Posts Tagged ‘conservative talk radio’
Are Iowa’s Twelve Rush Limbaugh Radio Stations Polluting Our Political Discourse?
Dailykos.com/story/2013/04/24/Rush-Limbaugh-Admits-StopRush-is-Kicking-His-Ass
On Tuesday’s show, Rush Limbaugh acknowledged that the “sniveling jerks” of the StopRush movement have driven his advertising possibilities into the ground:
As usual, Limbaugh has some of his facts confused. The “little sniveling jerks” he refers to would be the StopRush movement, groups like the Flush Rush Facebook community.
But these groups aren’t “trying to scare advertisers,” they’re simply contacting advertisers and quoting Rush Limbaugh verbatim to be sure the sponsor is aware of what they’re being associated with [italics BFIA's].
Many of them aren’t aware, and they often choose to pull their ads off the show.
2638 have requested their ads not air on the Rush Limbaugh Show as of today.
But the reason these organizations pull their ads off the show isn’t because of StopRush volunteers, it’s because of the offensive content that comes out of Limbaugh’s mouth–including regular homophobic rants, racial stereotypes, poor bashing, and even last week’s incredibly insensitive jokes about exploding pressure cookers, just one day after 3 people were brutally murdered in Boston. Respectable organizations want nothing to do with that kind of thing.
Limbaugh alone is responsible for his advertiser exodus–nobody else.
As Limbaugh’s large, well known advertisers have headed for the door, ad rates that Limbaugh used to call “confiscatory” have dropped to all time lows.
Advertisers like Sony, Hallmark, Cadillac, and Office Depot have been replaced by a ragtag bunch including a suspected pyramid scheme, shady identity protection software, and even a church led by a murdering pastor. Oh, and the “penile enhancements.” ~
And just how many Limbaugh stations does one state actually need? Iowa seems to have more than enough at 12. Enough to saturate the publicly owned airwaves with rightwing blather. 180 hours per week of rightwing sludge polluting the political discourse. Please join the flushrush movement on FB. And while you’re at it, please go sign the petition to Clear Channel that is nearing 500,000 signatures. Let’s get to work.
Anamosa KWMG-FM 95.7 MoFr 11a2p
Burlington KCPS-AM 1150 MoFr 11a2p
Cedar Rapids WMT-AM 600 M-F 1p-4p
Davenport WOC-AM 1420 M-F 11a-2p
Des Moines WHO-AM 1040 M-F 1p-4p
Dubuque WDBQ-AM 1490 M-F 11a-2p
Estherville KILR-AM 1070 MoFr 11a2p
Fort Dodge KVFD-AM 1400 MoFr 11a2p
Mason City KGLO-AM 1300 MoFr 11a2p
Sheldon KIWA-AM 1550 M-F 11a-2p
Sioux City KSCJ-AM 1360 MoFr 11a2p
Waterloo/CF KXEL-AM 1540 M-F 11a-2p
The Beginning Of The End For Conservative Talk Radio?
On Friday, November 16, Dial Global took a huge financial hit, resulting in the company voluntarily de-listing from NASDAQ. Dial Global’s stock dropped by nearly 77 percent. The company identified three causes for its troubles, including “advertisers’ response to controversial statements by a certain nationally syndicated talk radio personality in MARCH 2012.
The Rush Limbaugh Show is distributed to 600 radio stations via several radio industry networks. The show is syndicated by privately-held Premiere Networks, which contracts with Cumulus Media, Dial Gobal, and other networks to secure broad access in as many media markets as possible.
Now, it is becoming apparent that Cumulus is also a troubled company. Dial Gobal appears to be on the ropes; Cumulus is, so far, failing to thrive. Both companies have publicly blamed Rush.”
The Cumulus Media stock price has fallen steadily since Rush Limbaugh attacked Sandra Fluke. Advertisers have boycotted the talk show, costing the radio networks millions of dollars. Clear Channel, the parent of Premiere Networks, is $21 billion in debt. The Toledo Blade reported Sunday that Clear Channel is quietly trimming staff. Clear Channel has been strategically firing employees in small numbers so it doesn’t appear that the company is undergoing large-scale layoffs… it would have looked bad for Mr. Romney if his former company fired Clear Channel’s workers en masse. This comes after a Clear Channel layoff in March.
Help this along. Join the Flush Rush activist group on Facebook:
According to the Flush Rush FB page:
Flush rush exists for one purpose: to deprive Rush Limbaugh of advertiser revenue.
The heart of our effort is our small team of volunteers who update the Stop Rush database.
If you join us, it’s important to understand what we do, and what we want
you to do!
