In such a dramatic political election and conservative landslide, there are many parties, and factors, to acknowledge for its success.  One of those success factors is the quality of information and thinking, and the media that delivers it. But not just any media.

Among alternative, conservative media sites, the American Thinker deserves to be singled out for its consistent editorial platform that articulately, accurately, and often entertainingly, framed many election issues, and hosted voices from many different writers, and commenters, who put their finger on a number of critical, complex issues, in ways you couldn’t find anywhere else, operating “without fear or favor.”

It’s natural to assume that big media is the true “fourth estate” or fourth power, that sways election politics.  Perhaps it can.  But in 2024, something else seemed to happen: alternative ways of reporting, investigating, interviewing, and demonstrating high journalism standards, acted to galvanize confidence in classic American principles of political economy, and to inform and educate large, self-selecting segments of active, interested, and involved public citizens and voters.

In my experience, there aren’t too many reliable media sites that have the fortitude to “tell it like it is,” back it up with good fact standards, and with a reasonable tone of voice that serves to convince and persuade.  The American Thinker is one of them.  It is also unusual because it operates in a more “open” format without the pretense and conflicts of corporate media, and in that way, it is a true platform that promotes democracy, where “democracy” has its better meaning in the character of the American mind: through true free speech, clear thinking, and quality of action.

Let’s all thank the American Thinker.

Matthew G. Andersson is a former CEO and author of the upcoming book “Legally Blind” concerning law and public policy. He has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Financial Times, the Washington Post, the National Academy of Sciences, and the 2001 Pulitzer Prize report by the Chicago Tribune, and hosted on ABC, CBS, Bloomberg, the BBC and Public Television. He received the Silver Anvil award from the Public Relations Society of America and has testified to the U.S. Senate, and cited by the UK Parliament on international trade policy.  He is a graduate of University of Chicago and the University of Texas at Austin where he worked with economist and White House national security advisor W.W. Rostow at the LBJ School of Public Affairs.

Image by Phil Chernok.