Media Matters Casts Net For America's Next Top Limbaugh

"Are you paying attention to what's being said on your radio?" asks Media Matters. And the answer, for me anyway, is: "No! I thought that's what all the iPods and Hulus and porn-on-demand were for, to keep me away from radio!" Also: "What's a radio?" Well, as it turns out, for many Americans the radio is a constant, deafening clatter of unhinged right-wing nuthatchery. Now that the election is over, Media Matters has taken stock of it all and, not surprisingly, deemed it disturbing.

One important point worth noting is that while one thinks of these sorts of shows as providers of political content, these talk-radio jocks are not just out on the air, offering praise for the candidates and policies they support and criticism of candidates and policies they dislike. In fact, all too often, the target of their ire isn't politicians or career policymakers at all, but average American citizens:

As Media Matters for America documented, the nationwide network of conservative radio hosts -- personalities without the national prominence of Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh -- engaged in an all-out effort to foment hate and suspicion of Barack Obama by participating actively in an echo chamber of smears and falsehoods about the primary candidate and then Democratic nominee. But these same radio hosts were by no means discerning in their vitriol and did not save their ire solely for Obama. The smears ran the gamut, both in the context of the 2008 election, as Media Matters noted in the previous report, and beyond. Immigrants, female politicians (and women in general), the LGBT community, the poor and homeless, minorities, progressives, unions, college students, and even autistic children were targets of these radio personalities' invective.

To summarize the points of view of the wide array of radio personalities surveyed by Media Matters, here is some shorthand: They hate people like you and me because we are immigrants with subprime mortgages that rape statuary and have never learned to use a toothbrush or toilet paper and carry terrorist machetes because we're "little bitches" that won't stand up to Sarah Palin's panty lines and are homeless, in desperate need of sterilization because we are ugly, lack "American names," and who have "puckered butts" and screech like monkeys to summon our army of Bulgarian women to sacrifice Trig Palin to Artemis while burning synagogues and marrying animals and spreading AIDS through border-crossing tortillas, just as you'd expect from a bunch Hitler-loving leather fetishists that are suspiciously good at using floor buffers.

That is basically, literally, what they say everyday, in their radio bunkers. And they have a point! The big question is: WHAT IS IT THAT DRIVES SO MANY OF US TO RAPE STATUES?

ANSWER: That $3M overhead projector at the Adler Planetarium that Obama wanted funded, for William Ayers to mindfreak us.

RELATED:
Women, minorities, autistic children: Conservative radio's vitriol not reserved for Obama [MMFA County Fair]
Your Who's Who On The Right End Of The Radio Dial [MediaMatters]

Comments

[glitterik]

The Hate Radio/TV crowd is in a catch 22. The more they spew the filth that has always worked in the past, the more they marginalize themselves. The more marginalized they become, the more panicked they get and become even more filthy and hateful to try to break the downward cycle. They don't "get" that they are becoming irrelevant any more than John McCain knows how to work "the Google." So let them continue to rally their shrinking Appalachian, racist, backwards, anti-science, bible-reading base. The rest of us have moved on and enjoy living in reality.

[flossophy]

I dunno... when you look at the audience numbers, left-wing radio is pretty marginalized already... for many of the reasons stated above.

Some of it relies on public funding for it to exist.

Think of how outraged the left would be if Hate Radio was publicly financed..­. wow.

[realpolitic]

Only on hateful conservative talk radio can homeless people be homeless because they want to be. Ordinary people see the homeless as desperate people who lack shelter.

[demjustice]

I just happened across Rush Limbaugh's radio show on my car radio on Nov 4th. It does not worry me so much about the fear and garbage he spews, that is his right. Ironic that he rails against the very government officials who ensure him that right. What worries me are the seriously out of touch individuals who feed on his hate. I found nothing redeeming in his rhetoric. Nothing that will bring this country together. He feeds a rabid dog that is just looking for someone or something to attack.

