It's not just Limbaugh and Hannity
SUMMARY: Beyond the echelon of widely known conservative radio hosts with national audiences lies a vast network of lesser-known syndicated and regional radio hosts who have become key components of an echo chamber for conservative talking points and falsehoods. Like their better-known counterparts, these syndicated and regional radio hosts have played active roles this election season in promoting falsehoods and smears in an all-out effort to foment hate and distrust among their listeners for President-elect Barack Obama. While the hosts vary in the degree of vitriol they spew and in their ratio of rebuttable falsehoods to unbridled smears, Media Matters for America and Colorado Media Matters have identified common themes that many, if not all, have promoted over the past year.
While there has been much discussion about the role that nationally syndicated radio hosts Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity have played in perpetuating smears and falsehoods about progressive candidates and ideals, little has been said about the vast network of lesser-known syndicated and regional radio hosts who have served as an echo chamber for conservative talking points and falsehoods. This year, Media Matters for America has greatly expanded its monitoring of regional radio and has produced numerous items documenting falsehoods, smears, and baseless attacks on progressives in that time. While the hosts vary in the degree of vitriol they spew and in their ratio of rebuttable falsehoods to unbridled smears, Media Matters and Colorado Media Matters have identified common themes that many, if not all, promote.
The Project for Excellence in Journalism recently released a report, which garnered considerable media attention, concluding that Sen. John McCain received much more "negative" coverage than President-elect Barack Obama during the campaign. But in purporting to compare the media's coverage of the two candidates, PEJ did not consider talk radio, saying: "Talk radio stories ... were not included in this campaign study of tone." But, beyond arguable flaws in PEJ's methodology, no study of the "tone" in the media's coverage of this presidential campaign is complete without inclusion of conservative talk radio. Several of the radio hosts monitored by Media Matters (their shows are described in detail below), as well as their guests, engaged in an all-out effort to foment hate and suspicion of Obama among their listeners, promoting the most baseless and farfetched of smears and advancing falsehoods -- including about Obama's religion and background -- that have taken hold among a substantial percentage of the electorate.
Media Matters has compiled some of the more noteworthy examples of conservative radio hosts' and their guests' attacks on Obama and, more generally, attacks against others in the context of the 2008 election.
General themes in 2008 election
Throughout the general election cycle, conservative talk radio hosts have repeatedly attempted to exploit ignorance about and distrust of Obama rooted in his heritage and upbringing, and have engaged in a relentless campaign to depict Obama as an untrustworthy outsider. In doing so, radio hosts have compared Obama to the Antichrist, as well as to Hitler and Mao and have suggested that his loyalties lie outside of the United States, including in the case of some radio hosts, with Kenya and Kenyan political figures. The first-ever nomination by a major party of an African-American has also inspired extensive, racially tinged commentary on conservative radio, with direct attacks on Obama, his qualifications for office, and the motivations of his supporters.
This election-related commentary was not limited to Obama. Sen. Hillary Clinton's and Gov. Sarah Palin's candidacies prompted many talk radio hosts to engage in unabashed sexist commentary, often focused on the candidate's physical appearances. Attacks were also waged against those seen as supporters or beneficiaries of progressive candidates. For instance, several talk radio hosts and their guests suggested that demographic groups such as the poor or women should be denied the right to vote.
- Chris Baker
Radio hosts echo Drudge's distortion of Obama's 2001 WBEZ interview
On his October 27 radio show, Minneapolis radio host Chris Baker distorted Obama's 2001 remarks by claiming that Obama said "we gotta have economic justice and the Supreme Court ought to weigh in on redistributing wealth." Baker added: "Yeah, it's too bad you kind of stuck with the Constitution as it was. It's a tragedy that redistribution of wealth was not pursued by the Supreme Court. Can you believe that?" In fact, Obama did not say, "It's a tragedy that redistribution of wealth was not pursued by the Supreme Court," or indicate, as Baker later claimed, that Obama "wants to use the Supreme Court to reinterpret the Constitution in order to force the redistribution of wealth." Rather, as Media Matters has noted, the "tragedy" Obama identified during the interview was that the civil rights movement "became so court-focused" in trying to bring about political and economic justice.
- Dan Caplis
On the February 25 broadcast of his radio show, Dan Caplis questioned Obama's having worn the traditional attire of a tribal elder during an August 2006 visit to Kenya. Referring to Osama bin Laden, Caplis questioned why Obama would "put on similar clothing to the outfit worn by the man who personally ordered thousands of Americans, including women and kids, to be burned to death," later stating that "it would be as if John Kennedy had gone out and thrown on the fatigues and the funny baseball hat that Castro wore."
- Bill Cunningham
Cunningham alleged that "Obama wants to gas the Jews"
During the October 30 broadcast of his Cincinnati-based radio show, Bill Cunningham asked "Randy Furman," a fictional Jewish character voiced by fellow WLW-AM host Scott Sloan: "Did you hear about this [Columbia University professor of Middle East studies Rashid] Khalidi tape where Obama is toasting a guy who wants to gas and fry Jews? ... This Obama guy loves the PLO [Palestinian Liberation Organization]. Can't you figure that out?" Cunningham later added, "Jews for McCain because Obama wants to gas the Jews, like the PLO wants to gas the Jews, like the Nazis gassed the Jews.
In the days before the election, media figures have repeatedly compared Obama to Hitler
On the October 28 edition of Clear Channel's The Big Show, referring to McCain, Cunningham asserted: "Maybe it's his age, or maybe it's his lack of eloquence. Whatever it is, the guy just doesn't have the same verbal skills of someone like a Barack Hussein Obama. Of course, Adolf Hitler had great verbal skills, too, and he led the country of his country to disaster."
Cunningham invoked "[s]ix-six-six" and "the beast" in discussing "Barack Hussein Obama"
Stating that 666,000 new voters have registered in Ohio, Cunningham said on October 10: "Six-six-six. The mark of the beast. The great majority, of course, are registered by ACORN. ... Who conducted ACORN seminars to tell ACORN employees and others how to cheat the system? Barack Hussein Obama. I may declare him to be the beast. Six-six-six. It could be the end of all days." On the October 13 edition of Cunningham's show, a caller said of Obama, "He may be the Antichrist."
- Mark Levin
In the days before the election, media figures have repeatedly compared Obama to Hitler
On the October 29 edition of ABC Radio Networks' The Mark Levin Show, Levin asserted that Obama is "really into these big German-like events that he creates in this country, isn't he? Have you noticed that?" Curtis Sliwa, WABC radio host and CEO and founder of the community activist organization Guardian Angels, responded: "I am telling you, and he comes out and it's almost as if the crowd stands in unison, and I'm saying to myself, 'Oh my God, the Olympic Stadium, Berlin, 1938,' " to which Levin replied: "Yeah, we've seen this. It's scary." Sliwa then asserted: "And the only thing missing is he's not standing up in an open car."
Radio hosts echo Drudge's distortion of Obama's 2001 WBEZ interview
During the October 27 broadcast of his radio show, Levin falsely asserted that "what the [Supreme] Court should have done from Obama's point of view was impose socialism from the bench." He also claimed that Obama and [Harvard Law School professor] Cass Sunstein are "promoting" an interpretation of the 14th Amendment that it should "be used ... to compel, as a matter of constitutional law, the socialist agenda. In other words, constitutionalize redistribution of wealth." Levin then called Obama's position on the Constitution "a radical point of view" and "a foreign approach to the rule of law."
On the June 4 broadcast of his radio show, Levin falsely asserted that Obama "lied to" the American Israel Public Affairs Committee when he "told them today that the Iranian Revolutionary Guards should be designated a terrorist group after voting against a bill designating them a terrorist group a year ago." In fact, Obama has consistently supported designating the Iranian Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization, having co-sponsored a bill in 2007 to do that.
- "Gunny" Bob Newman
Newman: "[T]here will be an invasion of Muslim terrorists" if Obama becomes president
On the July 10 broadcast of his radio show, responding to a caller's statement that "we better start learning Arabic" if Obama is elected president, Newsradio 850 KOA's "Gunny" Bob Newman stated that "there will be an invasion of Muslim terrorists" if Obama is elected. Further, after stating that he didn't know whether Obama has "ever held a real job," Newman falsely claimed that Obama has accomplished "[n]othing" in the U.S. Senate.
On May 19, Newman labeled Obama a "clown" and stated, "Son, you are not some sort of macho tough guy, trust me." Directly addressing Obama, Newman asked, "What are you gonna do, Obama, come to Denver and try, key word try, to whip my white ass?" Continuing, Newman said, "Son, you are not some sort of macho tough guy, trust me. You are just another blowhard, make-believe thug who wants to be the most powerful man on Earth. You're a far-left, terrorist-hugging politician, not the bad-boy gangsta you want people to believe you are."
On his April 30 program, Newman responded to a caller's complaint about people who say of Obama "that he doesn't have a good heart when you don't even know the guy and are relying on mass media to paint a picture of him," by stating, "Well, you know, I didn't know Hitler. I didn't know Stalin." Newman added, "Not that Obama is Stalinesque, not that Obama is Hitleresque, but we didn't know those two either."
- Quinn & Rose
Radio hosts echo Drudge's distortion of Obama's 2001 WBEZ interview
On the October 27 broadcast of The War Room, co-host Jim Quinn said, "[H]ere's what was wrong with the civil rights movement, according to Barack Obama: The Supreme Court never got into the area of redistribution of the wealth." He added, "Do you want to have a judge tell you how much you can make, and how much of your productivity goes to another man who may have done nothing? You want the court to decide that? And I'm telling you, this guy is gonna make one, two, three -- maybe -- appointments to the Supreme Court, and they're gonna be exactly those kinds of judges. Hold onto your wallet, kids." Quinn also said, " He just got done telling you that the Constitution's only half-done. He needs to write the other half -- you know, the other half where we decide how much we take from you and give to that guy down the street."
