GOP Strategy To Undermine Obama Will Rely HEAVILY on AM Hate Radio

[Vinnie From Indy]

If one is ever driving through Indianapolis, it is almost impossible to scan the AM radio band without picking up one of a half dozen extremist right wing radio programs. We have all the big stars like OxyRush and Hannity and we also have a number of local extremist right wing radio hosts to fill out the day in between the shows of the big national right wing radio stars. This morning our local right-wing propagandist Greg Garrison on WIBC had a chat with Rep. Mike Pence from Indiana. During their discussion Garrison commented that he had sent Pence's office a list of FIFTY other local right wing radio hosts across the country that are part of some coordinated effort to attack Obama and the bailout legislation. Pence replied that he had heard of the effort at a GOP congressional retreat this last week in Virginia. Both men commented that the strategy is to have GOP representatives from across the country get on these shows and attack Obama and Democrats relentlessly using the same talking points script.

If liberals and Democrats do anything in the near future, they absolutely MUST devise a strategy to counter and hopefully neutralize the gargantuan right wing lie factory on AM radio. I think the biggest mistake that the left could make would be to rely on the Fairness Doctrine as a solution. This route alone will not do the trick and it gives these right wing blowhards the fig leaf of being persecuted for their beliefs and martyrs to the cause.

The only way right wing hate radio will ever be neutralized is for the battle to take place LOCALLY. It is the LOCAL stations and their LOCAL advertisers that are most vulnerable to pressure. For example, in Indianapolis there are a few car dealerships that advertise on the Limbaugh program. These are the advertisers that must feel the outrage of the local community for advertising on right wing hate radio.

In the end, it will take local community activists and organizers to effectively counter right wing radio. We must make it much more expensive for these stations and local advertisers to advertise on these shows using local boycotts and demonstrations at these places of business.

[ClassWarrior]

1. You make an excellent point.

In fact, last year's report by the Center for American Progress and FreePress said the key to a healthy talk radio discourse is diverse local control. They concluded that a new Fairness Doctrine's effect would be negligible.

NGU.

[Ian David]

2. See also: Limbaugh says Obama can destroy the GOP 4ever if his plan works, & no Repukes vote for it

Limbaugh says Obama can destroy the GOP for ever if his plan works, and no Repukes vote for it
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=8159401&mesg_id=8159401

[Blue Dog Dominion]

3. Who the fuck listens to AM radio anymore?

Jes saying.

[Hugabear]

5. LOTS of people do.

Ignoring the problem, pretending that it doesn't exist, isn't going to make it go away. Just because many of us may not listen to AM radio, don't fool yourself for one second that tens of millions of rethugs and conservatives don't tune in every day for their heaping helping of propaganda and hate.

[Howardx]

6. exactly

limbaugh and his ilk's influence is continually overstated on DU

[wtmusic]

7. Minimum 13 million listeners a week

and that's just Rush.

[blueclown]

29. That number is overstated.

I doubt he gets 13 mil a week.

Still, he does have a sizable audience and it's stupid to act like it doesn't exist.

[wtmusic]

33. 600 stations/14M week

"Rush Limbaugh is first and foremost a radio performer," said Michael Harrison, publisher of the trade journal Talkers magazine, which notes that Limbaugh has been the most listened-to talk-show host since at least the mid-1990s. "He's not a political leader. He doesn't make more money by turning elections. He only exists to gather large audiences and raise more advertising revenue and he does it terrifically."

(Limbaugh is heard on some 600 radio stations across the country, and more than 14 million people listen to him at least once a week.)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28935576/

[Vinnie From Indy]

8. LOL!

Good question! I would offer that the folks that listen to AM hate radio are the same types of folks that come to DU to post off-topic, ridiculous comments like yours. Cheers!

