Chapter 14 centers around how one man single-handedly ended forty years of democratic control in the U.S. Congress, by emphatically yelling into a microphone. Limbaugh never graduated from college, failed initially as a disc jockey, then went on to become one of the most famous political commentators in the country. 25 million people tuned into his radio show each week, 250 stations aired his half-hour television show, and his first book sold more copies than any other nonfiction title. Though not all the fan fare was good, many people saw him as a liar, a truth, which I'll get to later. He received just as much negative criticism as he did positive, but he used it to fuel his cause. Referring to himself as, "the most dangerous man in America."
The three prior generations of Limbaugh's had all gone of to college and pursued degrees in law. This did not interest Rush though. He was always interested in radio and by the age of sixteen had landed himself a job as a DJ at local radio station. He bounced around from one station to the next for several years, being fired from several because he was hired to play music but ended up adding a few too many of his own remarks in between the tracks. In 1983 he worked at a radio station in Kansas City for ten months. Though it was brief it here that he developed his unique shtick that would ultimately bring him to the top of the talk radio charts.
Limbaugh's first break came in 1984 in the form of a Sacramento station called KFBK. The station was not doing well and needed someone lively to head up it's three-hour morning program. He was given free rein to talk about whatever he liked. As offensive as he was the people found him hard to turn off, thus the number of people tuning into KFBK went from five too fifteen percent in just a few months. I don't want to leave out the fact that he offended just about every group during his tenure at the station, on this I will not go into detail.
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| Limbaugh's followers were known as "dittoheads" because the loyal followers simply exclaimed "ditto!" after listening to his commentaries. |
In 1988 Limbaugh moved shop to New York City so that he could broadcast to the nation. He would be working for ABC, recently acquired by Edward McLaughlin who hired Limbaugh as his star. He broadcast his "Animal Rights Update" saying that if "the spotted owl cannot adapt to the superiority of humans, screw it."
I believe this sums up a lot of what he had so say and the approach that he took toward it. His stand on abortion is pro-life and the way in which he advertised it consisted of the sound of a vacuum cleaner followed by a scream.
Despite all of this, he was a huge success. Four years after he got into radio broadcasting he was the biggest commentator in the country. Advertisers were willing to pay upwards of $12,000/minute during his show. In addition to a might empire on the radio he was also publishing conservative print media in the form of the Limbaugh Letter. "Every month you receive my keenest insights to help you see through the dense liberal fog." He also published two books, The Way Things Out to Be and See, I Told You So. Limbaugh took two things that had never been combined before, conservatism and humor. This is partially what made him so successful as political commentator.
In the 1990s his wealth soared along with his ratings and popularity. He was merchandising tee shirts, coffee mugs, neckties, and calendars. Along with book royalties and his salary from radio and TV broadcast he was reportedly earning 20 million/year.
Like Adams and Paine in the 1700s much of what he said was false. Limbaugh is credited with starting a new type of entertainment and information dubbed "infotainment". Paine and Adams did something very similar for the Boston Gazette, meshing falsified information, but the things they were reporting on were often not as light-hearted being that they involved rapes and muggings carried out by British Officers. Limbaugh claimed that everything he spouted was true, but this was glaringly wrong to anyone educated in current affairs of the time. Examples of false information include him saying that no one in the Reagan administration was found guilty of any criminal activity, wrong, fourteen people were found guilty and indicted. Regarding Clinton's Whitewater investment deal he said that the NY Times had not covered it when, in fact, they were the first to do it and did it with exactitude. This goes both ways though as is shown in the example of Democrats' fervent outcry that the Reagan administration contributed much less money to the HUD project.
The ramifications of the "most dangerous man in America" were vast and shocking. Limbaugh was credited with boosting the number of talk radio programs by five hundred percent and essentially saving it from extinction as the numbers had previously been dwindling. National Review dubbed him "the Leader of the Opposition."