In a phone call to The War Room during the show's October 7 broadcast, Jerome Corsi stated that he and his staff were "being detained by the immigration of Kenya 'cause they lost our entry papers." Corsi repeatedly suggested Obama was responsible for his detention, stating at one point: "[J]ust don't write anything bad about Senator Obama, because, otherwise, this is what happens to you." Corsi also said, "[C]all Barack's office and ask him why I'm being detained." Also during the interview, Corsi said, "[W]e had meetings with top government officials here in Nairobi. Everybody knew we were here. But we try to do a press conference, and then, you know, then you get detained. So, there's free speech in Kenya for ya," to which Quinn replied: "And soon to be free speech here, by the way."
- Rodgers & Sussman
Radio hosts echo Drudge's distortion of Obama's 2001 WBEZ interview
On the October 27 broadcast of San Francisco radio station KSFO's The Lee Rodgers Show, host Brian Sussman described Obama's comments as "[t]alking about using the courts for redistributional change." Sussman then played a clip of the portion of the January 18, 2001, WBEZ interview in which Obama referred to "theoretical justifications" for "bringing about economic change through the courts." Sussman then commented: "Did you hear that? Bringing about economic change through the courts? That's judicial activism on steroids." But Sussman did not air what Obama said just prior to referencing the "theoretical justifications" -- "it's very hard to legitimize opinions from the court in that regard" -- or what he said just afterward: "I think that, as a practical matter, our institutions just are poorly equipped to do it."
On the October 9 broadcast of The Lee Rodgers Show, Corsi asserted regarding his detention and departure from Kenya: "I think the story here is really the suppression of the press. ... I hate to think of what the First Amendment is going to mean. If you write a negative book or criticize Obama, I think you're now going to have to risk being thrown in jail or killed." Rodgers said, "I'll tell you what's scary about this, to make the connection here. These are friends of Barack Obama in Kenya, who are trying to intimidate a journalist. ... I'm telling you, this is scary. I have heard from Obama supporters telling me: one way or another, boy, when we're in office, we're going to shut you down."
- Michael Savage
Radio hosts echo Drudge's distortion of Obama's 2001 WBEZ interview
On the October 27 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Michael Savage also misrepresented Obama's comments, falsely claiming that in the interview, Obama "says that one of the tragedies of the civil rights movement was that the courts did not move for redistributive change."
Savage: "Kenya is going to move to America if Barack Hussein Obama wins"
During the October 10 broadcast of his radio show, Savage baselessly accused Obama of running a "corrupt campaign," suggested that white liberals "hate white people," repeated the discredited charge that Obama "won't produce his birth certificate," and asserted "Kenya is going to move to America" if Obama wins the election.
Savage stated of Obama on the March 13 broadcast of his radio show: "I think he was hand-picked by some very powerful forces both within and outside the United State of America to drag this country into a hell that it has not seen since the Civil War of the middle of the 19th century."
Savage: "America's not ready for an affirmative action presidency"
On the February 1 broadcast of his radio show, while referring to Sen. Clinton and Obama, Savage stated: "We have a woman and a multi-ethnic man running for office on the Democrat side. Is this not akin to a -- an affirmative action election? Isn't that why the libs are hysterical, tripping over themselves to say amen and yes to this affirmative election vote?" He later added, "America's not ready for an affirmative action presidency."
Misinformation about Obama's religion
A key component of the dangerous-outsider depiction of Obama on conservative talk radio has been promotion of the false claim that Obama was not being truthful about his religious beliefs. Despite numerous instances of falsehoods about Obama's religion rebutted by media outlets and nonpartisan fact-checkers, conservative radio hosts repeatedly and consistently advanced the false claim that Obama was a Muslim, not a Christian, and that he has concealed his true religion.
- Neal Boortz
Boortz: "Let's ask Obama how many prayer rugs he has"
On the August 21 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, host Neal Boortz falsely suggested that Obama is a Muslim. While discussing McCain's inability to answer the Politico's question about how many homes he and his wife own, Boortz said: "Let's ask Obama how many prayer rugs he has."
- G. Gordon Liddy
Liddy guest Walid Shoebat falsely claimed that Obama is "definitely a Muslim"
On his September 10 radio show, Liddy hosted self-described former terrorist Walid Shoebat to advance the false claim that Obama, who Shoebat said would be "extremely dangerous" as president, is a Muslim. Liddy also did not challenge Shoebat's false claim that Hamas supports Obama.
Conservative radio hosts seize on Obama comment to revive false rumors about his faith
On the September 8 broadcast of his syndicated radio show, Liddy aired an audio clip of Middle Eastern-sounding music and said, "[Y]ou're listening to our secret taping of a Obama family meeting, and we're -- just kidding."
- "Gunny" Bob Newman
"Gunny" Bob posted doctored photos of Obama, fake photo captions on Clear Channel-owned website
In July, Newman posted a variety of doctored photos and other images on his page on the station's website, depicting Obama as meeting with bin Laden and dressed as "Che Obama." The page also included actual photos of Obama accompanied by false "quotes," purportedly by the candidate, threatening Newman in profane terms.
- Michael Savage
On the April 3 broadcast of his radio show, Savage falsely asserted that Obama was a Muslim and attended a madrassa, stating: "Now we have an unknown stealth candidate who went to a madrassas in Indonesia and, in fact, was a Muslim."
Savage falsely asserted during the February 21 broadcast of his radio show that Obama is a Muslim, claiming that "[w]e have a right to know if he's a so-called friendly Muslim or one who aspires to more radical teachings." The Obama campaign website states that Obama "has never been a Muslim, was not raised a Muslim, and is a committed Christian who attends the United Church of Christ."
Savage smeared Obama with false name, "Barack Madrassas Obama"
On the January 10 edition of his radio show, Savage referred falsely to Obama as "Senator Barack Madrassas Obama." Savage made the comment while discussing a December 10 Associated Press article headlined, "Presidential hopefuls and first cars" that "asked candidates to name their first cars" and also "look[ed] at some of their personal vehicles now." Savage said of Obama: "Illinois Senator Barack Madrassas Obama. His first car was his grandfather's Ford Granada. Now he owns a Chrysler 300C."
- Rodgers & Sussman
On the October 22 broadcast of his radio show, Rodgers falsely claimed Obama "admits in one of his own books" that "in case of a confrontation between the Western world and the Islamic world, he will stand with the Muslims." Rodgers' assertion recalls a similar allegation in a chain email that has been previously debunked. As FactCheck.org documented, while discussing "my meetings with Arab and Pakistani Americans" in The Audacity of Hope, Obama wrote: "[T]hey need specific assurances that their citizenship really means something, that America has learned the right lessons from the Japanese internments during World War II, and that I will stand with them should the political winds shift in an ugly direction.
On the September 10 broadcast of The Lee Rodgers Show, a caller suggested that Obama's remark that "you can put lipstick on a pig; it's still a pig" was directed at Palin and said: "[I]t's a little indicative of a Muslim attitude towards women that's creeping up, you know, and he just can't help but say it, how he feels." Sussman responded: "Well, there's no question that Muslims, at least the religious ones, look at women as second-class citizens. That was just a low blow. He should not have made the remark. I don't know if it was his father's genetic DNA welling up inside of him or not, but I'll tell you something: It was stupid. The question is, did he know what he was saying?"
On the July 30 broadcast of The Lee Rodgers Show, Sussman questioned Obama's Christianity: "Now I'm going to get into something that is probably equally as offensive to some, especially those listening in on KSFO.com from around the world. If Barack Obama were on trial for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence for a jury of his peers to pronounce him guilty? I doubt it. I think Obama would walk."
Obama's birth certificate
In yet another attempt to define Obama as un-American and foreign, numerous conservative talk radio hosts and their guests have advanced the discredited claim that Obama was not born in the United States and is therefore not eligible for the presidency.
- Chris Baker
On the October 9 broadcast of his radio show, Baker discussed a lawsuit filed in August by Philip J. Berg, who baselessly charged that Obama was born in Kenya. Baker stated that "when you really start looking into this, there apparently has never been a real birth certificate presented. There's been a certificate, but it's not a birth certificate. ... Just get the damn birth certificate presented and let's move on with our lives."
- Peter Boyles
Hosting Berg for the third time, Boyles again allowed Obama birth certificate smear
For the third time in three weeks, Boyles hosted Berg during the October 29 edition of his radio show and allowed him to repeat the discredited falsehood that Obama has not released a valid birth certificate establishing he was born in the United States and therefore could be ineligible to run for president.
Hosting Philip Berg, Boyles and Martino allowed further falsehoods about Obama's birth certificate
On the October 22 broadcast of The Troubleshooter and the October 23 broadcast of The Peter Boyles Show, Boyles and Tom Martino, respectively, uncritically allowed Berg to repeat the discredited smear that Obama has not released a valid birth certificate establishing he was born in the United States and therefore could be ineligible to run for president. Berg further claimed on both broadcasts that the copy of Obama's certification of live birth posted on his campaign website is a "forgery."
On his October 9 broadcast, Boyles hosted discredited author Jerome Corsi and Berg, both of whom repeated the debunked falsehood that Obama has not released an authentic birth certificate establishing that he was born in the United States and therefore could be ineligible to run for president.
- G. Gordon Liddy
On the September 17 broadcast of his radio show, Liddy and Corsi each repeated the discredited claim that Sen. Barack Obama has not produced a birth certificate establishing his U.S. citizenship. In fact, FactCheck.org reported that the Obama campaign provided its staff with Obama's original birth certificate and concluded that it "meets all of the requirements from the State Department for proving U.S. citizenship," and even WorldNetDaily.com, the right-wing website for which Corsi works as a staff reporter, has reported that a "WND investigation into Obama's birth certificate utilizing forgery experts also found the document to be authentic."
- "Gunny" Bob Newman
On his August 11 radio show, Newman asserted that Obama has produced a "fake" birth certificate, a week after claiming that Obama "will not produce his birth certificate" to prove his United States citizenship. In fact, the Hawaii Department of Health has confirmed that the document posted on Obama's campaign website is "a valid Hawaii state birth certificate" and has labeled speculation about his citizenship "ridiculous."
