I'm not a Democrat or on the left. I think the left's policies and ideological views on equality, fairness, helping the poor and needy are more in line with my Christian values than the policies and ideology of Republicans and conservatives.
For better than half a lifetime, I’ve studied media and its effects on the public psyche. Teaching broadcast history and directing a student radio station, the larger picture seemed pretty clear. But one question always frustrated and perplexed me: How did AM talk radio, in particular, come to program such venomous, outrageous programming? Why do station managers, salespeople, even some listeners insist that Rush rants are what the public wants? And how did “Christian” radio (
and on-line sits) come to carry such un-Christian messages?
David Norlin,
How venomous voices from right-wing radio radicalized America • Missouri Independent
'The Divided Dial' examines how right-wing radio spreads misinformation
Before the attack on the U.S. Capitol in 2021, a talk radio host was on the air. Eric Metaxas interviewed a man who denied the presidential election results and who in turn got a call from Donald Trump.
(SOUNDBITE OF RADIO SHOW, "THE ERIC METAXAS SHOW")
ERIC METAXAS: Mr. President, I want to know, what can I do...
DONALD TRUMP: Fantastic. Your whole show and your whole deal is great. So just keep it up. We're making a lot of progress, actually.
INSKEEP: The talk show host said he was willing to die for the cause. Another host on the same network, Charlie Kirk, fired up listeners on January 4.
(SOUNDBITE OF RADIO SHOW, "THE CHARLIE KIRK SHOW")
CHARLIE KIRK: Believe it or not, there is a almost guaranteed way that Donald Trump serves four more years. Mike Pence says, I refuse to certify at this very moment the election results of Arizona, Nevada, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan.
INSKEEP: Radio hosts were part of the backdrop for the January 6 attack. They have audiences of many millions. And they are the focus of a podcast series, "Divided Dial," hosted by Katie Thornton. She says the series grew out of a long drive she took in a rural part of her native Minnesota.
INSKEEP: Thornton learned that conservative radio is as old as radio, but it grew in the 1990s, when looser federal regulations made it easier to give one-sided opinions on the radio without equal time for other views. One star rose above all.
(SOUNDBITE OF RADIO SHOW, "THE RUSH LIMBAUGH SHOW")
RUSH LIMBAUGH: Talk about a woman who's not anything without her husband. It's Raisa Gorbachev.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: She has a Ph.D.
LIMBAUGH: You know what that Ph.D. is? It means you go to a Marxism course for 20 minutes.
LIMBAUGH: Let me put it to you this way. The NFL, all too often, looks like a game between the Bloods and the Crips without any weapons.
INSKEEP: Rush Limbaugh inspired many imitators. He also shared the dial with conservative religious broadcasters. And of today's influential companies, a big one is the Salem Media Group.
THORNTON: Today, they own over a hundred stations, and they syndicate to over 3,000 stations. And they've had this sort of strong base on the radio for so long that they've been able to use that as a sort of launching point to expand into being this multimedia empire, in a way. They own many of the largest conservative news sites. They also have services that sell sermons to pastors. They have a podcast network. They have an influencer network. And so they're really hitting people wherever they are, whether that's on the radio or online.
BILLY CRONE: The COVID plandemic - this has been the biggest global dry run to prepare the world to receive the mark of the beast in the seven-year tribulation in the history of mankind.
It started in the 80s, Conservative politicians teaming with conservative white Christians. In America conservatives have been on the wrong side of our moral history. White conservatives share the same culture with white conservatives Christians. I believe many white conservatives have abandoned their biblical principles for their culture and political affiliations. God is love, hate is the opposite of love. But for many white conservative Christians hate/racism isn't a deal breaker. You don't have to listen to right wing radio to hear this hate and misinformation, I hear it these days on Christian radio.