After Clinton was elected in the '92 election Reagan threw much support behind Limbaugh's movement. He dedicated all of his time to throwing venom at the administration, a total of seventeen and a half hours a week of sludge-hurling. The midterm elections were fast approaching and Clinton was getting nervous that the Democrats were about to lose control of Congress for the first time in forty years. He tried unsuccessfully to have the Fairness Doctrine reinstated regarding talk radio. Limbaugh on the other hand told all of his loyal followers to be ready the next morning to attack congress and throw the Democrats out. It was a remarkable success. At this point everyone, including liberals, had to acknowledge the fact that Limbaugh was a driving force in the "Republican Revolution". The San Francisco Chronicle, Detroit News, NY Post, and Washington Post all conceded, calling his roll "pivotal." A dinner was held by the seventy-three new Republican house members with Limbaugh as the keynote speaker.
"Extraordinary" is the word that comes to mind when considering his success. Bringing it back to the beginning he was kicked out of numerous radio stations, essentially a failed DJ. And now he is an eminent conservative commentator along with Mark Levin, Sean Hannity, and Andrew Wilkow. He is also an accomplished author and entrepreneur. From a journalistic standpoint though there were several concerns over his programs. Journalism is supposed to be obligated to the truth, which is something that Limbaugh completely ignored. Time after time he reported false news and never even attempted to correct himself, despite being proven wrong. It signifies a shift from information to entertainment and pretty much everyone bought it. Just like Sam Adams did in Boston he got the people's attention by writing fantastical stories that streeeeeetched the truth, sometimes breaking it. "Infotainment" has taken a strong hold on the news media.
In the 1990s his wealth soared along with his ratings and popularity. He was merchandising tee shirts, coffee mugs, neckties, and calendars. Along with book royalties and his salary from radio and TV broadcast he was reportedly earning 20 million/year.
Like Adams and Paine in the 1700s much of what he said was false. Limbaugh is credited with starting a new type of entertainment and information dubbed "infotainment". Paine and Adams did something very similar for the Boston Gazette, meshing falsified information, but the things they were reporting on were often not as light-hearted being that they involved rapes and muggings carried out by British Officers. Limbaugh claimed that everything he spouted was true, but this was glaringly wrong to anyone educated in current affairs of the time. Examples of false information include him saying that no one in the Reagan administration was found guilty of any criminal activity, wrong, fourteen people were found guilty and indicted. Regarding Clinton's Whitewater investment deal he said that the NY Times had not covered it when, in fact, they were the first to do it and did it with exactitude. This goes both ways though as is shown in the example of Democrats' fervent outcry that the Reagan administration contributed much less money to the HUD project.
The ramifications of the "most dangerous man in America" were vast and shocking. Limbaugh was credited with boosting the number of talk radio programs by five hundred percent and essentially saving it from extinction as the numbers had previously been dwindling. National Review dubbed him "the Leader of the Opposition."
After Clinton was elected in the '92 election Reagan threw much support behind Limbaugh's movement. He dedicated all of his time to throwing venom at the administration, a total of seventeen and a half hours a week of sludge-hurling. The midterm elections were fast approaching and Clinton was getting nervous that the Democrats were about to lose control of Congress for the first time in forty years. He tried unsuccessfully to have the Fairness Doctrine reinstated regarding talk radio. Limbaugh on the other hand told all of his loyal followers to be ready the next morning to attack congress and throw the Democrats out. It was a remarkable success. At this point everyone, including liberals, had to acknowledge the fact that Limbaugh was a driving force in the "Republican Revolution". The San Francisco Chronicle, Detroit News, NY Post, and Washington Post all conceded, calling his roll "pivotal." A dinner was held by the seventy-three new Republican house members with Limbaugh as the keynote speaker.
"Extraordinary" is the word that comes to mind when considering his success. Bringing it back to the beginning he was kicked out of numerous radio stations, essentially a failed DJ. And now he is an eminent conservative commentator along with Mark Levin, Sean Hannity, and Andrew Wilkow. He is also an accomplished author and entrepreneur. From a journalistic standpoint though there were several concerns over his programs. Journalism is supposed to be obligated to the truth, which is something that Limbaugh completely ignored. Time after time he reported false news and never even attempted to correct himself, despite being proven wrong. It signifies a shift from information to entertainment and pretty much everyone bought it. Just like Sam Adams did in Boston he got the people's attention by writing fantastical stories that streeeeeetched the truth, sometimes breaking it. "Infotainment" has taken a strong hold on the news media.
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| Hannity and Levin, two more leaders in the conservative talk radio industry. |
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