Caroline Bryant
Editor-in-Chief
When Vogue magazine’s latest political correspondent Jack Schlossberg posted an Instagram reel expressing his opinions about the presidential debate, many of the magazine’s followers flooded the comment section. While many were in support of the commentary made by “the people’s princess,” other followers were angry about why Vogue was talking about politics in the first place.
“Why the **** does Vogue even have a political reporter? Stick to fashion,” a user by the name of @djpalardy said.
Most of Schlossberg’s posts contain similar criticism. This poses two questions: Who is Jack Schlossberg and why did Vogue choose him to speak on American politics?
Schlossberg is the grandson of former President John F. Kennedy, and the son of U.S. Ambassador Caroline Kennedy and Edwin Schlossberg. According to “Today,” he “graduated from Yale University in 2015 with a degree in history with a focus on Japanese history.”
In 2017, Schlossberg began attending Harvard Law and Business School, receiving his JD and MBA. Later in April 2023, he celebrated his passing of the bar exam on social media, officially becoming a legal attorney.
Being an attorney has nothing to do with politics. Yet, in his first live appearance on Today in 2017, Schlossberg expressed that his family’s devotion to the American people had inspired him to follow suit.
“I’m inspired by my family’s legacy of public service,” Schlossberg told Today. “It’s something that I’m very proud of, but I’m still trying to make my own way, figure things out, so stay tuned.”
He’s proven such by being an active Democrat. At the Democratic National Convention, his address supported Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. When his cousin and independent presidential nominee Robert F. Kennedy was still running for office, Schlossberg was open about his opposition against him, stating that a vote for RFK was a vote for Trump.
Honoring his grandfather’s legacy is also important to him. In June, a month before becoming a part of Vogue, Schlossberg presented the 2024 John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award to Kentucky Secretary of State Michael G. Adams for “expanding voting rights and standing up for free and fair elections despite party opposition and death threats from election deniers.” In his presentation speech, Schlossberg also reinforced the importance of voting. He explained how the award dedicated to Adams should remind the American people to vote in November, no excuses applicable.
Increasing voter turnout was the exact reason Vogue hired him. Knowing that Schlossberg is dedicated to the cause– and is able to confidently speak about it on his combined social media following of over 820,000– he was the perfect pick for Editor of Vogue.com Chloe Malle.
“Jack emerged as a staff favorite early on in this election cycle with his irreverent but intelligent takes on the political landscape,” Malle said that was reported in The New York Times. “We all know the stakes of this election and it is critical to Vogue that we do all we can to get our audience motivated to vote.”
With a predominantly female audience, being told to vote by a young, attractive man is pretty convincing. If Gen Z women already call him the “people’s princess,” it can’t be that hard.
All things considered, my concern isn’t whether or not he is knowledgeable on the subject. Hailing from the family of families, there’s no doubt that he knows what he’s talking about. My question is if he’s still an active lawyer, and if not, why did he quit for America’s top fashion and culture magazine?
As mentioned previously, the crowned argument offered by trolls is that Vogue doesn’t need a political correspondent. They should only discuss fashion and culture.
Good thing they still are.
Merriam Webster defines culture as: “the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious or social group.” Politics is shaped from these factors, inherently making politics an important part of culture.
It’s also not something unheard of from Vogue. The magazine has published political content for years. While their articles tend to be left-leaning, they have more leeway since they aren’t what people tend to seek for news. In fact, it’s safe to assume the political content Vogue publishes has more credibility than CNN or Fox News, because at least they declare their articles as opinion or feature.
Schlossberg’s presence on “Vogue” forces people to pay attention while bringing more viewers to the platform. Since Gen Z adores Schlossberg, non-followers may click Instagram’s blue button to keep up with his posts. In consequence, they hear updates about the upcoming election and potential policies that may pass depending on the winner. This then influences non-voters to register and those already registered to go out and vote, hoping to prevent the chaos Schlossberg’s been warning them about.
If this wasn’t already “Vogue”’s plan, I’d’ be surprised. But if it was, hiring Schlossberg was the best decision to execute it.
