Before Fox News there was Rush Limbaugh. Before Breitbart, InfoWars and QAnon, there was Rush, purposefully polluting American minds for profit. Today’s billion-dollar, name-calling conservative media traces its origins to the rise of Limbaugh’s three-hour radio show. But now, with the host’s passing this year, the nationally syndicated program represents a propaganda void that’s unlikely to be filled.
That’s not to say there will be fewer, less dangerous conservative voices in the media, spreading deliberate lies and dividing Americans. There won’t be a shortage there, particularly on cable TV, online, and with burgeoning podcasts. But it does mean that in the increasingly fractured media landscape that the uniquely powerful and national position that Limbaugh occupied on the AM dial will not be replaced.
Premiere Networks, which syndicates the show, is currently airing Limbaugh reruns instead of hiring a new host for the noon-to-three time slot. That’s not ideal for radio station programmers across the country, since talk radio is supposed to revolve around current events. (Today on Rush Limbaugh: Why Obamacare will destroy America!) But are the existing options any better, in terms of finding new talkers who can command the attention of millions of right-wing followers each afternoon? Continue reading.