Help with my Post Retirement Project: Destroying Right Wing Hate-Radio

[maxrandb]

Last edited Wed Jan 31, 2018, 04:40 PM - Edit history (1)

After 30 years in the Navy and 5 years as a Civil Servant, I am calling it quits this May. As I enter the twilight of my life, I want to do something to make a difference. My goal is to start a protest and boycott movement to attack the proliferation of hate-radio across this country. THEY NEED TO BE TAKEN DOWN!

I think we do a disservice by ignoring this issue, or dismissing its importance and impact on the flawed direction our country has been going over the past 40 years. It’s way past time for a course correction.

I know very little about the radio business, but it appears that our politics are poisoned by 1,200 stations across the country getting a “2-share” of the radio audience.

The oversaturation of hate radio became abundantly clear to me during a trip from Lemoore, CA to San Diego in 2004. I was stationed at Naval Air Station Lemoore, CA (about 35 miles south of Fresno). I had to go to a 2 week school at Naval Station San Diego, so I decided to drive. Enjoying that beautiful drive down I5, and tiring of the one Who CD I brought with me, I thought I’d try to find some news, traffic and weather on the radio. I switched the radio to AM and pushed the Scan button. The radio stopped on one station with Rush Limbaugh, then another, then another, then another and then another… In the bluest state in the country, on one 300 mile trip, I could choose from 5 different stations broadcasting Limbaugh. It was terrifying, hellish and it drove home the fact that we are being bombarded by right-wing propaganda.

This oversaturation of hate radio is a national issue, but it is also a local issue. We’ve all been there. We’ve been at the PTA meeting, or the Little League kickoff luncheon where there is always that one person that you just know is a hate-radio fanatic. They talk the loudest, know that only they are right, and complain that we’re “indoctrinating our kids” if we don’t assign a Michel Savage book as a summer reading assignment, or that we’re all “godless, heathen LIE-beruls” if we give ribbons and trophies to all the 6 years olds playing T-Ball. They spout nonsense and statistics spewed out of conservative think-tanks and regurgitated over and over again on hate-radio. They spout right-wing propaganda as easily as Donnie Short Fingers spouts lies.

But, it’s worse than that. Most radio stations that broadcast conservative talk also have a local morning show that skews far to the right. Some hosts may say that they are “independent”, but if your audience consists of Limbaugh and Hannity fans, it’s a pretty damn good bet that the local morning show isn’t going to stray too far from the corporate line.

WNIS 790 is the major station is my area. Here’s their “line-up”

- 0600-1000: Local Drive-Time show with host that skews to the right and has a 95-5% wingnut to liberal caller ratio. (I’ve actually become somewhat infamous due to my occasional calls)

- 1000-1200: Brian Kilmead (yes, even a no-talent hack like Kilmead can host a nationally syndicated show as long as he bashes Democrats and Progressives). Hell if you could train a monkey to say “Retrumplicans good, Demoncrats bad”, he could have a show on hate-radio. Wait…Kilmead already does.

1200-1500: Limbaugh

1500-1800: Hannity

1800-1900: Local “we buy houses cheap and will invest your money for you” Show

1900-2100: Savage

The above schedule is typical of what’s being fed to folks 24/7 all over this country. The idiocy of hate radio doesn’t stay on the fringes where it belongs; it creeps its way into our everyday interactions with each other.

I can’t overemphasize the impact this has on local, State and House elections. If you ever want to puke, listen to hate-radio on an election day. In fact, just listen to Hannity on Election Day. For example; he’ll go district by district and community by community and let people know, “we need more folks in the Chesapeake Deep Creek section to get out and vote.” Hint: He’s not talking to Democratic voters.

Aside from partisan gerrymandering, hate-radio probably has the largest impact in determining who represents us from school boards to the White House. Talking points are cranked out by billionaire funded think-tanks and regurgitated by hate-radio. The RNC, Republican Senate/House Election Committees and State and Local Republican parties can deliver talking points and get out the vote messaging detailed down to the city block someone lives in. All on OUR airways.

It’s a hard thing for me to wrap my head around. Norfolk, VA went 70-30% for Clinton, and yet, the most powerful radio station in the city of Norfolk broadcasts nothing but right-wing Retrumplican propaganda. The most powerful radio station in Norfolk, not only does NOT reflect the values of the community it serves…it denigrates, insults and, in some cases, promotes violence against that very community.

Dozens of big name Universities, supposedly the bastions of “progressive” thought, broadcast sporting events on radio stations that provide nothing but right-wing hate and vitriol the other 160 hours of the week.

Despite that…NOTHING IS EVER DONE about this cancer on our country.