- Quinn & Rose
Quinn and Tennent repeated discredited claims that Obama has not released valid birth certificate
On the October 3 broadcast of The War Room, Quinn and Tennent hosted Berg to discuss Berg's lawsuit, which baselessly alleges that Obama is not a natural-born U.S. citizen; during the interview, Quinn, Tennent, and Berg each repeated the discredited charge that Obama has not produced an authentic U.S. birth certificate. In fact, in addition to posting a copy of Obama's birth certificate on the campaign website, the Obama campaign reportedly provided the original document to FactCheck.org, whose staff reported that it "meets all of the requirements from the State Department for proving U.S. citizenship."
- Michael Savage
On the October 8 and 9 broadcasts of The Savage Nation, Savage and guest host Rick Roberts repeatedly questioned Obama's citizenship. For instance, Savage falsely claimed that Obama's birth certificate "does not exist, they can't find it in the Hawaii government. It's never been produced. The one that was produced is a forgery." Roberts stated, "[Y]ou're running for the president of the United States, OK? Show them the birth certificate and say, 'OK, here's my birth certificate, get out of my face.' Why hasn't it been produced? Why?" On the October 10 broadcast, Savage against stated that Obama "doesn't have a birth cerfiticate."
Additionally, while baselessly stating that Obama has not proven his U.S. citizenship, Savage revived other falsehoods about Obama. He falsely suggested that Obama is a Muslim, stating: "How could he not be Muslim if he has a Muslim name? How could he not be Muslim if his father and grandfather were Muslims? How is that possible, when he has no known birth certificate?"
On the October 22 broadcast of his show, Savage stated that "[t]here are people arguing that Obama is headed back to Hawaii not so much to visit an ailing relative, but to fudge the birth certificate in question" and said moments later, "There is intense national interest on the Internet about his citizenship, and the question is being asked, could this be the real reason he is headed to Hawaii?" Savage subsequently became more definitive, claiming that "[t]here's some other reason that he's leaving the mainland of the United States in the midst of this toe-to-toe struggle right now, and it's got to do with his birth certificate."
During the November 3 broadcast of his show, Savage again revived discredited "rumors" about Obama's "birth certificate not being valid" -- this time while discussing the recent death of Obama's grandmother, Madelyn Dunham. Savage stated: "And, oh yes, our condolences to his grandmother who raised him, who he so bravely visited last week -- shockingly, out of nowhere, in the, in the last days of a campaign -- while the rumors of his birth certificate not being valid were circulating throughout the Internet. Shockingly, Obama goes to Hawaii, and again, not one of the empty skirts in the media asks him about his birth -- his birth certificate, the Kenyan relatives. Not one of the empty skirts in the media raises the question. And today she dies, poor lady dies, poor lady dies today; the woman who raised him -- the white grandmother who raised him."
Obama and race
Conservative radio hosts used Obama's status as the first African-American major party nominee for president to launch extensive, racially tinged commentary on Obama, his qualifications for office, and the motivations of his supporters.
- Chris Baker
Minneapolis radio host Baker promoted video of pastor calling Obama's mother "trash"
On October 7, on both his radio show and website, Baker promoted an Internet video in which the Rev. James David Manning of ATLAH World Missionary Church in Harlem says: "The difference between Obama's mama and Bristol Palin is that Obama's mama was trash. I mean, she was dirt. She was a bag of trash sitting on the sidewalk waiting there in Honolulu on one of those streets for the garbage truck to come by and pick her up and take her to the dump."
- Bill Cunningham
Cunningham on Obama Sr.: "That's what black fathers do. They simply leave"
On the October 28 broadcast of his show, Cunningham stated of Obama's childhood: "[I]magine at the age of 1 or 2 seeing your father for the last time. See, his father was a typical black father who, right after the birth, left the baby. That's what black fathers do. They simply leave."
Cunningham guest Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson: "[M]ost black people today are racist"
On the October 20 edition of Clear Channel's The Big Show, guest Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson said of former Secretary of State Colin Powell's endorsement of Obama: "[H]e's clearly for the color of the man and not the character." Cunningham replied, "Great comments, and if Obama was white as chalk, do you think that Powell would be endorsing the Democrat? He didn't endorse [Al] Gore, he didn't endorse [Sen. John] Kerry. I think color trumps everything in his mind." Peterson responded: "That's right, because if it was about what Barack Obama stood for, then he would have endorsed Gore and all those guys, but he did not. You know, it's so sad, my friend, that most black people today are racist. Not all, not all -- but most of them are racist."
During the October 10 broadcast of The Big Show, Cunningham stated: "I think there will be 100 cities burning if Barack loses. Yeah, that's what the black intelligentsia says." Cunningham also asserted that "Flavor Flav, 50 Cent, and Diddy" are "really in charge of the [Obama] Inaugural [Ball]."
- G. Gordon Liddy
In sketch on Corsi's detention in Kenya, Liddy played audio of "jungle telegraph drums"
On the October 7 edition of his program, Liddy discussed the detention of Corsi in Kenya and aired a sketch in which he said: "We've used the satellite connection to Kenya, and we are now focusing in on the trial of Dr. Jerome Corsi. ... [H]e's being accused of impersonating a human being. My Zulu's not -- not as good as Obama's, but -- yeah, they're really upset with him. You can probably tell." Liddy then aired a clip apparently from the 1950 movie King Solomon's Mines, which featured characters speaking in Kinyarwanda (not Zulu), one of the official languages of Rwanda, and playing music on drums.
- Quinn & Rose
On the October 20 broadcast of The War Room, Tennent asserted that Powell endorsed Obama "because he doesn't want to be known as an Uncle Tom anymore. He wants to be black again." Quinn later said of Powell, "He's tired of being called an Oreo."
- Michael Savage
Savage on Obama: "America's first affirmative action candidate about to become president"
During the October 27 broadcast of his show, Savage said: "Obama and I are on the opposite sides of the political spectrum, as you can well imagine. While he benefited from affirmative action, stepping over more qualified white men, I actually lost as a result of affirmative action, many times in my life. Although I'd get near 100s on certain exams, they put me at the back of the bus because they said -- the ACLU said -- certain people will have to put their futures on hold in order to let others advance, and take a look at where we are today -- we have America's first affirmative action candidate about to become president."
Sexism
Right-wing talk radio hosts have also repeatedly made sexist comments or attacked feminists, often while highlighting a woman's physical characteristics. For example, with McCain's pick of Palin as his running mate, talk radio hosts have often focused on Palin's appearance and have also referred to progressive women as "ugly." Some hosts and guests have questioned women's abilities as political leaders, and even suggested that the country would be better off if women were denied the right to vote.
- Chris Baker
Baker called Obama a "little bitch" who "won't even stand up to" "smoking-hot" Palin
While discussing Palin's assertion that Obama was "palling around with terrorists" on the October 6 broadcast of his radio show, Baker called Obama a "little bitch" who "won't even stand up to a smoking-hot chick from Alaska." Baker did not note that The New York Times article Palin cited for her claim about Obama's association with William Ayers reported that "the two men do not appear to have been close," or that the Obama campaign did indeed respond to Palin's claim.
On the October 3 broadcast of The Chris Baker Show, Baker said Palin "shoulda had a little cleavage going" during the vice-presidential debate, and that he "noticed a panty line on her."
Baker: "I don't think homeless people should vote"; "I'm not that excited about women voting"
On the October 2 broadcast of his radio show, Baker said, "I don't think homeless people should vote. Frankly. In fact, I have to be very honest. I'm not that excited about women voting, to be honest." Baker later said: "But that's just me. I'm a pig, and that's fine. All right?"
Minneapolis radio host said Code Pink protesters "ought to have all their tubes tied"
During the September 5 broadcast his show, Baker stated of McCain's speech at the Republican National Convention, "I'll tell you, though, in the speech -- the best part of the speech was when those Code Pink nuts -- another bunch that ought to have all their tubes tied. All right? I can't stand these Code Pink broads."
- Mark Belling
Belling: "When you think of Hillary Clinton," the word "bitches" comes to mind
Milwaukee radio host Mark Belling declared on his September 11 radio show, "What's the process that determines which potholes get patched the fastest [in Milwaukee]? I'll tell you what it is. No, they don't go and judge it on severity. ... It's who -- can I use this word? When you think of [Sen.] Hillary Clinton what do you think -- what word comes to mind? Yes, can I use that word here? All right, it's who bitches the most."
Belling called Gloria Steinem a "grizzled old bag," "old witch"
During the September 4 broadcast of The Mark Belling Late Afternoon Show, Belling called Gloria Steinem a "grizzled old bag," "old witch," and "embittered old has-been" and also stated that the "previous generation" of feminists "were so ugly you couldn't stand to look at them." Belling made these remarks while discussing Steinem's September 4 Los Angeles Times op-ed, in which she criticized McCain's choice of Palin as his vice-presidential running mate.
- Jon Caldara
On Caldara's KOA show, Coulter claimed women's suffrage "explains the destruction of America"
Appearing as a guest on the June 16 broadcast of Jon Caldara's Newsradio 850 KOA program, Ann Coulter asserted that women aren't "concerned with how capital is generated and created," and claimed that women's suffrage "explains the destruction of America." Her remarks echoed those in a 2007 blog posting that quoted her as saying, "If we took away women's right to vote, we'd never have to worry about another Democrat president."
Caldara asked Coulter if Clinton was "bitch-slapped" in debate
Discussing the January 21 CNN Democratic presidential candidates' debate, Caldara during his broadcast that evening asked Coulter whether it was "fair to say" that Clinton "got bitch-slapped tonight."
- Bill Cunningham
On the October 29 broadcast of his show, Cunningham stated: "Traditionally, we think of women as Democratic voters because a lot of women who are single are vulnerable; they need like a daddy government to keep an eye on them."
- Mark Levin
Addressing his September 4 comments on Sean Hannity's radio show, in which he called the National Organization for Women, the "National Organization of Ugly Women," Levin said on his September 8 radio show: "I just wanted to underscore that maybe I shouldn't have called them the National Organization of Ugly Women. For now on, it's the National Organization of Really Ugly Women." Levin first made his remarks while discussing with Hannity NOW's opposition to Palin.
