. Retrieved 2018-06-27.
  12. "Christian student suspended after challenging Muslim prof's claim tha…". archive.is. 2017-03-28. Retrieved 2018-09-09.
  13. http://www.washingtontimes.com, The Washington Times. "Rollins College suspends student who challenged Muslim prof's claim that Jesus' crucifixion a hoax". The Washington Times. Retrieved 2018-09-26.
  14. Brogan, Jacob (2017-03-28). "Today in Conservative Media: Some Sharia and Jesus News". Slate. ISSN 1091-2339. Retrieved 2018-09-26.
  15. "Rollins College Controversy Described as 'Fake News'". Snopes.com. Retrieved 2018-09-26.
  16. "Muslim Professor Resigns after Christian Student Stands Up for His Faith". CBN News. 2017-04-13. Retrieved 2018-09-26.
  17. Russon, Gabrielle. "Student suspended over Facebook post, not fight with professor, Rollins says". OrlandoSentinel.com. Retrieved 2018-09-26.
  18. Kabbany, Jennifer (1 September 2016). "Katherine Miller". Retrieved 2 July 2018.
  19. Kabbany, Jennifer (1 September 2016). "Nathan Harden". The College Fix. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
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