[rhymeandreason]

13. They're listening, what choice to they have?

Media hegemony and dominance of regional markets makes it possible to batter the public with GOP propaganda by networks like Limbaugh's employer, Clear Channel:

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Clear_Channel_Communications

Clear Channel Communications is the number one radio station owner in the U.S. "Clear Channel owns, operates, programs, or sells airtime for nearly 1,200 radio stations; it also has equity interests in 240 international stations. Clear Channel owns a 90% stake in one of the world's largest outdoor advertising companies, Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, with more than 910,000 display locations worldwide. In addition, Clear Channel owns or manages about 50 TV stations and sells spot advertising for more than 3,300 radio and TV stations through Katz Media. The company has agreed to be taken private by an investment group led by Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital." <1>

In August 2006, TheDeal.com reported that Clear Channel "is considering filing a formal petition to the Federal Communications Commission seeking to raise the caps limiting how many stations one company can own in the largest individual U.S. markets." According to the article, the company has 1,189 radio stations, but "wants the FCC to relax a rule that limits a company's radio station ownership in individual markets." A Clear Channel spokesperson said, "Easing the ownership restrictions will help level the playing field and let free radio compete with iPods, online music services and satellite radio. Certainly, seeing that satellite radio has 150 unregulated stations in every market and free radio is limited to just eight shows the apparent disparity." <1[br />
<snip>

Bush Connections

"The vice chairman of Clear Channel is Tom Hicks. ... When Mr. Bush was governor of Texas, Mr. Hicks was chairman of the University of Texas Investment Management Company, called Utimco, and Clear Channel's chairman, Lowry Mays, was on its board. Under Mr. Hicks, Utimco placed much of the university's endowment under the management of companies with strong Republican Party or Bush family ties. In 1998 Mr. Hicks purchased the Texas Rangers in a deal that made Mr. Bush a multimillionaire." <7>,

"In addition, Hicks steered a controversial scheme to use the University of Texas' $13 billion endowment for private investment. Among the beneficiaries were the Carlyle Group, the arms investment firm tied to both George Bush Snr and the bin Laden family, and George W Bush's controversial Harken Oil drilling project in Bahrain."<8>

Political contributions

Data released by the Center for Responsive Politics in early 2004 revealed that Clear Channel executives donated $42,200 to Bush compared to $1,750 to Democrat Presidential candidate John Kerry. Clear Channel's political action committee contributed 77% of their $334,501 in federal contributions to Republicans. <9>

In the 2006 election cycle, Clear Channel gave $492,250 to federal candidates through its political action committee - 40% to Democrats and 60% to Republicans. <2>

[OnionPatch]

31. Lots of people.

I really think AM radio is partly responsible for the way rural-America votes. Rural people who work out of their trucks get bored listening to music and turn on AM talk to hear something "interesting." People who work in small shops in rural areas listen to the radio in the background. (I hear it all the time in small shops around here.) Rural people who have to commute long distances to their jobs listen to talk radio. Maybe you don't, but lots of people listen to AM talk radio. They're being totally, completely brainwashed to hate and despise people like you and me and to vote against their own best interest. Millions of them. I find that really disturbing.

[chill_wind]

35. I can tell you that is absolutely true of the rural part of PA

that I just left after 7+ years.

[wtmusic]

4. Forcing call-in shows to allow all callers their say would emasculate Rush

and in fact, loonies of all stripes. Mandate a "one-minute rule" - where any call-in which is not obscene or preaching violence gets airtime.

When Clear Channel has a lock on 25% of the American AM radio dial (and Viacom another 17%) there is not room for healthy discourse. This application of a fairness doctrine is realistic and achievable.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=4956660&mesg_id=4956660

[KharmaTrain]

9. Targeting Local Advertising Can Make A Difference...

From one who played in radio in a past life, nothing gets a station manager's attention more than a pissed off advertiser. One call from a sponsor is worth 100 listener calls and 1,000 emails. This is especially the case as radio's revenues are in the tank and many stations are either losing money or on the verge of bankruptcy.

I'd suggest to either pay a visit or give a call to one of those dealers...friendly like and mention that you had heard their commercial on the Rushbo show (you were forced to listen at work or being tortured by "terrirists") and find the show to be offensive and a poor reflection on the dealership for supporting. You may be surprised if the dealer doesn't know they're advertising there...that either their agency did the buy or the station "bonused" or put the spot in the show without the advertiser's prior knowledge. For those who say something like "so what"...then you know who NOT to do business with in the future. Always...always be polite.

Yes...hate radio will do all it can to try to remain relevant and attack President Obama at every turn. It's not like they haven't. But big deal. This isn't 1992...things are a lot different. There are alternative forms of information and entertainment now...the internet for example...that reaches a far wider audience and has proven to be far more effective than hate radio. Look at their favoires...Rudee, Thompson, Hucklenutz...they sure didn't win their party's nomination. They can't even hold their failing party together yet have much real influence. If anything, we're seeing hate radio to be a liability to the GOOP.

Right now the economy is destroying radio...or should I say the greed and "deregulation" has.