- Quinn & Rose
On the October 6 broadcast of The War Room, Quinn claimed that Steinem opposes Palin because Palin "refused the sacrificial right of passage, better known as the Eucharist of the feminist church: abortion. That's right. She declined to slaughter her own unborn child, Trig, to the goddess of feminism, even after doctors told her that he was one of those Down syndrome 'throw-aways.' "
On the September 15 broadcast of The War Room, Quinn stated: "If you don't agree with the feminist scolds, then you're not a real woman -- even if you are a very feminine working mom. But even if you're an actual man, never mind a childless feminist who looks like a Bulgarian weightlifter in drag, you're a real woman solely because you nod your head like a windup clapping monkey every time you read the latest editorial from Ms. Magazine." Quinn made these remarks while discussing, among other things, prominent feminists' opposition to Palin.
Quinn introduced segment about Clinton by playing Elton John's "The Bitch Is Back"
On the August 27 edition of the syndicated radio program The War Room, Quinn introduced a segment on Clinton by saying, "By the way, that brings us to our Hillary Heads-Up," and then playing audio of the Elton John song "The Bitch Is Back." Quinn then said, "I was going to play 'Ding Dong, the Witch is Dead.' But you know what, I -- you never know with the Clintons."
- Lee Rodgers
On the October 17 broadcast of The Lee Rodgers Show, Rodgers said: "[Y]ou look at many -- perhaps most -- but many of the women who are professed leaders of the feminist movement in this country, and they're a bunch of hags." He added: "They couldn't get laid in a men's prison, let's be honest about it." Rodgers made these remarks while discussing, among other things, feminists' disapproval of Palin.
Returning to a previous claim he has made, Rodgers asserted on September 23: "I believe that the reason a bunch of puckered-butt Democrat women hate Sarah Palin is because her idea of choice was choosing not to have an abortion." Guest Steven Hayward of the American Enterprise Institute responded in part by saying: "[T]here is that very vocal segment of feminist opinion that celebrates abortion as a positive good in the same way that, you know, Southern slaveholders 150 years ago celebrated slavery as a positive good."
On the September 17 broadcast of his radio show, Rodgers said that "the female leadership of the Democratic Party" is made up of "ugly skanks." He also stated: "Sarah Palin's good-looking and they hate that." He also declared: "I think we have to ask: Would you like Sarah Palin better if she got pregnant again and did have an abortion, because it's obvious, with a lot of liberal women, killing babies is the main priority they have."
On the August 27 broadcast of his radio show, Rodgers said of Clinton's speech at the Democratic National Convention, "With that screechy, fingernails-on-the-blackboard voice of hers, it is impossible for Hillary Clinton to deliver a great speech." Rodgers later said that Bill and Hillary Clinton are hoping Obama "falls flat on his face so the Hilldebeest can have another run in four years, and Billy Bentpecker can hide behind the curtain in the Oval Office telling Hillary what he wants her to do as president of the United States."
On the June 11 broadcast of The Lee Rodgers Program, Rodgers said: "[T]he historical voting records show that Democrats have, historically, enjoyed a huge advantage in women voters. Why is that?" Rodgers continued: "Well, some women may be offended by this, but here's another dose of reality. We have a lot of women in this country who get knocked up and they don't have a husband. In effect, the government becomes Daddy in terms of paying the bills. And that accounts -- that's not all of it, but that accounts for a large part of that vote."
LGBT issues
Smears against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered Americans are routine among conservative talk radio hosts, and the 2008 election has provided them with specific issues to address. Michael Savage, for example, has focused on Proposition 8 to amend the California constitution to ban same-sex marriage.
- Michael Savage
On the October 29 broadcast of his radio show, Savage said of a California ballot initiative that would amend the state constitution to ban gay marriage, "[T]here's a ballot initiative on homosexual marriage that is more important than you could imagine. It's called Proposition 8, and you must vote 'yes' if you're sane. If you're insane, hate the family, hate man and woman, hate your mother and father, hate the Bible, hate the church, and hate the synagogue, of course you're in favor of 'no' on Proposition 8." The next day on his program, Savage stated: "[T]he people who don't have families don't understand that, as difficult as family life is, life is impossible without it. They don't understand that. They don't understand what the family unit is. It's the strongest bond on Earth, which is why homosexual marriage is such a threat to civilization itself."
On the October 1 broadcast of his show, Savage said: "[Y]ou may say, 'Why should we care about homosexuals trying to destroy families through the mock marriage that they perform in order to mock God, the church, the family, children, the fetus, the DNA of the human species? Why should we care about it while we have a financial meltdown?' Because the spiritual side of the downturn on Wall Street is directly related to the moral downturn in the United States of America." Savage later said of San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom: "Today it's the gays, tomorrow it'll be a man marrying a horse."
Attacks on the poor
Several talk radio hosts have attacked low-income Americans over the past year, including several who have expressed support for the idea that certain groups of lower-income Americans should not have the right to vote.
- Chris Baker
Baker: "I don't think homeless people should vote"; "I'm not that excited about women voting"
On the October 2 broadcast of show, Baker said: "I don't think homeless people should vote. Frankly. In fact, I have to be very honest. I'm not that excited about women voting, to be honest." Baker subsequently added: "But that's just me. I'm a pig, and that's fine. All right? And we'll see that, I'm sure, on a lame-ass website very soon. But I don't think hobos ought to vote at all. They're nuts. And I think that there needs to be a little more care in who votes."
- G. Gordon Liddy
Liddy: Obama is relying, in part, on "the welfare class" to win Pennsylvania
On his October 30 program, Liddy said of Obama's electoral prospects in Pennsylvania: "Pennsylvania has been described as Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, with Alabama in the middle. Obama is counting on the urban elites and the welfare class to win the state for him. But he's putting on a show for the rest of Pennsylvania."
- Jim Quinn & Rose Tennent
On the October 30 broadcast of The War Room, Tennent said of the families featured in Obama's 30-minute ad: "Well, OK. They were sad stories, but I'm looking at the background. I'm not looking at the person talking in their home, I'm looking at what they have in their home. They have color television sets; they have everything that I have in my house. I'll bet you they have an iPod, I bet you they have, you know -- I'll bet they have a lot of luxuries in that home. They are not poor." Tennent later said: "So don't put -- don't put that jive out there in front of me, devil, and tell me that these people are hurting when they are not hurting. All they need to do is make some cuts and figure out a way to do this."
Quinn: "Originally, if you didn't have land, you didn't vote, and there was a good reason for it"
On the October 21 broadcast of The War Room, while reading from an opinion column by conservative blogger Scott Johnson that discussed the history of taxation and property rights in the United States, Quinn declared: "Originally, if you didn't own land, you didn't vote, and there was a good reason for it: because those without property will always vote away the property of other people unto themselves, and that's the beginning of the end." Quinn added: "But, oh no, that was -- that was just too mean-spirited." Moments earlier, Quinn said, "Now -- I mean, I can hear the appeal to the masses: 'It's not fair, it's not the American way that you don't get to vote,' but let me ask you a question: If I don't own anything, what kind of a problem do I have with voting for a measure -- a tax, a law -- that takes somebody else's property and gives it to me? I have no stake in personal property ownership 'cause I don't have any. Now, back in the day, when this was the law of the land, anybody who wanted to vote needed to step up to the plate, achieve, get a stake in America, and then vote."
- Michael Savage
On his October 22 show, Savage asked: "Do you think a person on welfare has the right to vote? I don't. Why should a person who is on public assistance maintain the right to vote? Tell me why. Where is it written that they should have the right to vote?" He added: "I support them, and they should have the same vote I do? That would be like saying an infant has the right to vote or an insane person has the right to vote. Why should a welfare recipient have the right to vote? They're only gonna vote themselves a raise."
The Chris Baker Show is a Minneapolis-based talk-radio show that airs weekdays from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. CT on KTLK-FM. Baker previously hosted two different Houston-based radio programs before reportedly being dismissed in November 2007. Baker joined KTLK in February and was nominated to the Texas Radio Hall of Fame in June. Since moving to KTLK, Baker discussed with a co-host being "convinced that Magic [Johnson] faked AIDS"; claimed that "it's very rare to find a woman worthy of serving in political office"; said that Gov. Sarah Palin "shoulda had a little cleavage going" during the vice-presidential debate; and declared "I don't think homeless people should vote."
The Mark Belling Late Afternoon Show is carried on News/Talk 1130 WISN-AM in Milwaukee, which is owned by Clear Channel Communications. Talkers Magazine includes Belling in its "Heavy Hundred," which it describes as "the 100 most important radio talk show hosts in America." According to 1130 WISN-AM, The Mark Belling Late Afternoon Show "is regularly rated number one in its time slot in the Milwaukee radio market and is the highest rated afternoon drive talk show host in the country." In 2001, Belling was awarded National Association of Broadcasters' Marconi Radio Award for medium-market "Personality of the Year." Belling has said "[w]hen you think of Hillary Clinton" the word "bitches" comes to mind; has called Gloria Steinem a "grizzled old bag," an "old witch," and an "embittered old has-been"; and has smeared teachers who have talked about global warming as "idiot union teacher[s]," "liberal unionized hack[s]," "greedy, overpaid unionized schoolteacher[s]," and "fruitcake[s]."
The Neal Boortz Show is an Atlanta-based program that airs weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. ET. The program is nationally syndicated by Cox Radio Syndication, which says that it "partners with the Jones Radio Network to service more than 200 affiliate stations with programming listened to by several million people each week." According to Talkers Magazine, the show is the seventh-rated talk-radio program and averages at least 4.25 million listeners a week. Boortz has repeatedly referred to Hurricane Katrina victims as "parasites"; commented that he would "make a lousy Mexican" because of his inability to use a floor buffer; and described "single mothers receiving public assistance" as "welfare broodmares."
The Peter Boyles Show airs weekday mornings from 5 to 9 a.m. MT on Denver's 630 KHOW-AM. According to his KHOW biography, "Boyles has received numerous awards including 'Best Investigative Radio Talkshow Host' in The Denver Post, Westword, 5280 Magazine, and at the 1999 Denver A.I.R. awards. He is also considered one of the most influential media people in Colorado." Boyles was a 2006 finalist for the National Association of Broadcasters' Marconi Radio Award for large-market "Personality of the Year." Boyles has repeatedly hosted guests who spread the discredited claim that Obama does not have a valid U.S. birth certificate.
