| Description |
304 pages : illustrations, maps ; 25 cm |
| Summary |
"By the early 1960s, and for the first time in history, most Americans across the nation could tune their radio to a station that aired conservative programming from dawn to dusk. People listened to these shows in remarkable numbers; for example, the broadcaster with the largest listening audience, Carl McIntire, had a weekly audience of twenty million, or one in nine American households. For sake of comparison, that is a higher percentage of the country than would listen to conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh forty years later. As this Radio Right phenomenon grew, President John F. Kennedy responded with the most successful government censorship campaign of the last half century. Taking the advice of union leader Walter Reuther, the Kennedy administration used the Internal Revenue Service and the Federal Communications Commission to pressure stations into dropping conservative programs. This book reveals the growing power of the Radio Right through the eyes of its opponents using confidential reports, internal correspondence, and Oval Office tape recordings. With the help of other liberal organizations, including the Democratic National Committee and the National Council of Churches, the censorship campaign muted the Radio Right. But by the late 1970s, technological innovations and regulatory changes fueled a resurgence in conservative broadcasting. A new generation of conservative broadcasters, from Pat Robertson to Ronald Reagan, harnessed the power of conservative mass media and transformed the political landscape of America"-- Provided by publisher. |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| Contents |
Intro: "Every Hate-Monger, Radio Preacher and Backwoods Evangelist" -- Polish Ham and the Southern Strategy: How the Radio Right Created a Conservative Social Movement -- Seven Days in May or: How the Kennedys Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Radio Right -- Just Because You're Paranoid Doesn't Mean They Aren't After You: Putting the Reuther Memorandum to Work -- "The Red Lion Roars Again": The Fairness Doctrine, the Democratic National Committee, and the Election of 1964 -- Outsourcing Censorship: How the National Council of Churches Silenced Fundamentalist Broadcasters -- The Radio Right in Decline -- Conclusion: From Radio Ronald Reagan to Donald Trump's Tweets. |
| Subject |
Radio in politics -- United States.
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Radio in religion -- United States.
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Radio broadcasting -- Political aspects -- United States.
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Conservatism -- United States.
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Conservatism. (OCoLC)fst00875582
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Radio broadcasting -- Political aspects.
(OCoLC)fst01087257
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Radio in politics. (OCoLC)fst01087375
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Radio in religion. (OCoLC)fst01087381
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United States. (OCoLC)fst01204155
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| Other Form: |
Online version: Matzko, Paul, The radio right New York : Oxford University Press, 2020. 9780190073244 (DLC) 2019033847 |
| ISBN |
9780190073220 (hardcover) |
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0190073225 (hardcover) |
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