1- We monitor Rush.
2 – We record his sponsors in the database at http://stoprush.net
3 – We create action threads in this Flush Rush fight group, and in our advanced group, one thread per sponsor.
4 – Then we invite YOU to contact those sponsors with a friendly message like this: “Hi, your ads are running on the Rush Limbaugh Show. Thought you’d like to know.”
Seventy percent of Rush Limbaugh’s sponsors DON’T KNOW they are sponsoring him, so many drop sponsorship immediately! With each drop, Rush is one step closer to the door.
Here’s Stop Rush database: http://stoprush.net/rush_limbaugh_sponsor_list
Tags: #stoprush, conservative talk radio, Flush Rush, Limbaugh boycott, Rush Limbaugh | 
1 Comment »
How Many Rush Limbaugh Stations Does One State Need?
Polluting the Iowa airwaves
Can anything be done about the problem of the right wing noise machine in Iowa?
We don’t know but here are some things that you can try:
Organize locally. Put a group together and start a conversation with your local station. If they don’t listen, pressure them to ditch the propaganda or at least add some balanced programming. Boycott advertisers if they don’t. Go through their public files which you have a legal right to view. Complain to the FCC. Sign up with Free Press. Join the national media reform movement. Occupy corporate media. It’s pretty tough getting Democracy to work when propaganda takes the place of a functioning press.
There are sixteen stations in Iowa that broadcast multiple hours every day of conservative talk. Some carry 12-14 hours a day of it. One station, KILR, broadcasts 23.5 hours daily of conservative talk. Think about that for very long and you quickly realize it is no wonder there is a birther movement out there.
Here is the list of the ten Rush Limbaugh stations in Iowa. Go for it. Cedar Rapids WMT, Burlington KCPS, Quad Cities WOC, Des Moines WHO, Estherville KILR, Mason City KGLO AM, Sheldon KIWA, Sioux City KSCJ, Waterloo KXEL
Here’s Rush’s latest helpful comments about when America started going downhill.
Tags: conservative talk radio, media reform, right wing propaganda machine, right wing talkers, Rush Limbaugh | 1 Comment »
Conservative Talk Radio Pummels Fox News
“Everyone worries about FOX News. But as you’ll see in these charts, Fox is the puny kid on the block. Talk Radio is the big bully.” Source: talk-radio-v-fox-news
- 53 million people in the U.S. listen to Talk Radio. (source: Arbitron Radio Today,2009.)
- 91% of Talk Radio Programs are Conservative. (source: Structural Imbalance of Talk Radio, Center for American Progress and Free Press, 2007).
- 2,570 hours of Conservative Talk Radio are broadcast each week day on these stations compared to 254 hours of Progressive Talk. (source: Structural Imbalance of Talk Radio)
- 92 percent of talk radio stations do not broadcast a single minute of progressive talk radio programming. (source: Structural Imbalance of Talk Radio).
- Despite the availability of numerous new media alternatives, radio’s weekly reach has declined only modestly in the past several years, from 94.9% in Spring 2001, when the iPod was introduced, to 91% in Fall ’08 (source: Arbitron Radio Today, 2009)
Sorry conservatives, it is not because of popular demand. It is because 5 corporations own 96% of all media. Clear Channel owns more radio stations than anyone, 850 at last count.
Here in Iowa, where Democrats, Republicans and Independents are essentially evenly split, we are not choosing to have the publicly owned airwaves completely and utterly saturated with Limbaugh, Beck, Hannity, Savage, etc., day in and day out, in one station’s case, 24-7. These corporate-produced-and-disseminated programs are being rammed down our throats, to borrow a famous former Alaska governor’s phrase. Even the People’s Republic of Johnson County is forced to endure 6 hours daily of conservative blather on our “local” station, KXIC. [See Blog for Iowa's research on the state of talk radio in Iowa, Iowa's Talk Radio Landscape].
And it’s not just the conservative blather that is the problem. It is what the conservative blather takes the place of.
“Clear Channel neglects its emergency system, disaster strikes, and people die. Pentagon Pundits profit from the same war they promote. Fox News gets a court ruling that news does not have to be true. And Hate Radio rules.
Media Policy is killing people in this country. Literally. And it is killing our democracy, too. Corporate financed lawmakers have stacked the media policy deck against We the People. “
It is past time to fight back. Check out this educational movie Broadcast Blues. A public viewing in your community might be a good place to start.