The Jon Caldara Show airs on Denver's 850 KOA-AM on weeknights from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. MT. Caldara is president of the "free market" Independence Institute and has had a public role in numerous anti-tax and anti-government spending campaigns. Caldara also hosts a "current affairs" television program, Independent Thinking, on Denver's KBDI-TV. Caldara has asked a guest if it was "fair to say" that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (NY) "got bitch-slapped" during a primary debate; and he described Colorado Media Matters as a "hate group" for highlighting his remarks.
The Caplis & Silverman Show airs weekdays from 3 to 6 p.m. MT on Denver's 630 KHOW-AM. Co-host Dan Caplis, an attorney who in 2007 publicly discussed running for U.S. Senate as a Republican, has also made occasional appearances on Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor. Caplis has asserted that gay "conduct is not natural" and is "immoral." While discussing a photograph of Obama wearing Somali clothing, Caplis questioned why Obama would "put on similar clothing to the outfit worn by the man [Osama bin Laden] who personally ordered thousands of Americans, including women and kids, to be burned to death."
The Big Show with Bill Cunningham is a weekday Cincinnati-based radio program that airs from 12:25 p.m. to 3 p.m. ET on Ohio's WLW-AM. The program is also simulcast on XM Radio Channel 173. Cunningham, a former Ohio assistant attorney general, also hosts a nationally syndicated Sunday-night talk program titled Live on Sunday Night, It's Bill Cunningham, which is broadcast live on 325 affiliates, according to its syndicator, Premiere Radio Networks. In 2001, Cunningham received the National Association of Broadcasters' Marconi Radio Award for large-market "Personality of the Year." Cunningham has alleged that "Obama wants to gas the Jews;" compared Obama to Hitler; has repeatedly suggested that if Obama lost the election "there will be 100 cities burning;" has invoked "six-six-six" and "the beast" while discussing Obama; has asserted that "a typical black father... simply leave"; has repeatedly claimed that poor people "lack values"; and has claimed that "the so-called noble poor" don't use birth control so that "the mom can get more checks in the mail from the government."
The Mark Levin Show is a nationally syndicated program hosted by Landmark Legal Foundation president Mark Levin. Based in New York City, The Mark Levin Show broadcasts from WABC-AM Monday through Friday from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. ET and is syndicated by ABC Radio Networks. According to Talkers Magazine, The Mark Levin Show reaches a weekly average audience of at least 5.5 million listeners and is tied for the ranking of fifth among talk-radio programs nationwide. Levin has compared Obama to Hitler; has referred to the National Organization for Women as the "National Organization of Ugly Women" and "the National Organization of Really Ugly Women"; and while discussing Comedy Central host Jon Stewart complained of "phony intellectuals" who are "arrogantly looking down their sizable noses at our armed forces."
The G. Gordon Liddy Show is hosted by convicted Watergate felon G. Gordon Liddy, who often refers to himself as "the G-Man," and is nationally syndicated through Radio America. Talkers Magazine lists Liddy in its "Heavy Hundred 2008." Liddy has advanced claims that Obama was not a U.S. citizen; has said that undocumented Mexican immigrants "want to speak Spanish, you know, and other varieties of illegal alien" and "want to reconquer America, they say"; and claimed that Obama was relying, in part, on "the welfare class to win" Pennsylvania. In the 1990s, Liddy reportedly advised his radio audience on multiple occasions on how to shoot Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms agents.
The Gunny Bob Show, hosted by "Gunny" Bob Newman, airs weeknights on Denver's 850 KOA-AM from 7 to 10 p.m. MT. Newman is the author of Minefields to Microphones: Global Asymmetric Warfare, the Radical Left, and Winning the War on Terror (Paladin Press, September 2006), which, according to its publisher, "exposes the treason and treachery of America's maniacal liberal machine while laying out a roadmap to victory in the war on terror that will stun the enemy and infuriate America's wild-eyed left." Newman has described Obama as "just another blowhard, make-believe thug" and "a far-left, terrorist-hugging politician"; has asserted that "there will be an invasion of Muslim terrorists" if Obama is elected; posted doctored photos of Obama on his website depicting Obama as meeting with Osama bin Laden and dressed as "Che Obama"; has suggested that legalizing gay marriage could "lead to legal human-animal marriage"; and declared that "every Muslim immigrant to America" should be "required by law to wear a GPS tracking bracelet at all times."
The War Room with Quinn & Rose is a syndicated radio program based in Pittsburgh on Clear Channel's 104.7 WPGB-FM. Talkers Magazine lists Quinn & Rose on its "Heavy Hundred." According to the show's website, it airs on 18 radio stations and XM Satellite Radio Channel 158. Jim Quinn, who co-hosts the show with Rose Tennent, has repeatedly described the National Organization for Women as the "National Organization for Whores"; told columnist Fatimah Ali to "get an American name"; has said that, in the past, "if you didn't own land, you didn't vote, and there was a good reason for it"; and often introduces segments on Hillary Clinton by playing audio of the Elton John song "The Bitch Is Back."
The Lee Rodgers Show is the morning drive-time talk program for San Francisco's 560 KSFO-AM and airs Monday through Friday from 5 to 9 a.m. PT and from 5 to 7 a.m. PT on Saturdays. The show features co-hosts Lee Rodgers and Tom Benner, known on-air as "Officer Vic," and is listed as one of Talkers Magazine's "Heavy Hundred." The program is sometimes guest-hosted by KSFO's Brian Sussman. Rodgers has described many "professed leaders of the feminist movement in this country" as "a bunch of hags," who "couldn't get laid in a men's prison"; has said that "the female leadership of the Democratic Party" is made up of "ugly skanks"; and has referred to Hillary Clinton as "the Hilldebeest" who has a "screechy, fingernails-on-the-blackboard voice."
The Savage Nation is a top-rated nationally syndicated radio program hosted by Michael Savage. The program, which airs from 4 to 7 p.m. PT, is based in San Francisco and is syndicated through Talk Radio Network. Talk Radio Network claims that Savage is heard on more than 350 radio stations, and, according to Talkers Magazine, The Savage Nation reaches at least 8.25 million listeners each week, making it one of the most listened-to talk shows in the nation, behind only The Rush Limbaugh Show and The Sean Hannity Show. Savage has attacked everyone from politicians to children with autism. He has insisted that Obama was a Muslim; has described Obama as an "unknown stealth candidate who went to a madrassas in Indonesia and, in fact, was a Muslim"; has referred to Obama as an "affirmative action" candidate and complained that "affirmative action" stole his "birthright"; has claimed that "illegal aliens" have "raped and disheveled" the Statue of Liberty; has linked "homosexuals trying to destroy families through the mock marriage" to "the downturn on Wall Street"; has claimed that "[t]he children's minds are being raped by the homosexual mafia"; has asserted that "welfare recipient[s]" should not "have the right to vote;" and has described autism as a "fraud, a racket," and said, "In 99 percent of the cases, it's a brat who hasn't been told to cut the act out."
"PEJ did not consider talk radio".....MMFA
Talk Radio: The Index includes some of the most popular national talk shows that are public affairs or news oriented. Since the larger portion of the talk radio audience, and talk radio hosts, are of a conservative political persuasion, we included more conservative hosts than liberal hosts. We code the first 30 minutes of each selected show....PEJ Study.
No clue where you got your info MMFA, but read their methodology, they most certainly did consider talk radio.
PEJ included talk radio in its study of news coverage, but not in its study of tone.
That's hardly the point... he really just wanted to be the first poster.
And that is the way it should be. News coverage should not be opinion, talk radio personalities most certainly are. Look at the methodology again.
Sorry, but I was just trying to help you out. In the first post, you claimed MMFA erred in stating PEJ didn't consider talk radio. In fact, MMFA said PEJ didn't consider talk radio in its study of tone, which is precisely what PEJ states. You look at the methodology again.
MMFA misleads by falsely stating that PEJ did not consider talk radio, that is what they say > "PEJ did not consider talk radio, saying: "Talk radio stories ... were not included in this campaign study of tone." Unless one reads the entire study and methodology MMFA makes it seem like talk radio was ignored and not included at all. It was in fact very much considered. Tone is opinion, news coverage is not. The study rightly did not consider tone from talk radio, rather it focused on news stories and coverage, where it should have.
I guess silence from Craig means....?
He's at lunch?
Maybe it means he has a life and will get back later? Some people do work.
Your first post is factually incorrect. Period.
I cut and pasted it directly from MMFA, and then explained why in my second answer to you. You can call that factually incorrect if you want, but it wasn't.
Nice try, Tommy, but the evidence is in Craig's favor:
You are cutting and pasting text from the methodology of the PEJ's weekly News Coverage Index. This is completely separate from the Winning the Media Campaign study, which has its own methodology, and it clearly states:
"Two categories of stories were excluded from the sample. Talk radio stories, which are part of PEJ’s regular NCI, were not included in this campaign study of tone. Broadcast stories that were 30 seconds or less were also excluded."
You said exactly what Craig said, so not really sure why your emphasizing it. The study did not measure talk radio "tone", because that is opinion. Which is exactly why they should have excluded it.
Your first post was factually incorrect. That's what I was addressing. You copied and pasted from the wrong study, presumably in your haste to pounce on MMFA with the opening post.
Bingo!
Pete, I went back and checked and I did paste comments from the PEJ weekly NCI, incorrectly, I apologize. It was not in the Winning the Media Campaign Study.
You are correct.
Wow. We definitely have dawned a new day. Tommy is presented evidence that he's wrong and he ACTUALLY admits it. Somewhere cats and dogs are living together and lipsticked pigs are flying.
Ahem.
Craig, I apologice to you as well, you were correct.
No problem, Tommy.
Are you sure there isn't some sort of word parsing exercise you can employ to save yourself? Look again. Lives hang in the balance.
No gloating from me. I've spewed more gaffes than I care to remember.
Talk radio shows monitored were:
Rush Limbaugh every other day 1 out of 2 additional conservatives each day
Sean Hannity
Michael Savage
1 out of 2 liberals each day
Ed Schultz
Randi Rhodes
Normalizing talk radio by monitoring 2:1 every other day is misleading. Assuming that the week starts on Monday and ends on Friday and it starts over each week the monitoring ratio is 8/5 conservative to liberal shows. There are many more than roughly 1.5 conservative talk programs to each liberal talk show, especially if you factor in the “minor hosts” as MMFA asserts should be done “It's not just Limbaugh and Hannity” . The minor hosts echo the talking points of the Major hosts, amplifying the message. Put that into the equation and I think the negative stories toward Obama become magnified.