I’ve become disheartened, because I’ve stopped believing there is a “tipping point”. You know…that one event that is going to finally put an end to this propaganda.

- Being a thrice divorced, opioid addled, anal cyst having draft-dodging “paragon” of virtue and morality was NOT enough of a tipping point. Even buying Oxy from the trunk of an undocumented maid’s car was not enough.

- Vitriol that led to the shooting of an abortion provider in his church was not enough.

- Calling a private citizen a “slut” was not enough.

- Defending White Supremacists and Nazis was not enough.

- Defending militias with automatic weapons aimed at federal and local law enforcement was not enough.

Maybe the election of our first “hate-radio” President will be that “tipping point”. Face it. Donnie Short Fingers is nothing but Limbaugh, Hannity, Savage and Alex Jones all wrapped up in an ill-fitting suit with a more elaborate comb over.

I’d like some ideas.

What can I do? I was a leader in the United States Navy and helped logistically organize large events. I’m a leader in Civil Service, but not at a Directorate level. I was, and may still be, good at building a team…who knows?

What I do know is that we can’t dismiss or ignore hate-radio any longer.

I’ve participated in this and last year’s March for Women, but I think we missed an opportunity. The marches in Norfolk began at The Hague by the Chrysler Museum. They should have started at the headquarters and offices of WNIS Radio.

Universities must know that providing aid and comfort to fascists won’t be tolerated…even if it’s only 3 hours a week.

There should be NO city that is overwhelmingly progressive that should tolerate hate on their radios.

Don’t we realize that 1,000 people on the sidewalk in front of a radio stations offices will send a more powerful message than 500,000 on the DC Mall?

And about that DC march, and the marches in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Norfolk etc. Did they even consider “stopping by” the local Sinclair radio station, or Fox Affiliates?

It’s not enough that we convince advertisers not to buy ads during a specific show…they must know that ANY ADS, ON ANY STATION, AT ANY TIME, will be interpreted as providing “Aid and Comfort” to fascists and promoting hate-filled propaganda.

I don’t care if a radio station runs nothing but a Cooking Show for the rest of the weeks programming…If they provide 1-second to hate, they’re complicit.

I don’t care if WNIS’ sister station in Norfolk is All Sports. It’s still affiliated with Sinclair Broadcasting. They are complicit!

I believe we can make a difference, but I also believe that it needs to be at the local level. It needs to be persistent, relentless, focused, sustained and directed at the true purveyors of propaganda. Local radio stations, local advertisers and local universities. They need to be bombarded with protest with the same vigor and venom that they’ve bombarded our senses. They have conducted a relentless war on decency and facts, with an unrelenting barrage of Retrumplican bullshit crapped out of AM radio stations for close to 40 years. It’s past time we fight back.

If anyone needs a “relatively aged” former Naval Mustang Officer who will work his ass off to combat the unseemly propaganda of hate-radio, or have suggestions of what I can do and how I can help, my last day of work is 31 May 2018.

I’ll volunteer in any way that I can.

[crazycatlady]

1. The march in NY

We marched right by the Fox News HQ. We chanted 'fake news' and gave it the finger.

[maxrandb]

6. That is awesome

but, 5 minutes after you passed by, they probably didn't care.

We need something that is relentless and sustained.

[genxlib]

2. I would start with something easier

like middle east peace or world hunger.

The only thing that has hurt RW radio has been sponsor boycotts. But then, there are plenty of marginal companies willing to make money off of deplorables by selling them guns, gold and survival gear.

It might hurt the revenue some but it doesn't really cost all that much to do radio. It just cuts into how much they are able to pay these assholes.

[genxlib]

3. Sorry

Don't mean to sound defeatists.

Please let me rephrase that as a suggestion. Organize advertiser boycotts to cut them off at the income stream.

[Blue_Tires]

4. WNIS 790?

Holy damn you've been living in my area all this time and never told me?

[sfwriter]

5. I had the same experience there in 2000.

I had the same experience there in 2000.

That stretch of I five was saturated with right wing radio. I was told over and over that Al Gore was coming to get my guns. Being from Tennessee originally, I knew better.

I think pulling their advertisers is the real weakness to go after. I would also look into David Brock’s organization. I think it’s called media matters. They record what’s being said on the shows.

[crazycatlady]

7. Look into the #grabyourwallet campaign

They've successfully gotten Ivanka Trump merchandise out of many stores.

Find out who their sponsors are and post to their social media.

[onethatcares]

8. look into internet radio.

transmitters, licencing, studios are pretty expensive. Check out WMNF.org as a start. Their a.m. programming after 9 and until 2 p.m.
is outstanding.

