Kansas University’s journalism school breaks the mold among select peers for not being overwhelmingly liberal, according to a recent study by conservative activist David Horowitz.

The results were news to some KU faculty.

“A lot of us were surprised,” journalism professor Ted Frederickson said. “Even the Republicans were surprised.”

The study was authored by Joseph Light and Horowitz, who has long battled for “ideological balance” in higher education.

KU has long been considered, at least by most Kansans, a bastion of liberalism in an overwhelmingly red state.

But it shouldn’t be surprising that KU has a school with more Republicans than Democrats, Chancellor Robert Hemenway said.

“The university is a place where free speech is alive and well and frequently exercised,” he said. “Once you look at the product of that free speech, you see a wide variety of views represented by faculty.”

• KU School of Journalism and Mass Communications

Hemenway said he’s registered as independent.

“I always remind people that I do have a party,” he said. “It’s called the Jayhawk party.”

Study results

The study, which also looked at law schools, reviewed the voting records of faculty at nine journalism schools, including Columbia, Northwestern, and Syracuse universities. KU was the only school with registered Republicans outnumbering registered Democrats.

It found KU’s journalism school had 10 registered Republicans and eight registered Democrats. Another 17 faculty were either nonpartisan or not registered.

In comparison, Columbia University had one registered Republican and 15 registered Democrats, with 10 faculty reported to be either nonpartisan or not registered.

The study hailed KU’s journalism school for showing “genuine intellectual diversity.”

Horowitz said the results mean KU is one of the rare schools in the country that does not discriminate against hiring conservatives.

“I think students get a better shake because they get to hear both sides of the issues,” he said of KU.

Horowitz admitted his research methods were crude, but said his aim was to show that there is a problem nationally with schools not having enough representation from the political right.

“Kansas really sets a standard,” he said.

Most of the schools Horowitz looked at were on the coasts. Horowitz said he may have picked KU because he read the Thomas Frank book “What’s the Matter with Kansas?”, though he couldn’t recall. Some picks, he said, were somewhat random.

Skepticism about study

Some at KU took the study with skepticism.

“If universities did so well at what he says we’re doing, how would we have elected Ronald Reagan and the George Bushes?” KU political science professor Burdett Loomis asked.

Journalism professor Richard Musser said he’s not sure what the results mean.

“There are Republicans in the state of Kansas who may be Democrats in other states,” he said.

Musser said the school teaches its students the importance of balance.

“Any school of journalism that is reputable and has professors that are worth their salt teaches that journalists have to be balanced in their stories,” he said.

Frederickson said a diverse faculty is essential.

“We see things from the perspective of our own experiences,” he said. “We write about a diverse world, so we really ought to be a diverse group of journalists.”

Frederickson said the school’s faculty weren’t training students to be Republicans or Democrats, but “we do communicate values,” he said.

Detecting political views

Though they may not discuss them directly, professors’ political views can be detected, said Greg Nylander, a senior in the journalism school.

Nylander said he can gather their views based on their comments, or the tone of their voice or if a professor voices support for a particular law. Nylander said he’s never had any issues at KU with faculty imposing their political views on students or stifling dissent.

“I’ve never had anything shoved down my throat,” he said.