You don't monitor local talk radio anymore than local news. It's virtually impossible. The scope needs to much broader in reach and audience, otherwise it becomes local and regional, instead of a more national look at how the candidates were covered.
Of course you can. Your scope becomes broadened by the content of the story. Specifically, stories involving Obama, McCain or either of their running mates. Many minor conservative talk shows are syndicated and reach audiences far beyond their locality, including the ones mention in this MMFA story.
This is a great answer to the posters who respond to items about the lesser known, local radio, or second/third tier screech monkeys, asking "Who ever heard of this guy?". It's a cumulative effect, and it's like a virus.
While some insist on getting their propaganda from the "Big Boys" like Rush, others prefer it filtered down through their local radio guy. The emails that carpet bomb the inboxes of friends, relatives and co-workers, the "official looking" sites on the internets, they may not be reaching more than a few hundred people each, but out of those few hundred, there are several who are gullible enough, and have enough time on their hands, that the exponential effect is the same lies are getting to millions of people.
As amazing as the internet has been at getting decent, non-corporate info. out there, the flip side is that somebody with a little technical skill, and some free time, can listen to their local radio wingnut (who is monitored much less closely than Rush or BilldO), transcribe his nutty ideas, and fire them off to everybody they know, or post it on their website, baited with the right keywords.
I'm not going off-topic by running this from the media to email and the internet, I'm saying it's one trickle-down effect that actually works, as those with the most misinformation actually do want to spread it around, as it's an infinite resource.
This BS isn't hypothetical. I've got co-workers busily trying to find backup for arguments they've had with me just in the last 2 days since the election.
One is looking for the quote from Obama where he said he's fix the economy and all of the other problems in the country "in no time at all".
The other is still looking over the U.S. Constitution for the part that "clearly defines marriage as between one man and one woman".
They've heard these things on the radio, or read them in emails, just like everything else they've believed over the past few years.They can never back them up, and often I can give them pretty solid evidence that they've been fed BS, but they continue going to the same sources. It's amazing really.
I would love to work with you because obviously your debate oponents are less than formidable. Do you still work at KFC? That might be your problem.
I would love to work with you because obviously your debate oponents are less than formidable
Although you seem to meet the job requirements, I've filled my Republican knucklehead quota for now. You'll be the first to know when there's an opening.
Of course I work at KFC, what a ridiculous question.
Back on topic...
Heard one of our local Republican knuckleheads this morning get absolutely spanked by a CBS reporter. The knucklehead asked this reporter over the phone whether Obama was choosing Rahm as chief of staff in order to appear more friendly toward Israel. The reporter responded "........WHAT?" (5 seconds of silence) "Are you kidding me?" There was then 5 seconds of silence before the interview continued on a.... let's say "more factual" - if not friendly - basis.
It's a riot watching these righty freaks flounder in the light of reality.
They do seem to be falling apart, Neon. Just spouting off with whatever comforts them, not even trying to appear rational.
I was lucky enough to catch Sam the Socialist( stage name: Joe the Plumber) on Hannity & Colmes last night. He whined a bit about the government taking his money and giving it to somebody else. Colmes asked him about the period when he was on welfare, and Sam explained that he "paid into it. Welfare should be used, not abused".
Colmes then mentioned to Sam that he would be taxed less under Obama's plan, and Sam said it was against his principles to take somebody else's money. I had him all wrong, he's out there fighting Obama because he wants to pay higher taxes.It seems to conflict with some of his other statements, but who am I to argue with Sam the Socialist? He's just an average American douchebag who doesn't need any stinkin' facts getting in the way of his ideology.
Joe the Dumber resembles the Republican who ran in our House District. He's a cage fighter by profession, and quite good at it; however in politics, he's dumber than dirt. His platform consisted of: taxes bad. Me not like taxes. When asked his position on the Oregon "kicker" (voter ordered reimbursement to individual income tax payers if projected revenues exceed actual expenses): he said "what's a kicker? Is that a tax?"
Luckily the Democrat won. But plenty of people voted for Matt the cage fighter anti-tax crusader.
Religion is the narcotic of the masses. Lies are the narcotic of right wingers. I just had one of those light bulb moments.
The one I continue to hear with great frequency is the canard that "BARACK OBAMA IS THE MOST LIBERAL SENATOR." Maybe MMFA needs to debunk that one yet again? I heard it last night from Dennis Miller, who even went out of his way to claim that the National Journal ranking was true and legitimate. That is maybe to be expected, but what possible excuse could the mainstream media have for repeating such a specious claim?
Most Liberal Senator accusation has become about as meaningful as the announced death of the #2 or #3 Al Queda terrorist.
Vile hate toward President Elect Obama will continue by some of these racist pigs who hosts radio shows. The vitriol is borderline insighting violence against the now President Elect, my only hope is that more Americans will turn off these hatemongers.
and so it begins.. what? not even 48 hours after the election, we're already hearing the rumblings of the totalitaria right looking to screw over the 1st amendment- the first amendment exists only for those who hold your political views. Not a surprise that Moronic Matters for America would launch that angle this early on. LOL
the totalitaria(sic) right
Oops, did you accidentally say something true, Honey?
This time, her name should be Miss Dee Irony.
:-)
Miss Demeanor?
She's been Miss Dee Point ever since she joined MMFA.....
I'm curious.
We've obviously got someone here in Miss Dee who can't manage to keep a thought in her head long enough to transfer it correctly via keyboard to screen, much less recognize the error after seeing it, indicating a failure of comprehension of her own writing.
How does someone like that ever expect to collect all the information necessary to perform an accurate analysis and reach a valid conclusion of any subject?
I think MissDeeranged does read her posts. Note the "LOL" at the end of nearly every comment she makes.She ridicules herself.
There's already a choice of three sites calling for Obama's impeachment. You think MMfa's getting off the mark early?
They are not waiting for him to be sworn in? They have a Sarah Palin level understanding of government.
Palin - who can see russia from her front porch but had no clue Africa was a continent? The dummy who can't even speak a coherent sentance? Hmm, sounds like someone else here, Miss Dee. Hmmm...
What the hell are you babbling about?
Unless MMFA is an agency of the government, with legal authority to sesor, imprison or impose fines, the 1st Amendment doesn't enter into it.
(And if it DID, how is your post any different?)
If you con's were able to not only READ, but UNDERSTAND your rights, you probably wouldn't sound sofa king stupid when you debate these things. Why do you people ALWAYS claim that your 1st ammendment rights are being violated when a PRIVATE CITIZEN disagrees with you? What the hell is wrong with you people?! The Constitution limits the power of the government to punnish you. It PROTECTS MY RIGHT to call you out on your BS!
Poor baby. The right would never stoop to doing that, would they? No, they would never consider setting a black church in springfield on fire because Obama won, would they? Bunch o' racist whiney losers!
You're spinning your wheels by using the word "conservative", when what is truly meant is REPUBLICAN.
It is not the ideological or "conservative" abuse of the the Public Resource the Public Airwaves that grieves us, but the private and Political use of the Public Resource Public Trust Public Airwaves that is the problem.
Who has this broadcast power to influence and manipulate the Political opinions of the American People, by way of a privileged use of the Public Airwaves?
Not me. Not you.
"Conservatives"?
Nope.
REPUBLICANS.
Is it or is it not Politics and Political opinions we are talking about here?
Call it what it is... because it's a private Political abuse of a Public Resource the Public Airwaves that grieves us as a People, and not any ideological use under the stupid name of "conservative".
Call it what it is, by it's true name.
You're absolutely right. And it's plainly illustrated by the way that Hannity, limpaugh, et al jumped on the McCain bandwagon after 3 months of trashing him in favor of other R candidates.
They have started this before 8PM west coast time on Nov 4. I don't know what possesses them to throw rocks at the new commander-in-chief, a position they revered as god like before. little men they are.
This rather long list of conservative filth puts one in mind to start thinking about...
Oh, I don't know, Mmm..., maybe sensible limits for the amount of radio stations a corporation can own?
So you’re saying Government should control ownership? What about how many T.V. Stations one can own? OR, what about how many McDonalds one can own, or number of small business you can own. So you believe the government should have control of these types of things. No, I do not believe in Monopolies, but if there is at least multiply owners in an industry government should but out. I just keep saying, it you do not like what you see or hear you have the freedom to turn the channel. Just so hard to understand the thinking of a liberal and why you want to shut down radio. If folks find it offensive they will turn the channel, if enough individuals do that, the person will be taken off the air since they will not be able to sell advertisement. Simple Concept.
Sure, just because you've cornered the strawman market.
Comparing ownership of McDonald's restaurants and ownership of media outlets makes no sense at all. Who the hell really cares if you have a monopoly on supplying crappy cheeseburgers to the masses? Monopoly over information sources, however, is a very dangerous thing. Ever heard of TASS?
Or Goebbels ? Goebbels controlled information in Germany and the german people actuallu believed operaqtion Barbarossa was a succuees, until someone notice the caskets coming back and the underground rumble began. My father was an engineer at Focke-Wulf at the time and he told me what was really going on in one of the few times he talked about the war.. As far as cheeseburgers go, you can always cook them at home to your satisfaction meaning McDonalds will never be a monopoly.
No, I think he's telling a different story. I think 8 homes is saying the wealthy elite should not be allowed to control ownership of the free flow of information.
If you think this boils down to ratings, you are crazy. Look at the internet. It is the democratization of information and the left dominates the it.
Truth be told, if the corporate media were deconsolidated and real competition was opened up the con job radio talkers would be more greatly marginalized than the conservative politicians that just got thumped.
So you’re saying Government should control ownership? mbf199
You mean you don't know that prior to 2003 when Michael Powell changed the rules to allow consolidation of media (owning newspapers, tv stations and radio stations in the same city/town) the Government did exactly that? And that independent studies show that since that change local input in news has diminished greatly? And surely you can see the problem with the "just turn the channel" solution in a market where all information in the three formats are controlled by one entity?