Good luck.

[Thunderbeast]

9. Even worse....

Many of the rural station licenses in the FM "Public interest" bandwidth are owned by RWNJ religious networks. Stations that once were public educational or community non-profit have been replaced by ultra-christian fundies that are as hateful as Limbaugh and Hannity. "Send your dollars".

[bucolic_frolic]

10. On the public airwaves, these programs censor free speech to suit their point of view

That's the crux of the problem. Free speech and FCC licenses. IOW, it's a legal and courtroom issue.

[geretogo]

11. The German people went through the same thing in 1930's Germany with Joseph Goebbels spewing

out Hitlers brainwashing over the radio . What country is going to liberate us from this tyranny ?

[maxrandb]

12. Russia??

[certainot]

14. i'm thinking the kremlin has been using talk radio since at least the 2008 elections and

may have been using breitbart to edge out the MIC's drudge as a main feeder. all they'd have to do is feed limbo to steer the whole shitbarge. he wouldn't even need to know, but he might be getting freelance money

[certainot]

13. i think ignoring talk radio is the biggest political mistake in history so i think beating it down

is the most efficient way to get supermajorities and get this cloud of orange assholes out of washington.

a big part of the problem is that even liberals here repeat the RW talking points about talk radio being just another form of free speech and there's nothing to do about it. bullshit.

but i've been talking about RW talk radio for years with little luck - i'm no good at it - i hope you can do better! here's some stuff at republiconradio.org, still needing more work. maybe it will give you some ammo.

here's a web site with station info: https://radio-locator.com

i found 88 unis broadcasting sports on 260 limbaugh stations from an original list of 120 top football programs and some top bball teams. i think every state needs a a listing of their publicly funded schools that endorse not only limbaugh but any rw radio station. for instance u of wisconsin broadcasts sports on 2 hannity stations as well as 5 limbaugh stations. there's more research to do.

i hope you don't mind, i'll put the whole diary i did a few days ago down below. IMO getting our unis and pro sports team to stop supporting talk radio would kill their whole operation. getting a few unis even to merely discuss the possibility of looking for apolitical alternatives would shame others into doing the same and would send advertisers fleeing.

At $1000/hr, RW radio $18MIL/day attacking Mueller. 7 ways to democratize RW radio and destroy Fox

Mon Jan 29, 2018, 11:44 PM

If Trump would pay a talk radio station $1000 per hour to attack Robert Mueller, 1200 radio stations doing that 15 hours every day would be worth $18,000,000 PER DAY, FREE for Trump and his Republican enablers.

Until Democrats and liberals stop ignoring talk radio they cannot collectively say they ‘got Robert Mueller’s back’.

Until that simple math is recognized, truth and facts are irrelevant and it is a waste of time to complain and strategize about “better messaging” by Democrats. Or complain that Democratic representatives weren’t brave enough.

Republican think tanks can pump out $18MIL/day worth of lies and distortions coordinated as needed on the local and national level to influence any major issue or event, or sell or oppose any legislation or politician — basically for free.

That’s been going on for the better part of 30 years with NO large scale pushback from Americans who it is aimed at. That’s nearly $5BIL every year for 30 years used to distort and pollute rational fact-based discussions on health care, immigration, taxes, wages, election and media reform, racism, sexism, and so on.

That’s the megaphone they’re now using to lead the attack on Mueller and his team, the Democratic representatives and senators investigating Trump, and any Republicans who might side with them. They will use it to intimidate judges and influence juries. Those radio stations will play a very loud part in how this country deals with the Trump administration, Republican corruption, Kremlin interference in our elections, and voter suppression, gerrymandering, and election reform.

If it comes to impeachment those radio stations will be raining holy hell on any Republican thinking of siding with Democrats.

Talk radio is Trump and the Republicans’ most important tool because it is the only major medium with NO political counterpart on the left. Republicans take it for granted and that is why talk radio presents the best opportunity for going on the offensive.

Here are 7 things people can do to democratize the propaganda monopoly that is talk radio:

7 is probably the most important.

1) Give Republican talk radio the credit it deserves: Limbaugh is point man for the talk radio propaganda operation. Trump needs a RUSH tattoo on his forehead, as do all Republican politicians and media hacks who repeat the Republican lies. As does Hannity and every other Fox ‘News’ liar. Trump even studied talk radio to prepare for the elections. They all ride the talk radio bandwagon and feed from the daily prechewed smorgasbord of lies, distortions, and rationalizations. Democrats in media could accurately preface any answer to Trump supporters with “That’s what limbaugh says but...” It does no good to keep blaming Fox and Breitbart for everything.

