Journalism in the Political Crossfire: Howard Polskin on Monitoring Conservative Media

Howard Polskin’s career has wound through some of the most recognizable names in media, including TV Guide and CNN. Today, however, he occupies an unusual niche that his peers sometimes describe as one of the toughest jobs in journalism: closely reading conservative news outlets and writing commentary for subscribers of his site, TheRighting.com.

The work is not what outsiders often assume. Polskin’s project is less about arguing with the outlets he tracks than about documenting what they publish and giving readers a clear-eyed view of the media landscape from the other side of the political divide.

In this episode of Tales From the Beat, Polskin discusses how his earlier roles shaped his current approach, what he has learned from years of watching conservative media evolve, and why the task of reading the opposition press every day is more complicated, and more necessary, than it might first appear.