Michigan State University has sunk nearly $400,000 since 2016 into a left-wing news site, The Conversation, Michigan Enjoyer has learned.
The Conversation purports to offer a blend of “academic rigor” and “journalistic flair.”
But a review of its stories by The College Fix has revealed a pronounced bias in its journalism.
Universities across America pay about $2 million to The Conversation annually, The College Fix reported. Michigan State University signed up in December 2015 as a founding member.
An MSU official explained why on a business disbursement voucher from March 2016:
“As a founding member of The Conversation US, Inc. we will receive first consideration for our stories to be republished on other media platforms, such as Time, Fortune and The Washington Post. We will receive metrics from them in order to analyze the republications, tweets, Facebook ‘likes’ and readers’ comments which will assist us in elevating MSU’s reputation and engage stakeholders.”
Since that day, MSU has paid $394,000 in fees to The Conversation. Including MSU’s $35,000 founding membership payment in 2015, that’s $429,000 of taxpayer money spent parroting the left-wing talking points found at any news site.
The College Fix review found a decided anti-Trump slant to The Conversation’s stories. A recent story, co-written by a Michigan State professor, fit that mold.
Exhibit A, this August 26 headline: “Trump’s push to fire Fed governor threatens central bank independence − and that isn’t good news for sound economic stewardship (or battling inflation).”
Authors Cristina Bodea, a Michigan State political science professor, and Ana Carolina Garrega, a government professor at the University of Essex, present Fed Governor Lisa Cook’s firing as a matter of “central bank independence.”
Only once do the professors mention the allegation central to Cook’s firing: She signed two mortgages, two weeks apart, both saying she would live in the mortgaged property for a year.
This could not have been true. But Cook said it anyway, and Bill Pulte, the head of the Federal Housing Administration, has produced the receipts showing it.
Nor does the story address that presidential powers give Trump the power to fire a Fed Governor for cause, as Cook was.
The second paragraph in the story reads:
“At the heart of her firing attempt – and other moves to undermine the Fed by the Trump administration – is a power struggle. Central banks, which are public institutions that manage a country’s currency and its monetary policy, have an extraordinary amount of power. By controlling the flow of money and credit in a country, they can affect economic growth, inflation, employment and financial stability.”
Those are all words, I suppose. But none gets to the meat of the matter, the mortgage fraud allegations.
Here’s what the story had to say about that:
“Attacks on the Fed have accelerated in Trump’s second administration. In April 2025, Trump lashed out at Fed Chair Jerome Powell in an online post accusing him of being “TOO LATE AND WRONG” on interest rate cuts, while suggesting that the central banker’s “termination cannot come fast enough!” Unable to force Powell out, Trump has now brought the power struggle to a head with his firing of Cook, nominally over allegations that the Fed governor falsified records in a mortgage application. Cook has said that the president does not have the grounds or authority to fire her.”
Did you spot the slant in the third and fourth sentences? Let’s isolate them, and break it down.
“Unable to force Powell out, Trump has now brought the power struggle to a head with his firing of Cook, nominally over allegations that the Fed governor falsified records in a mortgage application. Cook has said that the president does not have the grounds or authority to fire her.”
Mortgage fraud allegations are a serious business, carrying a 30-year federal prison penalty. For a Fed governor, a position that avoids even the appearance of impropriety, Cook is well beyond the firing line.
Since publication, Pulte has produced a third allegedly falsified mortgage application.
“3 strikes and you’re out,” Pulte tweeted.
There’s nothing nominal about that.
Then there’s the kicker. “Cook has said…” treats Cook as the final authority on the matter, and not as a self-interested party speaking in self-interest.
Self-serving statements should be quoted, for fairness sake. The accused have a right to defend themselves. But to minimize the accusations as nominal and take Cook’s word for it—that’s more “journalistic flair” than “academic rigor.”
Does any of this benefit Michigan State University in any way, as school officials said the partnership would? Two MSU spokeswomen did not respond to a query. But if they do, we will report back.
James David Dickson is an enjoyer of Michigan. Join him in conversation on X at @downi75.