2) Poll for talk radio: Media and political scientists need to be encouraged to poll Trump support for talk radio. Talk radio is a major factor on its own and too much analysis ignores it or lumps it in with other right wing sources. When Trump watches Fox, he’s often getting a sanitized, censored summary of what’s being created with talk radio repetition first. Talk radio dominates massaging in many parts of the US but there are probably no political science departments in any US university that considers talk radio as a unique factor.

3) Record and transcribe talk radio: It is easier and much cheaper now than a few years ago to automate recording and transcribing the main RW talkers so people can search and monitor it without listening to it.

Urge the Democratic Party to make transcriptions of the major national and state level talkers available for searching.

Republican politicians and candidates and their allies will say things on friendly fact-free talk shows that can be used in debates and advertisements against them. Callers can lie about Democratic candidates and not be challenged. And Republican radio is known to use paid callers.

When media and politicians repeat Republican talking points they need to be reminded that unchallenged repetition on Republican radio stations does not make them true.

Knowing about it before it shows up in editorial pages means not always having to play catch up. Most of those new Democratic Party candidates are going to get swiftboated from their local RW radio stations coordinating with Republican-allied think tanks and they and their supporters will have no clue.

4) Investigate it: How long has Putin been using talk radio? By influencing the talk radio gods the Kremlin can steer the Republican Party, just as Republican think tanks have. Did the Kremlin use talk radio to push Palin on McCain in 2008? ‘Climategate’ (2009), which was used to derail President Obama at the Copenhagen climate conference, was created largely with talk radio and started from a Russian hack. Republican radio has pushed for debt default in the past. The Kremlin would like that, but probably not the Kochs. Did the Kremlin find a way to feed and coordinate with top radio hosts? Was Breitbart used for that purpose? Are any of them being paid freelance money? Trump guy Sam Nunberg analyzed 1000s of hrs of RW radio & reported to Trump in 2014. Was that to coordinate with Russian ops?

5) Boycott all advertisers on RW radio stations: ‘Thank’ all local businesses that advertise on RW radio. It can be easy and fun to listen to a few minutes here and there and get a few email addresses for thank-you emails that have a good chance to get to bosses/owners. Thank them for Trump, Trumpcare, global warming, privatization of public education, voter suppression, deregulation, tax breaks for billionaires, making racism and sexism ‘acceptable’ again, etc.

A few days ago in about 90 minutes of a Limbo show attacking Mueller on a Missouri station there were three ads for the St.Louis Blues hockey team and several ads for CBS TV shows. Sometimes those are ads for universities and university sports teams.

6) Protest it: Include the radio stations in any progressive protests. They may be better places to protest than capitols. Protestors need to know that if their protests get attention those radio stations will be minimizing protest size, attacking protestors, and mischaracterizing their objectives so that they are more easily ignored or attacked by politicians and media.

7) Push the 88 universities that endorse 260 limbaugh stations to stop crapping on their mission statements and start looking for apolitical alternatives to broadcast sports on.

Maybe their political science faculties and students can start studying the most dominant political factor in the US the last 30 years.

No publicly funded university has any excuse not to tell their licensing company to begin looking for apolitical alternatives to broadcast sports on.

If the KKK bought the station the school broadcasts sports on what would the school do? 30 years ago it might as well have been the KKK, the NRA, and Putin who bought up 1000 radio stations to create a propaganda monopoly.

What excuse does a publicly funded university have for letting Republican radio stations use its community credibility, athletes, and logos to:

— deny global warming?

— try to defund public education and oppose student debt relief?

— attack black athletes who kneel?

When one or two university communities begin discussing this absurd situation others will be shamed into following. The GOP and those stations will scream “What about free speech!” Media and politicians that have been enabled and intimidated by those stations for decades will notice. Advertisers will flee Republican talk radio. Some stations will have to switch to other programming, like music or sports talk, and some may offer to balance their talk shows with liberal content. As the Republicon talk radio monopoly falls apart stations will open up for liberal talk.

Many of the loudest Republican radio stations in the country will be effected.

The Republican Party will eventually be thankful to be able to advance thoughtful moderate conservatives again.

Republicans enjoy a well subsidized and protected Wall Mart vs mom and pop market dominance in talk radio. It is regularly ignored by the left as being a free speech representation of the American market demand for it, ridiculously suggesting 95% of Americans who would listen to talk radio prefer the hate, lies, and ignorance. That’s an insult to Americans and incompatible with democracy.

With few exceptions outside of some innocuous apolitical local interest stories, that pro-corporate propaganda monopoly of 1500 coordinated radio stations is being used to keep a treasonous president and his Republican enablers in power.

