The ‘Viral Genius’ Journalist

He lives in New York City, grew up on the West Coast, and went to college in California, but Oliver Darcy isn’t your typical liberal journalist – he works for Glenn Beck.

Oliver Darcy sits at his desk at TheBlaze

“Oliver Darcy is a viral – twitter, facebook, social media – genius,” said fellow journalist Josiah Ryan, who worked with Oliver at the Leadership Institute’s CampusReform and now at Glenn Beck’s TheBlaze.

In just one month this year, Oliver drove 25 million page views to TheBlaze.

“My interest in writing was reignited while at the Leadership Institute when I started writing for CampusReform.org,” Oliver said.

After working for CampusReform.org for a year, he was offered a job as the Weekend Editor for TheBlaze, a news, information, and opinion website founded by television and radio host Glenn Beck.  Oliver has since moved to New York City, and become the Late Night Editor.

“I would tell conservatives hoping to find work in journalism to cover news from an objective angle.  Stop giving your opinion and start offering information,” Oliver said.

Oliver writes a story

Conservative journalists provide value by simply exposing the truth, Oliver’s co-worker pointed out.

“On the conservative side of things, we do have the truth on our side,” Josiah said.  “The facts are on our side, and if we present them in a professional compelling way, people will come over to our side.  What we’re trying to do at TheBlaze is what the guys at CampusReform are trying to do at the Leadership Institute, which is to tell true stories and let the readers decide,” Josiah said.

Right now, Oliver is launching a breaking news account for TheBlaze, called @TheBlazeNOW.   The account allows people to follow the news as it happens – live.

“The Leadership Institute has been very helpful to me in my professional journey, allowing me to start my journalism career at CampusReform.org and continue from there,” Oliver said.

Oliver teaches at an LI trainingHe first heard about the Leadership Institute when a Regional Field Coordinator contacted him to speak about viral video at an LI training.

“I enjoyed helping teach students how they can expose instances of waste, fraud, and corruption on their college campuses.  Traveling with Leadership Institute staff was always a blast,” Oliver said.

Oliver was born near Seattle, Washington and attended high school in Fresno, California.  He got his early start in journalism in high school, where he wrote for the school newspaper for three years.  After graduating from the University of California, Merced, Oliver moved to Washington, D.C. to work for the Leadership Institute’s CampusReform.org.

In his time at the Leadership Institute’s CampusReform, Oliver was named Leadership Institute’s Employee of the Quarter and Employee of the year by Morton Blackwell.

Please congratulate Oliver Darcy on his work with TheBlaze, and please applaud him for receiving LI’s Conservative Leader Award.

To nominate a Leadership Institute graduate or faculty member for the Conservative Leader Award or Conservative Leader-In-Training Award, please contact LI's Director of External Affairs Carol Wehe, at Carol@LeadershipInstitute.org.

The Leadership Institute offers over 40 types of training programs, working with more than 1,441 conservative campus groups, and helping employers connect with conservative jobseekers. Since the Institute’s 1979 founding, more than 143,000 conservative activists, students, and leaders have been trained. Graduates include members of Congress, state legislators, local officials, media personalities, and conservative organization leaders. For more information, please visit: www.LeadershipInstitute.org.