Stephen Hayes, who took over as editor of the conservative Weekly Standard in December, says he intends to continue founder Bill Kristol's vision of a conservative source of news without the sometimes outright falsehoods he sees at some conservative outlets.
As part of that process, Hayes is adding to his newsroom.
As he told New York Times media columnist Jim Rutenberg, Hayes says he made the case to Weekly Standard owner Philip Anschutz: "Let's add more resources and make sure that we're basing our arguments on facts, logic and reason."
Hayes' effort to fight so-called "fake news" on the right and leftist-leaning journalism in the mainstream press includes increasing his newsroom by a third.
New staff members include Wall Street Journal books editor Robert Messenger, who will serve as executive editor with another of the publication's founders Fred Barnes; Rachael Larimore, former Slate managing editor and Tony Mecia, former deputy business editor of The Charlotte Observer. Five more journalists will be hired as well, Hayes said.
Still, Hayes admitted, it could be a tough slog for publications such as his in an era when the sensational gets the most attention.
"You can make an argument that the people who pay the price are the people who do the real reporting — not the hot takes, and not the clickbait — and who aren't extreme and ranting," Hayes said.
The Weekly Standard opposed Donald Trump's campaign for the presidency, and Kristol publicly courted independent conservative candidates to oppose him even after Trump secured the Republican nomination.
Hayes told Rutenberg that The Weekly Standard will continue to call out Trump when it believes he is wrong, but will avoid the mainstream media's tendency to quickly declare everything Trump says is false.
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