[BumRushDaShow]

16. LOL - just posted about you!

Glad you found this thread!

[certainot]

17. thanks. i barely did catch it- great to see! it's a shame none of the major orgs don't do anything

i'm no organizer and have lousy social skills....

[BumRushDaShow]

18. You have compiled info though which may be helpful for the OP!

[maxrandb]

21. Thanks for the great info

I'm not proud, or tired. I have no problem tilting at windmills.

America has done a lot of things that folks said couldn't be done.

[certainot]

23. i'll bet if limbaugh took a week or two to do a 180 and rationalize why trump had to go,

trump's support in republican congress would collapse and he'd be gone pretty quickly.

their fear of the diottoheads is the only reason he's still there

but it won't happen

i hope you keep doing diaries on this and can get some protests going.

maybe the apathy on the left toward republicon radio would turn if they saw the howling on the right caused by protests at radio stations and or universities. i watch a bit of msnbc for political news and it's amazing the blame aimed at fox that should be going to talk radio. limbaugh should be getting a lot more 'credit' for this disaster.

i'm not an organizer, i hope you can get something going.

[BumRushDaShow]

15. You should hook up with DUer certainot

who has been on a similar mission. Eg., see this thread - https://upload.democraticunderground.com/100210160686 and this one -https://www.democraticunderground.com/10029455968

[UTUSN]

19. Deal me in!1

[smirkymonkey]

20. K&R

A very worthwhile project, but you have your work cut out for you. Good luck to you!

[raven mad]

22. I am and will continue to help make Alaska at least purple.

Anything I can do? Tell me, I'll try.

[Initech]

24. Where do I sign up?

[ck4829]

25. Kick

[lunasun]

26. Read my reply here in this thread also I have a template included .

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=10160686

[Lifelong Protester]

27. I would help!

[KT2000]

28. Important post!

You are so right. Just starting a demonstration at the radio stations would be a good start. Change starts at the grassroots and the decades of hate has changed the people in this country. You can usually tell a RW person now as they are angry and mean - a driect result of hate radio and other media. People are being brainwashed.

[AJT]

29. Here is contact info on an organization in WI that has been

trying to combat rightwing talk radio here.

Terri Williams
Organizer, Radio-Active campaign
Citizen Action Organizing Cooperative
414-218-5384 (cell)

[maxrandb]

35. Thanks

I'd like to start by organizing some protests at local wingnut radio stations.

Maybe call it Tune Out the Hate

[BoneyardDem]

30. I wonder why so many RW leaning radio stations and rarely any counter for Left leaning?

could that be part of the plan...to encourage the opposing views with the own bandwidth??

[Blanks]

31. We should probably follow the Russian plan...

Social media.

Have an organization outside social media that ruthlessly shames and attacks people sharing hate radio talking points on social media.

Also, I see a lot of infomercials on TV in the morning and I remember when Ross Perot was running for president, they asked him why he had programs instead of commercials. He said ‘cost effective’, it turns out TV programs are cost effective compared to TV commercials.

There is that documentary ‘how I lost my dad to Fox News’ (or something like that) it makes sense to raise the money to run a few programs like that in the early morning or late evening as infomercials to catch the interest of people who have lost family members to hate radio.

My opinion is that you can’t directly take on hate radio, the better plan is to ridicule the demographic that thinks it’s real until they see that it’s disinfotainment.

[MarvinGardens]

32. Great post! Good luck to you.

I can't listen to make note of advertisers due to my work schedule, but if someone posted a list of advertisers on hate radio, I'd be willing to make some calls.

[Whiskeytide]

33. Ha! I am NOT buying your story ...

... NO ONE gets tired of a Who cd!!!



I agree with everything you have posted. But I think the problem is compounded by the fact that the stations run this crap because it's what their listeners want to hear. Radio - especially AM - is consumed mostly by the older, white, fairly low income demographic. The younger and more affluent demographics have greater access to other alternatives they prefer, and AM stations know they are never going to penetrate those markets. They won't survive without meeting their demand.

That means you have to go after the people responsible for the content - instead of the stations themselves. That makes it tougher to address (although boycotts have had some limited effect on occasion). The laws favor free speech (for now) and market force regulation, and censorship is still against American values (again, for now).

Of course, a good debate can be had as to whether hate radio created this angry demographic of assholes and hypocrites, or merely recognized it and chose to serve it. I suspect it's a little of both - it was already there, but they now feed it steroid laced red meat to strengthen it and make it insane.

Either way, good luck.

[maxrandb]

34. It was a 5.5 hour drive

Even though it's a double album, Quadrophenia only runs about 57 minutes.