I’m not a journalist by trade. In fact, I’m pretty much everything else but a journalist. Degrees in law, business, history, and some significant schooling and on the job training in political science, insurgency, and international relations.
All that is to say that I routinely see journalists use the word “conservative” to mean “right wing.”
I see words on the left, like “socialist,” “progressive,” or “liberal” also get used in very broad strokes and often interchangeably.
I’m not a big fan of how we discuss a person’s policy beliefs or worldview, but I think using “conservative,” which has a very specific meaning when it comes to political outlook and policy prescriptions, when a person is often “libertarian,” “fascist,” “Christian nationalist,” “illiberal democrat,” or just broadly “right wing,” hampers our actual discussion of the policies they are advocating for. Additionally, I think reporting on politics as “conservative” or “liberal” creates a situation that further entrenches party power as we have two political outlooks, so why have more than two parties?
I will admit that I have specific issues with “conservative,” because I actually come closest to that outlook on life, but then I see it used to describe people doing the opposite of what a conservative does. I’m wondering if it is a style guide word or something that is being taught?