Silly me, of course you can't.
Government has no business controlling ownership but it had damned sure better control the licensing of my airwaves.
Your wrong, actually. They DO have a business controlling ownership. See my post below.
Yeah... let's go back to when Republicans did a GOOD JOB governming this nation and it's economy... Let's take a good hard look at William McKinnley, Teddy Roosevelt and William Taft.... You see these guys did an awful lot of something called "Trust Busting." You see back when Republican's still had any ideals, they believed in a free market. They no longer do. You see, to functionm a free market needs COMPETITION. So McKinnley, Roosevelt and Taft went about breaking up big monoploies and corprate conglomerates so that we actually HAVE a free makret. There is no "free market" when 2-3 companies control 95% of a resource. That's not a free market, it's a monopoly or an oligopoly. The Republican's used to understand this. The government must sometimes intervene to PROTECT the free market. But you guys no longer care about the free market. It's just a nice sound talking point that hypnotizes the ignorant, like you. All the Pub's do now is protect corprate profits. (Which are higher in monopolies, than they are in a "free market" where competition drives the price down.) GOP - Greed over principals.
For christ's sake - do you con's take ANY courses in Civics, History, Con Law or Economics? Sheesh. Try opening a book, and getting your info and opinions from more sources than just fox news!
It's clear from Colorado election results that these Lush Rumball wannabe's have minimal influence - Caplis, Gunny Bob, Broyles, Caldara, etc, Denver-based, are desperate to come off as "Alpha male" types, persuasive and right-minded, but actually showbiz frauds, transparently empty.
These vicious haters on the radio make it clear that the First Amendment is worthless. Obama needs to rid the USA of all dissent now that his party will run the Executive Branch and Congress. Perhaps he can amend the Constitution to expunge the First and Second Amendments. Guns and dissent... a bad combination. He should prepare the re-education camps for Republicans and Conservatives. We need to get their minds right. Maybe we can sit down with Putin and negotiate the use of the gulags in Siberia for the purpose of making non-Democrats think properly. We need to all agree with everything Obama says and does for the good of the country. Anyone who disagrees must be vilified, then corrected or destroyed. We need to bring back electroshock therapy for the racist, homophobic, Christian zealots that worship anyone or anything that is not Obama.
What a great idea! Let's start with you.
There would be no need. Once Obama is in, I will not say anything bad about him. There will be no need to do so. And I don't own a gun.
Right....Gotcha. Cause you have so much respect for the office.
Nice attempt at channeling your demented view of what you wish the Left was like. But you are merely projecting your own paleoconservative views upon a demographic that you will never understand nor belong to.
I neither believe the Left is like that nor do I lack understanding of the demographic. Some on the Left and some on the Right are like that. Both Left and Right should watch for it. It took the Communist Soviet Union and the Capitalist USA to defeat the Fascist Germany. Common enemies make strange bedfellows.
Yay! Another wingnut attempt at satire or sarcasm. Why do I always picture the cartoon character sitting on the outer edge of the branch, sawing away at the inner part of the branch?
You'll have to ask your therapist. He may suggest stopping the meds.
Projection at its finest.
A perfectly distilled paragraph of hate radio-induced stupidity.
Exactly. That's what happens when you listen to Randi Rhodes. However, most of her listeners couldn't write a perfectly distilled paragraph of anything.
Folks already got their minds straight and voted for the campaign with the better ideas, they freely and openly voted for a liberal agenda and we liberals didn't even have to resort to any of those Republican GWOT tactics you described.
Sorry your static, ignorant right wing thinking was challenged and overwhelmingly rebuked, but to say dissent will be crushed in the way you describe is just the fevered imaginings of a creepy, creepy neofascist.
Forty-eight percent did not vote for Obama. "Overwhelmingly" is somewhat hyperbolic. But, obviously, more voted for him than his opponent so now he's going to be in charge. Let's see how his ideas work. They haven't worked in the past, but no one can predict the future. If the GWOT tactics were Republican, then Media Matters would have been shut down some time within the last 8 years. In fact, your not being in an orange jumpsuit right now proves your claim inaccurate. Let's hope that my "attempt at satire and sarcasm" is just "fevered imaginings," for the sake of 48% of the electorate.
Let's see how [Obama]'s ideas work. They haven't worked in the past...
DFens, If you get back here,can you give some examples of Obama's ideas that have failed in the past?
Obama's stated policies (tax increases, a less muscular foreign policy, expanding government programs, etc...) were tried by the Carter administration. Maybe you're not old enough to remember hostages in Iran, gas lines, 10% unemployment, 20% interest rates, and high inflation. We're looking at a very similar situation right now thanks to Bush, Pelosi, and Reid. Obama's stated ideas will make it worse. He may do something other than what he has talked about, though. So, he might surprise us and do something that helps.
LOL! Whatevs. New Deal and Square Deal policies presided over the greatest expansion of the middle class in the history of the world.
And why the quotes around, attempt at satire and sarcasm?
That is factually false. The greatest expansion of the middle class in history occurred under the Clinton administration... after Newt Gingrich became Speaker. The second greatest expansion of the middle class occurred under the Reagan administration. Both expansions followed tax cuts.
I use the quotes when I use the phrases of others.
This has been a pet peeve of mine for some time. After Kerry lost in 2004, I heard more than one GOP apologist claim that Bush and Kerry had gotten equal "message exposure". This, of course, did not take into account the constant barrage of negative propaganda spewed out by Conservative Hate Radio. Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity between them amount to at least 30 hours per week of unregulated advocacy for the Republican Party. Add the countless hordes of Talking Point Parrots who populate the local markets, and you have a massive pro-Republican propaganda saturation in most American cities.
I understand that they have a First Amendment Right to do this, but it needs to be acknowledged by the Media. While I don't necessarily agree with the Fairness Doctrine, maybe the government needs to look at some marginal regulations on ownership, since this medium has become an integral part of our political system.
The Democrats also need to closely monitor the mountaiun of dishonest crap manufactured by this propaganda machine, and do everything they can to counter it. The results of this last election indicate that are finally taking this threat seriously.
The denizens of Wingnutsylvania are just getting started. If you thought it was bad with Clinton, its going to be as bad if not worse with Obama. His win is eating them up inside, and the sheer insanity of their ravings is only going to get worse.
Also, the Colorado NPR station is excellent. Ryan Warner exposed old what's his name that lost to Ritter, as the sad sack of ancient bias and prejudice that he is. The contrasting interviews of Bob "Revolving door" Schaeffer and the winner Udall, did not effect this election, as it was already over, but Schaeffer came off as the angry, combative richard cranium that he is.
My point is, no matter what the right wing radio hosts spew, listeners are likely to hear the truth, in the candidates own words, when they switch away from commercial radio because of the constant ads that insult your intelligence and sanity.
Forget the Fairness Doctrine...America should ban all radio and television talk that would ??? the autoritative powers....right guys...shut them all down so all we hear about is what the goverment wants us to hear...heck we're' almost there with more than half of all main media outlets being in govt's back pocket. Shut them all down so we never hear any opposing views then we'll be better for it.....RIGHT?
"shut them all down so all we hear about is what the goverment wants us to hear."
You mean like the way the McCain campaign embargoed reports about Palin's circus diva demeanor on the campaign trail?
You're late to the party. Your fellow wingnut loony already posted similar nonsense above.
And Wesley goes for the exact same strawman-satire below, for a Wingnut Trifecta.It's like they're issued Mad Libs to work from.
This is pretty typical of partisan skulldugery practiced by many in the media...and that includes mmfa.
This article claims that the PEJ report is flawed...and the same is argued by mmfa Exec.VP Foser.
Yet when Boehlert, a Senior Fellow at mmfa, needed info yesterday to slant his article ...he used the very same 'flawed' PEJ report to buttress his argument and partisan views.
Phoniness and lack of principle...yep.
sore loser.
C'mon wolfie...you should show more winner's grace...like Obama.
Sore loser? Not on your life.
I've already noticed how much bluer the sky is...and how much brighter the sunshine since Tuesday.
And that's just for starters. We no longer have to hope for change it's coming.
We'll finally concede that we can't win in Iraq and pull out our troops...we're going to capture bin laden and escalate the war on the Taliban...free health care...a booming economy after the wall street crooks and Ceo's are punished...the rich bastards are going to finally pay their fair share of taxes...we're all going to share in the wealth as redistributed by Pres.Obama...liberal judges being appointed to legislate from the bench so we don't have to depend on those corrupt politicians...no more evil businesses causing global warming and a Yugo in every garage...just like the Pointer Sisters...I'm so excited!
Sore loser? Not me. Obama's swearing in ceremony can't come soon enough. I can't wait to get on the Obama gravy train...easy street for all. I don't know why I didn't get the message sooner...after all...Obama promised...didn't he?
I love the precogs on the Con side who think they can predict the future. If so, why couldn't you have stopped your man McCain from picking the disastrous Palin?
Suddenly, we're supposed to trust the party that ran the country into the ground that they can somehow forsee the next four years. Give it a rest.
It's our turn to drive and we get to choose the destination, route and radio station. You Cons are along for the ride. If we run into the ditch, then the American people will decide our fate in two and four years. But, I wouldn't bet against us.
Don't bother griping, Wes. You willingly threw away your vote.
And stop displaying how the right have utterly abandoned their core principles. It was the Republican Teddy Roosevelt who first instituted the progressive tax rate because he understood the fairness. It was the Republican Ronald Reagan who expanded the earned income tax credit that the Republican Gerald Ford started because they realized, at least in part, that we all do better when we all do better.
The conservative movement was founded on the rejection of the materialism and consumerism of the "rich bastards" you seem to enamored of. But hey, whatever, you've been manipulated by some very cynically clever, very devious and vulgar corporate Marxists into only being able to make arguments that serve the interests of the elite. So be it. I ain't mad about it, you're just too stupid to realize you're a sap.
