Newsmax CEO inspires unity, truth-seeking

One of the leading voices in the national media — Christopher Ruddy, president and CEO of Newsmax Media — echoed a challenge across Liberty University’s Vines Center during Convocation Wednesday, March 2, to seek out and declare the truth.

“Nobody has the whole truth,” he said before correcting himself: “Well, God does. God is the truth.”

As God’s creation, people have a responsibility to interpret information as best they can in order to determine and share the truth, he said.

“The lifeblood of a democracy depends on a free flow of information,” Ruddy said, challenging the students to gather information from multiple sources, even ones who press viewpoints contrary to their own. “And if the public is not getting that information they are not going to make very wise decisions.”

Ruddy was introduced in his first Convocation visit by Liberty President Jerry Falwell, who called Ruddy “a noted journalist, entrepreneur, and a conservative leader.” Falwell noted that Ruddy has been recognized as “one of America’s most influential media personalities” and that Newsmax is valued at over $100 million.

Newsmax is one of the nation’s largest and most trafficked news outlets.

In October, Newsmax named Liberty the top evangelical Christian college in the country, recognizing the university as “one of the fastest-rising universities in American education,” with “massive online enrollment of nearly 100,000 students” augmented by “15,000 residential students at a rapidly expanding campus.”

Newsmax also recognized Falwell as No. 8 on its list of the Top 100 Christian Leaders in America, and the publication featured Liberty’s unprecedented growth on the cover of the April 2014 issue.

As Ruddy began his speech, he said that we should all strive to respect others so that we can build a thriving society.

“Even though you can disagree on political issues with people and have really serious disagreements, there is oftentimes great common ground where you can build friendships and you can work for the common good,” Ruddy said.

Ruddy shared some lessons from American history, explaining that we are all heirs to the men and women who went before us to pave a path to freedom. He shared his deep respect for Liberty’s founder, the late Dr. Jerry Falwell, and said that people like him were willing to unify for the sake of betterment, even as others protested.

“When you have courage and you are willing to go beyond what people tell you that you should do and how you should think,” Ruddy said, “you can make a tremendous difference in the lives of so many people in our country.”

Ruddy encouraged the students to not be afraid to break the status quo, to be true to themselves and their core values, and to be courageous.

“If we keep to those core values and we believe in the future of this country, America will always, always remain a great nation,” Ruddy said. “But it depends on each one of you.”

After his speech Ruddy shared some career advice and talked about the changing landscape of media in an informal Q and A.

Also during Convocation, Falwell recognized two special guests, Patricia Rawlings and Jackie Reynolds of The Rawlings Group, who are visiting campus to discuss opportunities for students to be involved with their organization’s global missions work. Rawlings is the wife of Herb Rawlings, whose family visited Liberty last fall and gave a large donation to the university. Liberty’s Rawlings School of Divinity was named in honor of the family.

Before inviting Ruddy to the podium, Falwell took a moment to commend the student body for their tremendous turnout in Tuesday’s presidential primary, where many students voted from Liberty’s on-campus voting precinct.

“I want to congratulate all of you for showing the world that Liberty University students are free thinkers,” Falwell said. “You guys exercised your conscience by coming out and voting yesterday and expressing your own beliefs and coming to your own conclusions.”

Falwell said it is rare for university students to be so willing to go against the grain. He also thanked them for being so hospitable to Liberty’s many guests, some of whom hold views they do not agree with.

C-SPAN bus visits campus

Students also had the opportunity to engage with a national news outlet when the C-SPAN Bus visited campus Wednesday afternoon. The bus is part of the C-SPAN in the Community program and travels across the country to festivals, high schools, universities, and political events. Students toured the free, interactive multimedia center and mobile studio, getting a behind-the-scenes look at C-SPAN productions as the private, nonprofit network follows Campaign 2016. Follow today’s stop at Liberty on Twitter @cpansbus.