Enter comms

FreeCons reach critical audiences with a variety of media strategies

There are many rooms in the mansion of Freedom Conservatism.

Some leaders who’ve signed the FreeCon statement of principles specialize in public-policy analysis at the federal, state, or local levels. Many have served in elected or appointed office.

Others are litigators, or educators, or scholars, or philanthropists, or political activists.

As we seek to build a broader, stronger conservative movement that can 1) inspire adherents, 2) win elections, and 3) govern effectively to improve the lives of Americans, Freedom Conservatives must draw on a variety of talents and resources.

Today, we spotlight some of the most effective communicators among our ranks.

Heroic role

John Papola is co-founder and CEO of Austin-based Emergent Order Foundation. A FreeCon signatory, he is best known for co-creating the “Keynes vs. Hayek” and “Mises vs. Marx” rap videos which have reached tens of millions of students and educators globally.

Papola currently hosts “Dad Saves America,” a video and podcast series dedicated to exploring the biggest issues facing our next generation through the lens of heroic fatherhood.

He began his career at MTV, Nickelodeon and Spike — where, as one of the latter network’s creative directors, he launched numerous new shows with award-winning creative campaigns, including the “True Dads” and “True Dads in Uniform” initiatives.

Papola’s documentary At The Fork debuted to critical acclaim, an international premiere at the prestigious Berlin Film Festival, and worldwide distribution by Samuel Goldwyn Films and Amazon Prime.

His second film The Pursuit, starring author Arthur Brooks and depicting a search for happiness and global prosperity, debuted on Netflix. His newest film, To My Father, starring Academy Award winner Troy Kotsur, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2023.

Discussing the latter project with Fox News, Papola said that “the role of dad is the heroic role we play as men.”

“I think it’s something we need to celebrate. I think it’s something our culture hasn’t celebrated. We’re the Al Bundy generation. And I’m trying to offer a healthy, positive perspective on what it means to be a man and a dad.”

Calm the nation

Brooke Medina is vice president of communications for the Raleigh-based John Locke Foundation and a FreeCon signatory.

Medina manages a team of talented communications, design, and media professionals serving varied audiences in North Carolina and beyond. Among their productions are the popular TV show “The Debrief,” the award-winning short film In the Pines, and the new documentary Sowing Resilience: Securing Our Food Supply From Farm to Table.

She appears frequently on other TV and radio programs and podcasts. She’s written for such outlets as The Hill, Entrepreneur, Washington Examiner, WORLD, Daily Signal, and the Foundation for Economic Education. Medina is also a contributor to the recently released book, The Digital Public Square: Christian Ethics in a Technological Society.

She is a graduate of Regent University, holding a B.A. in Government and a minor in English. She’s also a member of the American Enterprise Institute’s Leadership Network.

In a recent essay for Light magazine, published by the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, Medina wrote that “Christians have an opportunity to bring calm and confidence to a nation that is on edge about the upcoming elections.”

“We should have compassion for those who are caught in the grip of the vicious news cycle and bad-faith political actors who see their raison d’être as raising as many blood pressures and campaign contributions as possible.”

We lucky Americans

Jon Caldara is president of the Denver-based Independence Institute and a FreeCon signatory.

The Sunday editorial columnist for The Denver Gazette, The Colorado Springs Gazette, and Colorado Politics, he hosts the current affairs program “Devil’s Advocate with Jon Caldara” on Colorado Public Television Channel 12. Caldara also hosts radio talk shows on Denver’s 630 KHOW and 850 KOA.

Over the past three decades, he has led or supported statewide referendum campaigns on such issues as tax relief, health care, worker freedom, and transportation.

Caldara started his political career in 1994 by being elected to the Board of Directors of the Regional Transportation District, one of the largest governments in Colorado. He later chaired the board.

In a memorable column for Complete Colorado, written from a Denver hospital, Caldara reflected on his own recent heart attack:

“I am a lucky son-of-a-bitch. Lucky to get treatment in time. Lucky people care about me. Lucky to live in America. We take the miracles of our times for granted. The wealth our nation has created has made it possible to reach into a stranger’s heart, fix it and have him watching ‘Seinfeld’ a few hours later.

“My thanks to my tattooed heroes. And, may you never take your health or the wonders of the free market for granted.

“Now go get a physical.”

In the mix

• In the Washington Examiner, FreeCon signatory Jay Cost compared the “low risk” campaign of Kamala Harris — no formal press conferences, little media access — to that of previous presidential candidates such as Thomas Dewey. Of course, Dewey famously lost. “This is not 1932 — the last time such a strategy worked for a nonincumbent candidate,” Cost pointed out. Franklin Roosevelt “had the wind at his back because of the Great Depression” and Democrats had been “out of office for over a decade.”

• In Foreign Policy, FreeCon signatory Gabriel Scheinmann observed that if Donald Trump wins the presidential election, “he and his potential advisors will return to a significantly changed global landscape — marked by two regional wars, the threat of a third in Asia, the return of great-power geopolitics, and globalization measurably in decline.”

Scheinmann, executive director of the Alexander Hamilton Society, argued that while “many expect a Trump 2.0 to be a more intense version of Trump 1.0, his response to the dramatic changes in the geopolitical environment could lead to unexpected outcomes.”

• In The Wall Street Journal, FreeCon signatory Vinnie Vernuccio reported that the vast majority of private-sector union members — 95% — never voted to join their union. Labor leaders “like this dynamic, which spares them from having to improve conditions,” he wrote. “Yet representation shouldn’t be forced on anyone — it should be freely chosen, based on what the union does or doesn’t provide.”

• At National Review, FreeCon signatory Charlie Cooke contrasted the weak track record of the national Republican Party with the significant electoral and policy victories achieved over the past 15 years by state GOPs: “Not only are state-level elected Republicans serious; they are driven by an agenda that would have been easily recognizable as “conservatism” at any point in the last 50 years.”