Rousselle's Article Receives National Attention

Christine Rousselle '13 made national news this winter with her controversial article "My Time at Walmart: Why We Need Serious Welfare Reform." The article describes the injustice and cheating of the welfare system that Rousselle witnessed during her time as an employee at Walmart. The article is humorous, with her depiction of Welfare Queen #1 and Welfare Queen #2 and serious in her proposition for reform.

News of the article spread like wildfire across mainstream television and radio stations, and the piece received many hits. Rousselle attributes the immense attraction to her article as a testament to the potency of Twitter, Facebook, and other social media. Before becoming an overnight sensation, Rouselle's article was featured on a Web site she writes for, The College Conservative.

In July 2011, Rousselle heard of a conference in Washington, D.C., and tweeted that she wished to attend. Hours later, she received a phone call offering her a free trip to attend the conference in August. She met a girl at the conference who informed her about The College Conservative, a Web site where writers can cover conservative issues of their choosing.

Rousselle's first article was on a teacher she had in high school, but the article only made a minor splash compared to her nationally recognized Walmart article. When she posted the second article, she received 4,000 hits within hours, which was a large number compared to the 886 hits the Web site had the day before. The article was discussed on the FreeRepublic conservative message boards, and Dana Loesch tweeted about her article. The article was viewed over 30,000 times the day it was published, December 13. The article was then featured on a local Boston radio station on December 15 during a prime-time slot. Bangor Daily News and The Associated Press picked up the article and published it on December 17 in 200 newspapers, which escalated the view count to over 300,000 in one day. Popular FOX News personality Glenn Beck published an article about Rousselle on his Web site The Blaze, and she was linked on hotair.com and National Review. She was bombarded with radio show opportunities, and appeared on 20 local and national stations. She also got an offer to appear on an Evangelical Christian television show.

Her most publicized offer came from NBC's The Today Show, which e-mailed her an offer to appear on the show, although a final date has not yet been set. The show also mentioned her on its Facebook page on December 20. Popular news station MSNBC wrote about the young journalist on its Web site as well. Conservative radio host Mark Levin mentioned her on his radio station on December 16 and expressed his prediction that she was going to be famous. Rousselle's most revered recognition came from her idol, Ann Coulter, a political commentator. Coulter tweeted at Rousselle and offered encouraging words of praise. The two now tweet at each other during political debates, which has increased Rousselle's Twitter popularity to over 1,000 followers.

Rousselle has received both hate mail and praise in response to her article, including several marriage proposals.

"People read into it how they want to read into it," says Rousselle.

One headline about the article read, "College Student Slams Welfare." Rousselle states that she was not slamming welfare in her article, because she believes in aiding those in need. Rather, she was expressing her disdain for individuals who cheat the system and do not truly need the government aid. One man discussed in her article used food stamps to buy hotdogs for his small business. Food stamps are meant to feed the individual in need, not to supply customers of a hotdog stand.

The issue of welfare abuse frustrates Rousselle: "It bothers me to see money from my paycheck going to pay for something that is morally questionable."

Rousselle did not plan on her article becoming national and receiving the amount of media attention it has. However, she stands by what she wrote and explains that she was writing for The College Conservative readers, not a national audience.

"The article makes sense if you read it in the context of the Web site," said Rousselle.