#conservative radio

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Dan Rather at Steady:

The morning after the election, I was talking with a friend who said something that made me pause: “The American people aren’t buying what the Dems are selling.” At the time I acknowledged the notion but filed it away for closer inspection, once the shock wore off.  Vice President Kamala Harris and the Democratic Party were selling hope and freedom, upholding the rule of law, saving democracy. What’s not to buy? With the benefit of lots of discussion, reading, watching, and thinking over the past 17 days, it became apparent that that analysis is incomplete.  It isn’t that the American people didn’t buy what Harris was selling; they didn’t know what she was selling. The increasingly powerful right-wing media championed her opponent’s message while distorting hers. And millions of Americans bought it. 

As The New Republic editor Michael Tomasky wrote, “It wasn’t the economy. It wasn’t inflation, or anything else. It was how people perceive those things, which points to one overpowering answer.” The right-wing media now controls the agenda.   For those of us who grew up on a steady diet of truth-telling, it’s gut-wrenching to see this mega misinformation machine grow into a multi-headed monster.   Perhaps it shouldn’t come as a shock. Gallup says trust in the media is at an all-time low. The most trusted news source according to YouGov is … The Weather Channel. Couple that with exit polls showing people who consume a lot of news from traditional sources voted overwhelmingly for Harris. 

If you only read The New York Times or watch CNN or so-called legacy networks such as CBS News, you might be surprised to learn there is a vast right-wing media ecosystem that goes well beyond Fox News. Founded in 1996, Fox is the granddaddy of the far-right media but has since been joined by Newsmax and One America News Network. This media universe also includes Sinclair Broadcasting, which owns hundreds of radio and TV stations — reaching 40% of the viewing public — and newspapers, including the recently purchased Baltimore Sun; iHeartMedia, which dominates right-wing talk radio and podcasting; Trinity and Bott Radio, two massive Christian broadcasting networks; social media platforms like Trump’s own Truth Social and X, owned by Trump bestie Elon Musk; and a multitude of hugely popular far-right podcasts.  Collectively, these various and varied media outlets have been feeding growing audiences a constant diet of disinformation for years. They have been fighting and winning an information war Democrats didn’t seem to know existed. The 2024 election may have been the inflection point when the right-wing media’s influence finally eclipsed the mainstream media. That is a major reason a convicted felon won with just under 50% of the popular vote.

The landscape is changing at light speed. Today, traditional media is not where most people get their news. Not so long ago you had to pick up a morning newspaper or turn on a television at a specific time to get news. Now “news” is available 24-7, from hundreds of sources, in tiny bite-sized portions, often without the benefit of context or even fact-checking. Right-wing outlets peddling half truths have learned how to navigate and thus dominate this new landscape. It is important to note that this battle is being waged between right-leaning media and mainstream media. The combatants are not two ideologues. One group is pushing a hard-right agenda, and the other is striving to report and expose the truth. The social media landscape mirrors this reality. On the right, you have Truth Social and X. On the left, not much. In reaction to the misinformation rampant on its sites during the 2020 election, Meta-owned platforms like Facebook and Instagram removed most political content.

An excellent read from longtime CBS News journalist Dan Rather on how right-wing media propaganda being fed to millions of Americans without any real fact-checking of lies is what led to Donald Trump become a Presidential candidate in the first place, let alone win twice.

[amethystsoda]

Also for those of us in unsafe states, please get unofficial resources to help cope with stuff like adhd and autism. They’ve already been demonizing it and cracking down, and if you��re undiagnosed and can cope for now, please stay that way until it’s safer.

Find whatever resources you can for emotional/physical regulation and subtle ways to protect yourself for overstimulation and meltdowns.

[filthyfundie]

A while ago I was looking at Jinger’s follow list (no idea why) and noticed she followed Kat Von D. I was mildly amused and then immediately forgot. But I just learned that KVD publicly converted to Christianity last October and has condemned witchcraft and the occult (also yoga and nature). She’s been blacking out all of her tattoos and moved to Indiana because the BLM movement in Los Angeles made her feel unsafe.

So I went down a bit of rabbit hole and now you all have to hear about it:

Kat was sent to the same boarding school as Paris Hilton when she was a teenager and describes it as incredibly traumatic.

She says the hardest criticism for her is the accusation of being racist because (I kid you not) she’s a proud Latina. Iykyk.

After her baptism went viral she went on Allie Stuckey’s podcast.