Tags: Broadcast Blues, clear channel stations, conservative talk radio, corporate media, hate radio, iowa radio, media policy, media reform, shock jocks | No Comments »
Limbaugh Polluting The Iowa Airwaves
We won’t repost Rush’s most recent disgusting comments, but if you’re sick of it, contact your local radio station. In Iowa Limbaugh is on the air on KCPS Burlington, WMT Cedar Rapids, WOC Quad Cities, WHO Des Moines, WDBQ Dubuque, KILR Estherville, Mason City KGLO-AM, Sheldon KIWA*, Sioux City KSCJ, Waterloo KXEL
[*Sheldon KIWA has a link to their advertisers on their website]
You can also complain to the FCC on this easy complaint form
Dave Bradley found some advice below from a blog commenter who describes himself as a retired radio group VP. Dave adds that Clear Channel owns most of the stations he is on and he (Limbaugh) is part of the Premiere Radio group which is also owned by Clear Channel so the chances of him being removed even locally are probably not good because they really do not care about local. But we should try because a couple of stations have already dropped him and advertisers are abandoning him daily.
I have seen numerous petitions on the web calling on people to contact El Rushbo’s advertisers to cancel their schedules and hit him and Premire (Clear Channel) where it hurts and that’s in the wallet. As a retired radio group VP with years of station management on my resume, here is a better suggestion. Go after the local advertisers on his show. There are very few local advertising availabilities on Rush’s show and they sell at a premium. Monitor the Rush station, make a list of the local advertisers and do the following:
1. Call the advertiser, be polite.
2. Write a letter to the advertiser, be polite.
3. Copy the station and the FCC with the advertiser letter.
4. Politely call the General Manager of the station,tell the GM what you are doing and why, tell them you have contacted the advertiser and copied the FCC.
5. If the local advertiser uses an agency, contact the agency, as well.Just ask the local business, if they use an agency.
It won’t take many letters and phone calls to get their attention and remind the station that the letters need to be placed in the station’s public file. (the public file is an FCC requirement)
Local stations don’t get many local avails in Rush’s show and many pay a huge fee to Premire to run the show.If they start losing business because of that asshole, they will raise hell with Premire.
If KFI in LA got a hundred letters with follow up phone calls it would get their attention very quickly. The key is to put on the pressure through the local advertisers.
Someone would have to listen to get a list of local advertisers for that show. There will probably not be many as that is the way the contract for the show is set up.
Links to BFIA’s past posts and other media reform resources
Who owns your local radio station?
www.northpine.com/broadcast/ia/rmarkets.html
Radio Stations in Iowa
www.ontheradio.net
Iowa Broadcasters Association
http://www.iowabroadcasters.com/resource/ibadir10.pdf
The Public and Broadcasting: How to Get the Most Service from Your Local Station
http://www.fcc.gov/mb/audio/decdoc/public_and_broadcasting.html
Iowa’s Talk Radio Landscape
http://www.blogforiowa.com/2011/01/13/iowas-talk-radio-landscape/
The Structural Imbalance of Political Talk Radio
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2007/06/talk_radio.html
Study: Localism Key to Correcting Conservative Talk Radio Imbalance
http://www.blogforiowa.com/blog/_archives/2009/2/23/4101530.html
Is Conservative Talk Being Rammed Down Iowans’ Throats?
http://www.blogforiowa.com/blog/_archives/2010/6/22/4559319.html
Pew Research on Health Care Reform Validates Need for Media Reform
http://www.blogforiowa.com/blog/_archives/2010/6/28/4564588.html
Powell Memo
http://reclaimdemocracy.org/corporate_accountability/powell_memo_lewis.html
Grassley letter to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski on the Fairness Doctrine
http://www.grassley.senate.gov/upload/Letter-to-FCC-Chairman.pdf
Prometheus Radio Project
http://prometheusradio.org/
Dave Bradley’s writings on the history of the stolen media:
Iowa in the Age of Consolidated Media
Getting Our Message Out: Fighting Fire with FM (and Net Neutrality)
The Great Surprise – The Telecommunications Act of 1996
The Plane Facts About Media: What I Learned While in Flight
A Brief History of Media Consolidation
Observations on the Media in Iowa
Tags: conservative talk radio, right wing talk radio, Rush Limbaugh | 4 Comments »
- Cheating Determines Iowa’s Elections, Schultz Implies
- Cownie Unconvincing
- Too Many Little Elections?
- Like Iowa, Like Armenia
- Who Can Vote?
- Schultz Vindicated: Voter Fraud Proven!
- Schultz Raises Dead Voter Scare Again
- Repubs Stage Crime at NH Polls
- Wondering About GOP Caucus Count
- Judge Fires Voting Machine Investigators