Is there any such thing, anywhere, as a sincere, honest conservative? Does such a creature even draw breath anywhere on this planet? I've seen casts of footprints and clumps of hair, samples of scat that some claim as evidence, and I've heard the fireside stories of sightings, but I've never seen photographic evidence and certainly have never seen one on the hoof. Does anyone know if maybe they've found a frozen one somewhere, maybe on a mountaintop, like maybe left over from the Eisenhower era before they all went extinct, one that we could thaw out and find out what conservatism was like back then?
I tend to think that the whole thing is a hoax, a Piltdown man, a jackalope invented by some taxidermist with a sense of humor. Because if such creatures as sincere, honest conservatives existed, they wouldn't allow people like these liars, hate and fear mongers, propagandists armed with nothing but smears, insults and fact-free boogeyman rants to dominate their ideology, represent them and speak for them, and make them all look like tantrum-throwing children who don't even know the difference between right and wrong. If there were sincere, honest conservatives, you would think they would outnumber these low-end-of-the-bellcurve types, outnumber them so overwhelmingly that they could take back their ideology, probably without even a fight, leaving these low-information deadenders to go back to throwing feces and stealing each other's bananas.
If sincere, honest conservatives really did outnumber the screechmonkeys as the legend suggests, they could join many of the rest of us and deluge the networks and stations that carry the monkeys with protests, and bury the advertisers that support them with demands that they stop enabling the liars who don't honestly represent conservatism and who make it look like a sideshow that even P.T. Barnum wouldn't stoop to, or risk losing business. But until these sincere, honest conservatives come out of their sleep and take their ideology back, I at least will continue to suspect that it's just another Bigfoot.
quote--- Is there any such thing, anywhere, as a sincere, honest conservative?
Nope and we are just finding out conservative Sarah " princess " Palin, has been robbing the RNC for a while buying stuff for her own family. I am guessing she was lying also claiming the stuff belongs to the RNC just as the lights and stage props do. If that is conservative, i will surrender my conservative side and become a full bird liberal.
A sincere honest Conservative in many ways, I think, would be very close in philosphy to a sincere honest Liberal on a lot of issues. But the Wingnuts and the Moonbats tend to make "sincere and honest" a rare commodity.
We do have Bruce and Oscar (hi Oscar). I put them as sincere and honest, and as far as I know, of a conservative outlook. There's probably a couple other arround. Thing is their type of voice is out shouted by some real wackos. The Republican part began to divest itself of moderates in the Reagan years. They continue to do so.
What? No mention of Don Wade? He made up a fantasy about Obama smothering his grandmother with a pillow.
http://blogs.chicagotribune.com/news_columnists_ezorn/2008/10/wls-am-host-envisions-obama-murdering-his-grandmother.html
here is how it works. When your plan didn't work ( ie smirk Obama to the point Mccain gets elected ) you fill the airwaves with bullsit so you cannot tell what is the real truth from fiction. the unintended consequence of this plan is nooone comes out unscathed and credibility becomes non-existent. Who can we count on in the media to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth ? I personally feel I need to watch many outlets and decide.
I want to thank the Media Matters team for putting all of this together. It is very important. I honor your hard work.
To hear the forces that divide us and turn one American against another we have only to listen to some right wing talk radio. During a time when Americans came together after 9/11 many RW radio hosts decided to classify other Americans as the enemy for fun and profit.
Right now Sean Hannity is crying that Obama will reinstate the Fairness Doctrine.
On one hand that appears to be his biggest fear, but you should note that he is playing that card for the liberals who listen to him. He knows that many of them feel that anything that even hints at government regulation of speech is something they don't want, especially when the Bush Administration has gotten rid of so many other protections. He knows that he can even get some misunderstanding people on the left to say, "I don't like what he has to say, but I'll defend to the death his right to say it." That is fine, they are welcome to defend Hannity, but I don't want them to confuse what the First Amendment says about what congress can do regarding speech vs. what we can say about advertiser-subsidized speech on the public airwaves.
If Hannity sees any attempt to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine he might even garner support from people he says he dislikes, such as the ACLU. He WANTS people to start talking about the Fairness Doctrine because then he can be the victim. (His show is now "Conservatism in Exile! How romantic!). Being a victim is his favorite category to be in (except maybe the bully category).
What I would like is for certain other people to really hear what these hosts are saying. The Advertisers. Specifically the directors of HR, marketing and brand management. The right made a big deal about associations. They believe that associating with someone who says bad things reflects poorly on that person. So the exact same thing can be said for their sponsors and the hosts. Often times the hosts read the ads on the air right after a horrific comment. The link between the two is clear and intentional.
To the advertisers: Why are you tainting your brand by being associated with these comments? Are these comments representative of your company's values? (Often times they state their values on their company website) Also, the violent comments and sexism bleed over into the ads. Is this okay with your brand managers?
When an NFL star was caught doing something heinous, he lost his endorsements. When a talk radio host says something heinous (often times over and over again), in opposition to corporate stated values, why does he maintain his status as their spokesperson? I suppose they can choose to keep supporting this, but it seems like a bad way to spend the shareholder's money.
These sponsors are paying the salary of the people who attack the stated values of their own company (e.g. diversity, equal rights for employees, no blatant racism or sexism, freedom of religious choice)
The reason that these hosts have continued to carry on with horrific comments is that people who have decision making power don't listen. Or if they do, they agree. There are no disclaimers on these shows that the comments of the host don't reflect the views of the management. The management of some stations go out of their way to support these people, therefore we must conclude that the host's comments DO reflect the management's views. I'm sure that some see themselves as proud supporters of "free speech" vs. supporters of violent rhetoric directed toward citizens.
As my EFF attorney said this January:
Alerting the advertisers with an educational program often times helps them decide that this show/host isn't really in line with their corporate values and goals.
But what do I know? I'm just a brain in a box.
Spocko
Can we even determine what an "honest" conservative would discuss?
Used to be fiscal conservatism and ware the foreign entanglements.
Its going to be interesting to see what comes out of the approaching conservative furball.
Plenty more examples than those listed here. Jim Bohannon, a grotesque, greasy, obese wingnut who also has some "mainstream" street creed because he replaced Larry King on his overnight radio show, repeatedly stated throughout this campaign that an Obama victory would be a victory for Al-Qaeda. Then again, this is the same retard who actually got into a heated argument with Ted Galen Carpenter of the Cato Institute over (I kid you not) the desirability of nuclear war with North Korea. Jim took the pro position.
And speaking of rotund, bloodthirsty wingnuts, Phil Hendrie (ostensibly an Obama supporter) repeatedly equated jabs about McCain's age to "little black sambo" jabs against Obama... Jabs which HE made whenever he felt that McCain's "honor" was being violated by those who questioned his ability to serve in the Oval Office because of his advanced years.
Jerry was on Fox tonite and underlined the new force of the internet. I know that the forces of darkness also spew the same racism, hatred and trickle down economics of the last forty years. But the youth vote was so very important to this election and the youth do not listen to fascist commentators on the radio. They are blogging. They are messaging on gadgets that were not even foretold in Dick Tracey Comics. Interrnet forces like Media Matters are changing the course of America. Radio had me so depressed for so many years and you can look back to Father Conklin in the Thirties and Forties as the precursor to this tripe you find on your car radio. But the times, they are achangin. Thanks to Air America, MSNBC and Media Matters along with their cohorts.
Rush Limbaugh every other day 1 out of 2 additional conservatives each day
Sean Hannity
Michael Savage
This information is not nearly a good enough sample for the Boston area. Many of us have been monitoring these talk shows for many years (possibly increasing their ratings unfortunately - but worth the sacrifice, probably).
You also have...
This does NOT include the ClearChannel sports station (WEEI) where the morning hosts (Dennis and Callahan) have also swallowed the radio talk show right wing KoolAid.
As you can see, (and I don't think I got everybody either), the vast majority of talk radio was not covered in this survey (or whatever it was) in the Boston area. I believe that it may be worse in other cities.
RSW
The Right are degenerates, pure and simple. We're going to have to get them out of our country sooner or later.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBoOqysiLFo
When a politician just "pops up" on the national scene there are going to be questions about him. Without a history known to the masses anyone can say anything and there is no way for it to be disproved nationally.
promised that radio would become compelling, with new ideas and
programs that previously made program directors nervous. Instead, we
have seen AM talk radio basically become 24/7 propaganda outlets for
the Republican party.
The disgusting thinly-veiled bigotry and racism that has shown up in
the past couple of months shows the true colors of these guys.
Seems like Rush and Hannity in particular have just resorted to
repeating LIES and stooping to dispicable tactics. When Colin Powell
endorsed Obama, Mark Levin started playing clips of Powell in reverse
sequence..the first one played was the LAST sentence of Powell's
endorsement where he said he had decided to endorse Obama...then Levin
cuts in with a rant about how Powell had endorsed Obama without giving
any reasons...so it was obviously only because he was another black.
And don't mention how they ran the with hoax about a white female
McCain supporter attacked and mutilated by a big black man. And of course, on election day, the hoax that muscular Black Panthers with big nightsticks (neocon phallic reference?) are blocking the doors to the polling places, keeping whites from voting.
What? No hate fomented by the liberal news media abc, cbs, nbc, cnn, etc. against Sarah Palin? No hateful rhetoric by left wingers in the media, film industry, gov't schools (elementary through university) hollywood, newspapers, etc. against conservatives?
In your world do only conservatives criticise those to whom disagreement is engendered?
What about all the bias against conservatives produced for decades before conservative talk-radio began in the late 80's with Rush.
Bunny you have to be kidding me, listing Boston of all places as an example of Media Bias towards the right. Massachusetts is on eof the most liberal states in the country, Air America used to be on the airwaves and no one listened. It is simple economics, radio stations are businesses that make money of ratings and advertisers, if you don't like it don't listen.
The majority of the shows you listed are primarily on 2 stations, and yet you fail to mention the shows that are led by democrats like Tom Finneran which has the morning prime time show on WRKO.
With that said Tom's show probably doesn't count because although he is a democrat he is not a moonbat. Also how about question 1 in Mass this past year, to roll back the income tax, the unions and left wing pundits outspent the opposition by 30 million dollars to get the vote killed, so how is that any different than trying to quiet the opposing view.
I would state that if you don't ike it, change the channel there are still probably 50 other options just in the Boston Market.