Cheers...

[Lex]

10. AM radio would *only* be preaching to their choir.

Nothing more.

[cobalt1999]

11. The folks that listen and believe Rush et al aren't going to vote Democratic anyway

I think you give them too much credit.

Like the mythical powers of Rove, when it comes down to it, Rove, Rush, AM radio isn't going to derail anything.

[wtmusic]

12. Interview RW converts, and you will get Rush talking points part and parcel

this is not a coincidence.

[cobalt1999]

17. I suspect they would be RW converts even w/o Rush.

What caused them to go searching for and listening to him in the first place?

Friends, coworkers, & family probably have a bigger influence on people than a radio show. The radio show just packages up their thoughts for them.

[wtmusic]

18. Possibly.

IMO breaking up the "packages", LW or RW, is a good thing.

[Vinnie From Indy]

20. I respectfully disagree

I do think that enormous AM radio megaphone has been one the most effective organs of the modern GOP. I do not think one can so easily pronounce that the medium is irrelevant and ineffective.

I will repeat that I think it is absolutely vital that liberals and Democrats devise a strategy to counter the massive propaganda platform built by the extremist right wing on AM radio. I also believe that it is a mistake to view AM hate radio in isolation. Simply looking at the millions and millions of daily listeners is not enough. The fact is that AM radio has become the incubator of many of the lies and propaganda that Americans have been swimming in for the last decade or so. What is offered on AM radio is merely the first shots of any particular battle that the right-wing wants to wage. It is only after the first shots are taken by the likes of Limbaugh and Hannity etc. that the real power of AM radio is felt. America's mainstream media has perfected the art of maintaining these attacks as part of their daily fare of news. The movement of these attacks launched on AM radio into the mainstream news cycle is where most of the "Rush isn't that important" crowd lose their way. The fact is that the attacks by Limbaugh and others on AM radio are merely the seeds that are planted to be reaped by the mainstream media. Once in the mainstream news cycle, these attacks become a real and present danger to Democrats and to any hope of enacting any real legislation designed for the common man.

In the end, the power of Limbuagh is not mythical and the future genesis of most right wing attacks will be AM hate radio.

[MessiahRp]

23. I still think if we want to fight back effectively...

We need those rich liberals who devote a lot of money to causes like MoveOn to buy up radio stations, etc and start airing progressive talk radio to counter program. And I think in rural areas there should be shows that focus on the issues in the area (jobs/agriculture/hunting) that would draw those folks. Then as they are tuned into that station it will make more sense that the other views displayed on that station are meant to be targeted to them and their needs/values. Republicans use Abortion and Gay Marriage as their cultural divide but we can draw those people back with cultural inclusion and then use that open door to lead them to understand how we would better address their economic interests as well.

Rp

[treestar]

14. They are marginalized now

They didn't get their way regarding the election.

Radio listening is bound to decline in the age of the internet. Rush's newness and shock value, which he may have had in the early 90s is over.

[Life Long Dem]

15. Right here.

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090216/leroy?rel=hpbox

[Mz Pip]

16. I think RW hate radio helped Obama win

All the over the top vitriolic screeds from the likes of Rush, Hannity and Coulter may have energized the GOP's ever shrinking base but it did nothing to win over moderates and independents. It turned those people off.

As much as Rush would like to see himself as the savior of the GOP his blatherings will just drive a few more nails into its coffin.

13 million people may listen to Rush but 69 million people actually voted for Obama.

Let Rush rant and spit. He won't get many converts as people are just sick of it. It doesn't help solve the serious problems we face. People want solutions, not hyperbole.

Mz Pip

[wtmusic]

21. When economies go sour and stay that way for a long time

people who originally heard lunatics like Rush as strident and out-of-touch gradually view them as a solution.

Americans will lose patience with Obama when he can't turn the FU'ed economy around overnight.

[Mz Pip]

22. Some might

but I think most people know it will take some time to reverse this. It took years to get to this place. The GOP is looking miore and more obstuctionist every day. It will be on them if things don't start moving in the right direction.

[starroute]

19. What are the chances we could get *real* radio back again?

A couple of years ago, my family was tapped to do a week's survey of everything we'd listened to on the radio. But when we sent the survey booklets back at the end of the week, not a one of us had listened to even a minute of radio broadcasts -- not even in passing in a store or waiting room. Not me or my husband or our two 20-something sons, who both happened to be living with us at that moment.

