The Right Frequency: The Talk Radio Giants Who Shook Up the Political and Media Establishment

by Fred V. James

Overview

History of talk radio with intereviews of several giants in the industry,

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781933909172
Publisher:	History Publishing Company, LLC
Publication date:	08/01/2012
Pages:	344
Product dimensions:	8.80(w) x 6.00(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Fred Lucas, the White House correspondent for CNSNews.com. He is also a contributing editor for Townhall Magazine and has written for The Weekly Standard, The American Spectator, Human Events, The Washington Times and the New York Post. Before going to Washington, he reported on state capitols in Kentucky and Connecticut. He earned his Master's at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and Bachelor's at Western Kentucky University. He lives in Fredericksburg, Va. with his wife Basia.

Table of Contents

Foreword Martha Zoller 11

Introduction 13

Chapter One 15

Leaders(s) of the Republican Party?

Chapter Two 31

Early Voices

H.V. Kaltenborn: Dean of Commentators

Boake Carter: Far and Away the Most Daring

Father Charles Coughlin: Right Wing Radio Priest?

Fulton Lewis Jr.: Combating the 'Ultra Liberal Eastern Crowd'

Walter Winchell: Inventing Infotainment

Chapter Three 65

Lonely Voices

Clarence Manion: Taking Bipartisan Aim

Dan Smoot: Fighting Invisible Government

Rev. Carl McIntyre: Crushed by the Fairness Doctrine

Rev. Billy James Hargis: Catalyst to the Red Lion Ruling

Chapter Four 81

Game Changers

Joe Pyne: 'Father of in your Face Talk'

Bob Grant: 'Perfecting Anger'

Barry Farber: 'Publicist of Ultra Conservative Outlooks'

Marlin Maddoux's Point of View

George Putnam: 'Greatest Voice in Radio'

Dr. Dobson: Changing America's Focus

Libertarian Chatter with Neal Boortz

Chapter Five 119

'Challenge and Harass'

Chapter Six 133

Renaissance

Chapter Seven 147

The Rise of Rush

Chapter Eight 163

The Roaring 90s

Talk Radio and the Clinton Agenda

Revolution

Hate Radio?

Radio's Road to Impeachment

On the Air with the G-Man

Michael Reagan: The Great Radio Communicator

Michael Medved's Thumbs up Media Career

Dennis Prager: Speaking Objective Truth to Moral Relativism

Mike Gallagher: In the Republican Trenches

Chapter Nine 203

The Bush Years

Backing the War President

Supreme Problems

Sounding the Amnesty Alarm

Sean Hannity: 'Born to Argue'

Hugh Hewitt: Mastering the New Media

First Lady of Conservative Radio

Savage Radio

Bill Bennett: Socrates on the Air

Chapter Ten 245

Liberal Failures

The Folly of Ex-Politicians

Chaotic Rise and Horrendous Fall of Air America

Chapter Eleven 257

All Talk is Local

Congressional Pay Hike and Radio

Tennessee Tax Revolt

Tar Heel Tea Party

California Recall

Lars Larson and Citizen Gabriel

Chapter Twelve 277

Obama Tea and Talk

Mark Levin: Chief Justice of the Airwaves

Glenn Beck: Commentator and Guru

Notes 297

Index 337

Acknowlwdegments 351

Editorial Reviews

Lucas, the White House correspondent for the conservative media outlet Cybercast News Service, details how FDR’s New Deal policies and his desire to promote them sparked the rise of talk radio, a phenomenon that continues to thrive despite the proliferation of other media. Early radio pioneers like Father Charles Coughlin and Walter Winchell brought a singular political bite to the airwaves, but what turned talk radio into a force to be reckoned with was the 1987 elimination of the Fairness Doctrine, the 1949 FCC regulation designed to allow competing points of view to get equal time on the nation’s airwaves. An opponent of the policy, the author heralds the doctrine’s demise in these pages with partisan glee. Conservative-dominated talk radio took off almost immediately afterward, influencing everything from health care policy under Bill Clinton and Barack Obama to the rise of the Tea Party. Unsurprisingly, this tribute to conservative radio talkers is dominated by the medium’s superstars, like Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, and Rush Limbaugh: "the greatest radio talk show host of all time." While his politics may be off-putting to some, Lucas’s love and knowledge of talk radio is evident and will appeal to any fan of the medium. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly