America's Right Turn: How Conservatives Used New and Alternative Media to Take Over America (Hardcover)

~ Richard Viguerie (Author) "Traditional imagery of the Reformation period shows Lutherans holding books (usually the Bible) in their hands, contrasted with Catholics holding rosaries..." (more)
Key Phrases: ideological magazines, political direct mail, conservative book club, National Review, New York Times, New Right (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Liberal media activists beware! Richard A. Viguerie, venture capitalist of the conservative movement (described as the "funding father of the right") and David Franke, a founder of the conservative movement, detail how conservatives—shut out by the liberal mass media of the 1950s and ’60s—came to power by utilizing new and alternative media, and then created their own mass media.

Viguerie and Franke give a first-hand account of how the right took power by using direct mail, talk radio, cable news TV, and later the Internet. Can liberals do the same? This is the first "insider" book to expose the link between the conservative political revolution and the alternative media revolution.

About the Author

Richard A. Viguerie, Chairman of American Target Advertising Inc, transformed American politics in the 1960s and ’70s by pioneering the use of direct mail fundraising in the political and ideological spheres. He used computerized direct mail to build the conservative movement, which then elected Ronald Reagan as the first conservative president of the modern era. He has been called the "Funding Father" of the conservative movement. His advertising firm has mailed more than 2 billion letters over the past 40 years, and will mail over 100 million pieces of direct mail in the 2004 election year. The AFL-CIO News has complained that Viguerie "made it all possible" for conservatives, and the Washington Post has called him "the conservatives’ Voice of America."

David Franke started the first nationwide activist group in the conservative movement in 1958. He has since served on the editorial staffs of Human Events and National Review, and was Senior Editor of Arlington House Publishers and the Conservative Book Club. Since 1997, he has been editorial director of the New Media News Corp., working with fellow political conservative and author Richard A. Viguerie on newsletter and Internet projects. He is also the author of nine previous books, including Safe Places and The Torture Doctor.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 350 pages
• Publisher: Bonus Books (August 25, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566252520
• ISBN-13: 978-1566252522
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #846,986 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Good Political Primer For Any Side, October 20, 2004

By	Pejman Yousefzadeh (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The book goes through the history of political communication--starting with the invention of the printing press, the use of pamphlets by Martin Luther to spread his message, a comprehensive history of direct mail, and the effects of talk radio, the Internet and blogs on political communication.

Despite the fact that the book is written from a conservative point of view, liberals should also be interested in what it has to say about political communication, as both Viguerie and co-author David Franks are very good about calling things as they see them. They are more than willing to give liberals credit where credit is due in terms of political organization and getting out their message (example: Viguerie and Franks point out that after a slow start, liberals are doing quite well in the direct mail game, and are better than conservatives at using the Internet for political organization purposes--which is why Red State is such an important vehicle for the Right to use to catch up). While the conservative ideology definitely comes through in the book, it serves as a how-to guide for all sides in terms of communicating their messages and organizing.

So if you are a politics junkie, be sure to buy the book.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great political how-to manual, September 30, 2004

By	M. Krempasky (Falls Church, VA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Conservatives love to complain, rightly, about the bias and mistreatment they've endured at the hands of the mainstream media. Spend a few moments with Google and you'll find countless studies, anecdotes and analysis regarding the hate-hate relationship that conservatives by and large have with Big Media.

In the midst of all the clamoring about conservatives and the media, however - there's a story that's largely been left untold (until now): how conservatives abandoned (in a sense) that mainstream media in favor of new and alternative media. The truth is: while conservatives have been getting kicked around like a rented mule in the mainstream media for a long, long time - at the same time they've been pioneers of new and alternative media: direct mail, cable television, talk radio, and the Internet.

They used these (at the time) secret weapons to build a movement, take control of a party, elect a President, and drive their issues and philosophy to the center stage of American politics. They followed the tradition of the pamphleteers of the American Founding to get ahead of the politicians and the intelligentsia and take what they wanted.

Now for the first time, that story has been told. In America's Right Turn: How Conservatives Used New & Alternative Media to Take Power, right-wing direct mail pioneer Richard Viguerie and his co-author David Franke chronicle how conservatives decided in the wake of the Goldwater defeat that they would never get a fair shake in the New York Times (ok, that's not news and wasn't then, either) and that they had better figure out another way to communicate with the American people.

One of the great things about this book is that since the technology of alternative media is itself philosophically neutral, it doesn't matter if you're a liberal or conservative - you can benefit from its insights.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Recommended, January 12, 2005

By	Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

America's Right Turn: How Conservaties Used new And Alternative Media To Take Power by political conservative co-authors Richard A. Viguerie and David Franke is an astute evaluation of how conservative political groups in America capitalized upon alternative media - direct mail, talk radio, cable news TV, and the Internet - to spread their message, win elections and earn power. Meticulously accounting and chastizing failures among liberal political elements to seize the advantage of media revolutions, America's Right Turn is meant for liberals and conservatives alike despite the conservative bent of its authors, as it plots out winning strategies for getting one's message across and demonstrates how alternative media will determine the outcomes of future political elections more and more in the years to come. Especially recommended reading for anyone interested in personally becoming involved in political campaigns, whether as a volunteer or a professional occupation.