That really got me wondering. I used to have radio on the the background constantly -- not any more. You used to hear radio in stores, but apparently the RIAA got that made illegal. I very occasionally might put the radio on in the car, but if it weren't for that I wouldn't even know radio still existed.

The hate talkers were able to take over AM when all the music migrated to FM, leaving nothing behind but news, sports, and call-in shows. But FM offers almost nothing you'd want to listen to either.

The recent flap over digital TV transmission has gotten me thinking about radio again. The broadcast spectrum technically belongs to the people -- and at the start, back in the 20's, anybody could set up a radio station. But between the networks grabbing control and the FCC being created to allocate the spectrum in an orderly manner, the airwaves all got turned into property.

Now, not only are they property, but they're a rapidly decaying neighborhood, full of thugs and hoodlums, where respectable people fear to go after dark. How long before some of those stations and networks go bankrupt and we start seeing the equivalent of boarded-up storefronts and empty lots?

Now, if ever, is the time to reclaim the people's airwaves. Even in the internet era, radio has many virtues -- it's easily portable, essential for emergency warnings, and has an intimacy that visual media lack. Locally controlled radio could be a valuable tool for developing community awareness, enabling people to survive in an era of diminishing resources, and even promoting music that doesn't suck.

I don't know just how this could be done. I may just be dreaming wildly. But I think that right now, when so much is in flux, we should be thinking as broadly as possible and not just exchanging tips on how to get businesses to think twice before advertising with Rush.

[Wiley50]

26. One Great way would be for progressive investors to invest in Nova M stations

Radio stations are relatively cheap right now as Clear Channel and other radio conglomerates shed their least money making stations in order to get meaner and leaner.

There are no Nova M or AAR afiliates in many areas such as Tn, AR, and the entire middle tier of states north to south ( look at the affiliates page on the AAR website for an idea) There are many here in TN who could have their minds crowbared open by accidently tuning in to Thom Hartman for instance, IF IT WERE ONLY AVAILABLE.

Neither progressive network has the capital to expand into these markets. They need local people to do that. But they would be more than willing to add their expertise to those who could just buy the stations.

These stations could be profitable with the right sales team working the right progressive business owners. Just look what the folks in Phoenix have done with the Nova M flagship KPHX. They just moved to a better facility with a stronger signal AFTER ONLY A COUPLE OF YEARS IN BUSINESS

I know there aren't that many of uas who can get their hands on that kind of capital. IOften it would take a sizable group of small investors who want to be involved in bringing the light to their area. But that's how Nova M was born. It can be done.

It's time to fight hate radio with free thought radio

[Kashka-Kat]

24. Why not fairness doctrine? It served us well many years - all it says is if you present a politica

position you are obligated to provide time for an opposing position.

[pilsner]

25. Going after advertisers will back-fire

The right-wingers will target advertisers of Progressive Talk programming.

This is a battle we can not afford.

[Enrique]

27. hate radio hurts the GOP too

yeah a ton of people listen to it, but even more don't listen, or else listen but don't support.

A lot of people see those hate radio hosts as extremists, and a lot of moderate republicans won't want to be associated with them.

That's why I liked Obama's strategy of making the republicans look like they are taking marching orders from Rush.

[GeorgeGist]

28. Mock them ...

for being obsolete.

[4lbs]

30. I can't even recall the last time I listened to AM radio.

I listen to FM radio for the variety of music.

[libodem]

32. Homeland Security and the FBI need to

park the little white van outside and put on their headphones. Sedition is a crime and if they step one toe over the line they should be sued. Rush needs to be sued for every house, every care and every dime he's got. And then he should STFU. These A-holes are unpatriotic and Un-american. Anyway they should be listened to by the government they hate so much and give them a reason to bitch about it.

[chill_wind]

34. They will, just as they did in the Clinton years, only on worse raging steroids.

I support a 2-prong approach - a bill like MORA which calls for both restoration of the Fairness Doctrine and Media Ownership Reform.

http://www.house.gov/hinchey/issues/mora.shtml

Their fig-leaf protests should be the least of our worries, when they are preparing to sharpen and hold a knife to our throats, something they have a lot of historical practice and success with when out of favor. I think they will really reach for this medium again- big. We need legislation. SOON.

[democracy1st]

36. K & R

[AnotherMother4Peace]

37. Limpbutt: "Obama will own this economy & war within 7 months". K&R.