[iconlady]

We should concentrate on buying radio stations in those areas where there is no competition with the religious and/or racist right wing. Consumers need a choice and in many areas of the country people who listen to the radio all day while they are working or driving, and who love to listen to conversation instead of music, have little choice. Whenever there is an alternative, such as air america, people flock to those stations, particularly if they are funny and invite unscreened participation. A market presence and a wide diversity of talent means more than any argument about whether any message is morally wholesome or not. Economists on the left need to learn how to monetize progressive venues. Obama won mainly because he could financially support the progressive message machine. Instead of preaching, we need to be as creative and as resourceful as the winning Obama team.

[mmgbizgirl]

It's like a dysfunctional romper room. Grown kids butting their heads against the wall over, over and over again. The adult version of the terrible twos.

[wrathofcon]

I have only one question..­..........­..... Dose the left think the right should have voice in the media? Because on the tv side they are a small minority

[Cyano]

The real question is should irrational loonies have a voice on the air? To assert that Limbaugh, Hannity, etc. are legitimate "media" is absurd. They speak lies all day, are completely one-sided, and never correct their falsehoods. They are humans speaking words, but that doesn't make them legitimate voices that are ENTITLED to speak on the public-owned airwaves. Subscription radio? Fine.

[3dtrix]

Salient distinction, but who's to say when legitimate social criticism crosses the line to being hate speech? A hate-o-meter?

[Mark701]

Let's place right wing hate radio in perspective. The real reason these freaks are screaming louder than ever is not because Obama was elected president but because their paychecks are on the line. Yep it's all about money. I think on some reptilian level they acknowledge that the national dialog is changing and people are turning their backs on the kind of hatred they spew. The election proved that. They are also aware that their jobs depend on their ability to attract advertising revenue to the station. If advertisers see a drop in hate radio listeners, then there is little motiviation for them to spend advertising dollars. No adveritising dollars and people like LImbaugh are out of a job. It's as simple as that.

[Harbinger08]

That garbage radio is nothing but the most debased kind of political propaganda. It doesn't need to be suppressed, it needs to be exposed to sunlight and oxygen. The MSM is responsible for dragging it out into the light of day and making the speakers defend their words, over and over. For evil men to prevail it is only necessary that good men do nothing.

[realpolitic]

Good thought!

[Photofarm]

Media Matters is a highly partisan Democrat group that takes words out of context all the time to try denigrate anyone that might support a Republican or conservative.

NBC, ABC, and CBS didn't do a good job of letting the people know the real Obama, they decided he should be the next president, and didn't question him as hard as Hillary or McCain.

So the United States elected a President that campaigned on " Change " but never said what Change he was going to implement, thanks to the let's elect Obama main stream press corps.

[donttasemebro]

So the media elects presidents, not the people. And by a margin of 2 to 1 in the electoral college no less. Dream on, Rushbot.

[Photofarm]

The media chose Obama over Hillary and the other Democrat nominees, and continued with McCain. Actually they all the press did is slant the stories so Obama got more favorable press and less negative press.

[Mark701]

Sure Photofarm sure. Why don't you tell us who the REAL Obama is? You know the hidden Obama that was discovered by the McCain campaign but oddly, missed by the NSA, CIA and FBI. Do you actually think that if there was anything even remotely threatening about Obama that it would have slipped by ALL of those agencies. Wake up and smell the coffee.

[Photofarm]

The NSA, CIA, and FBI didn't do a background check on Obama, and to be honest, I'm not if they did he would be allowed to be an agent for any of them. But we will probably never know.

[zer0rez]

Get the potatoes out of your ears. He outlined so many things that he's going to change that I must assume he overwhelmed the reptilian part of your brain with too many facts and ideas.

Funny that you're all coming out of the woodwork now in support of Hillary. The Clinton's have been your number one attack point for so many years, why the sympathy all of a sudden? Oh right, I forgot...y­ou need excuses for a failed campaign, a failed ideology and a lack of ideas.

[Photofarm]

I have no idea what Obama wants to do, he said he wanted to change the partisan tone in Washington DC, but his new Chief of Staff is very partisan.

[realpolitic]

Photofarm is exactly the kind of low-information voter that the Republican party loves.

[realpolitic]

Media Matters is a not-for-profit that is a watchdog of conservative misinformation in the media. Each time they point out a distortion or hateful or misleading statement they back it up with the actual quotation made on the air, either radio or television. It may be true though that when they quote a hateful statement by, say, Rush Limbaugh, they do not replay his whole hour show. To do so would be ridiculous. When they point out a distortion they point to the relevant document where it points out what the truth is.

So please point out some examples for us where Media Matters has "denigrated anyone that might support a Republican or conservative," since it does so "all the time. All Media Matters does is to replay the person's own words for a wider audience. Usually, this wider audience would not ordinarily hear the nonsense that is spoken in much of conservative journalism without a conduit like Media Matters.

[chriss0114]

Tammy Bruce, sitting in for Laura Ingraham just before the election, declared that, if elected, Obama will form a domestic security force consisting of blacks who will march on the streets to take their reparations.

Hate radio must be shut down, not by governent but by educating the ill-educated who listen to this drivel. Get the people to turn it off. Let's get some coverage to the public on hate radio.

[mredder4]

But that's just the problem. Sometimes even education isn't enough. Those people that believe in the security force will have 4 years to wait and watch, and that force will never appear. But they'll believe the lies about the next candidate too. They'll believe whatever they're told, and no amount of education will ever change that.

We should stand against them, as is right, but we should focus education on the younger generation, who's not as set in its ways yet. There, we stand a chance of making a real difference. These others, the "adults" on the right, they're too far gone. It's their choice to spent the twilight of their lives in miserable discontent, ignoring the changing world around them. Let them live that way if they want.

[oncethere]

Hannity's greeting, "You're a great American," is the right-wing equivalent of a 1930's German greeting. We just can't see if his arm is extended.

[mikelartist]

Right Wing talk radio personalities are wimps. Limp little wimps. They have CALL SCREENERS. "oooooo keep the big mean liberals off my show, they make me look bad" "Don't let someone with an actual point to make, or a person with a clear grasp of the facts on because it will ruin my message"

It is all carefully controlled. It is all designed to keep the fans as dumb as dirt for the most part and uninformed and confused at best.

Take a look at the advertisers (that take up almost 45% of the airtime-FACT!) of these hate shows.
Craftmatic beds. Ambulance chasing lawyers. Debt Councilors. Ditech. Legalzoom. Buy things on the
cheap and put mom and pop in the poorhouse. Foreclosed property get rich quick schemes. Personal Injury attorneys. etc. All of them snake oil sales men..... just like the hosts. This speaks volumes as to the level of the mind of the average fan of these snakes.

And for this... FOR THIS.... the broadcasters pay them millions.

Why do Limbaugh, Levin et al say they are broadcasting from undisclosed bunker-like locations? Because of all the hate they have fomented in this country. Polarization keeps them in the pink. Reminds one of Tokyo Rose doesn't it?

[rollingdivision]

Laying the groundwork for censorship. I guess we all knew they were totalitarians waiting for opportunity.

[donttasemebro]

Who, Media Matters? Are they going to attempt a takeover of the government? Quick, everybody hide before the libruls come knocking on your door. Please. Do you ever listen to yourself?

[rollingdivision]

Why don't you value our right to freedom of speech?

[realpolitic]

We wouldn't want to take all your friends away, rolling. Without Rush, Hannity, and Boortz, you would have no one to talk to.

[kulchi]

They are preaching to an ever decreasing choir.

Read: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/11/AR2008111102257_2.html?sid=ST2008111201131&s_pos=

The above article is right on.

[peachfuzz]

This reminds me of the creepy, but good HBO show Carnivale.

Dirt, sepia tones, circus freaks who can't make it in the mainstream.

I picture these people huddled to their radio, cleaning their guns,
drinking beer, giving each other tatoos with ice picks.

These people are so tough in their little cottage industry!