I knew about the backlash over the Lolita lipstick for her makeup line but there was also issues over a shade called Selektion which was a German Nazi word for the selection of prisoners during WW2, her defense of this was that she actually named the very pink lipstick after a piece of artwork that she really liked. The artwork was a series of photographs of Christian, Jewish, and disabled children living in Germany in 1988??

Her current husband has faced controversy over his swastika tattoo and the fact that he maybe disowned his daughter after she “had sex” with some of his friends. The quotations are due to it being unclear if his daughter was over 18 when this occurred. He has stated that the event ruined his life and he went four years without seeing his daughter and when he did he told her that being married to Kat Von D is his good karma for surviving what she did to him.

So…. Yeah. That’s what she’s been up to.

[traumadumpling]

I know I live in butt fuck nowhere but the fact that I don't think I've ever seen a nonwhite radio dj at any of the local radio stations in the entirety of my life is hella sus

[couriers-mile]

Gonna start calling myself a conservative and referring to Republicans as Liberals

[thedawningofthehour]

I'm confused why is Angel a Trump supporter?

asdfghjkl I don't actually remember when or why we started saying that. He's just always been a dick and we accuse him of all sorts of shit. We've called him a terrorist, my mom accused him of being antifa once. Back when Trump had a Twitter we'd regularly tell him "stop tweeting, you're worse than the president!"

He's also a covid denier, and that one actually has basis in reality. Angel hates hands. Like, it can be a struggle to pet him sometimes because he'll occasionally remember that the magnificent bird scratchers are actually just ugly human hands and won't accept pets. (but will still demand them, which leads to a difficult situation) This causes conflict when we go to the bathroom to wash our hands, since he's usually playing/bird-loafing in there and gets very upset when we stick our disgusting bare human hands into his sink.

Obviously, during the height of covid we were making extra sure to wash our hands often and properly, and naturally Angel objected every time. He'd run laps around the sink, squeaking angrily, hissing and trying to bite our fingers.

So naturally we started saying he was objecting to hand-washing because he didn't believe in covid.

Mom: "Angel, this is our bathroom too. We're allowed to wash our hands in here. God, he's so mad, doesn't he know we're in a pandemic?"

Me: "I told you, he's a covid denier. He probably denies climate change too."

Mom: "Did you vote for Trump?!"

Angel: "Meep!"

Mom: 'aghast gasp'

[justinspoliticalcorner]

MMFA:

Backlash to President Donald Trump’s early actions and statements is starting to erupt at Republican town halls, local and national protests — and on the phone lines of right-wing talk radio shows.  [...] Following Trump’s first month in office, many right-wing talk radio hosts are having to face callers who, regardless of their personal politics, are voicing their frustrations with the Trump administration’s impact on their own lives.

Fox host and loyal Trump ally Sean Hannity told a listener who was pleading for the jobs of military vets in the federal government that “there will be other opportunities.” The caller elaborated on their experience: “One of our tenants just recently got laid off from the USDA, and he's a stable vet, multiple deployments overseas. And yeah, the guy is without a job now, and I'm just afraid that, you know, stuff like this is going to get out there.” The caller noted Hannity’s “soft spot for military and police and EMS and all those guys” and said that it’s “just a little concerning that we don't let these guys, you know, fall off the wagon here and get neglected, because they've done so much for our country.” [Premiere Radio Networks' The Sean Hannity Show, 2/21/25]

A listener called into Hannity’s show to discuss their child’s cancer diagnosis and advocate for cancer research funding: “With the lack of funding, basically, all you get is parents like me who have had a kid with this, starting organizations and coming up with money to carry on the research for them. So that's why I wanted to call and … advocate for research.” Hannity responded by arguing that “most of the solutions for cancer are going to be found in the private sector, not with public money.” The caller noted that “with such a small number of kids getting this [cancer diagnosis], yeah, it's definitely something that doesn't get looked at as much.” Hannity responded that “even if the government spent … $300 million on this particular cancer tomorrow, it's not going to be your answer.” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Sean Hannity Show, 2/12/25]

Chris Stigall, host of The Chris Stigall Podcast, noted that he’s received “quite a bit of outreach from you federal workers.” He read one email from a listener who remarked that “it’s difficult to get beyond your disrespect and disregard for federal employees.” Stigall noted that the email is “not the only one of these that I got on both X and in email.” Stigall responded to the reader's email: “I'm going to talk to you like an adult here for a minute. Grow up. Grow up. If you work for the federal government, you need to grow up, respectfully.” [The Chris Stigall Podcast, 2/24/25]

Media Matters for America reports on right-wing radio hosts facing callers frustrated with Trump's policies coming from those who support Trump.

[smileandasong]

the DJs of my local alt rock radio station were giddy as hell yesterday. about trump's victory, and they were talking about it on the air. and this station plays bands like green day and rage against the machine all the time. it always baffles me how people can call themselves fans of punk music, and then go and be supports of conservative and authoritarian politics. how do you miss that irony??? how do you not realize that YOU are what they are singing about in these songs!?!?

[curiositykilledtheradiostar]

we’re in a hotel and since it’s on every channel for some reason we’re watching the American Democrat thing and. you all can’t seriously live like this right. this has to be some form of bizarre, jet-lagged fever dream. this can’t possibly be how this is done

[nientedal]

well you see nobody should be allowed to access gender affirming care because MY Bible says ever y one hav t dsc pwooo bbtttRRRRR deet deet deet [dialup modem noise] bwUuuuu and you're all hhg to ffarpLA ing to Hell if nnn inp let anyone of SPROING dittttg [ricochet.mp3] the DOWNFALL of AMERICA if hhhhg bitDING the rrrrrrrestRest of your life lifSOUL if AnYYYknnone play god then weeeeeeeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEE let let let horg jrrrPYtr to Hell if [kettle shriek] ktktkkckstPING control t own b odie s i'mmm very intelligent,

[daydream-the-demon]

Salutations!

How are you faring today my genderless fellow?

My cosmic horror self has been doing great!

Salutations back to you my fellow Al!

[death-rebirth-senshi]

Obama became president and then conservatives afraid of reverse racism becoming real were like we have to go back to the 50s.

[shredsandpatches]

first Mendelssohn concert was tonight and it was amazeballs, I fucking love singing

Tomorrow night's concert is going to be on the local NPR and thus streamable online. I'll post the link tomorrow because it's gonna be awesome.

Bonus score note:

[youre-only-gay-once]

i know what gay people on tumblr get out of succession and i know what the average moderate tv watcher gets out of succession but i'd really like to know what the local conservative christian country dj/newscaster and his conservative christian realtor turned politician wife get out of it

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Martin Pengelly at The Guardian:

The former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani’s troubles deepened on Friday when he was suspended by WABC radio, for trying to use his show to discuss the lie that the 2020 presidential election was lost by Donald Trump because of electoral fraud. John Catsimatidis, a New York billionaire, Republican donor and owner of WABC, told the New York Times: “We’re not going to talk about fallacies of the November 2020 election. We warned him once. We warned him twice. And I get a text from him last night, and I get a text from him this morning that he refuses not to talk about it. “So he left me no option. I suspended him.” Giuliani said he had been fired.

In a lengthy statement, the former mayor said: “I’m learning from a leak to the��New York Times that I’m being fired by John Catsimatidis and WABC because I refused to comply with their overly broad directive stating, word-for-word, that I’m ‘prohibited from engaging in conversations relating to the 2020 presidential election’.” A copy of a letter from Catsimatidis to Giuliani, dated 9 May and obtained by the Guardian, said Giuliani was “prohibited from engaging in conversations relating to the 2020 presidential election on your programs broadcast on WABC … and otherwise in your capacity as an agent of the station.

“These specific topics include, but are not limited to, the legitimacy of the election results, allegations of fraud effectuated by election workers, and your personal lawsuits relating to those allegations.” Claiming “a clear violation of free speech”, Giuliani said he would address the situation further on social media on Friday night. But he went on to say the move by WABC came “at a very suspicious time, just months before the 2024 election, and just as John and WABC continue to be pressured by Dominion Voting Systems and the Biden regime’s lawyers”.

[...] Catsimatidis told the Times that at the close of his WABC show on Thursday, Giuliani tried to speak about the 2020 election but was cut off by station employees. “Look, I like the guy as a person, but you can’t do that,” Catsimatidis told the paper. “You can’t cross the line. My view is that nobody really knows [about the 2020 result] but we had made a company policy. It’s over, life goes on.” In his statement, Giuliani accused Catsimatidis of “telling reporters I was informed ahead of time of these restrictions, which is demonstrably untrue.

WABC radio suspends serial election denier Rudy Giuliani for persistently disobeying directives to not discuss 2020 election lies.