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The Radio Right: How a Band of Broadcasters Took on the Federal Government and Built the Modern Conservative Movement by [Paul Matzko]

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Paul Matzko

The Radio Right: How a Band of Broadcasters Took on the Federal Government and Built the Modern Conservative Movement Kindle Edition

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In the past few years, trust in traditional media has reached new lows. Many Americans disbelieve what they hear from the "mainstream media," and have turned to getting information from media echo chambers which are reflective of a single party or ideology. In this book, Paul Matzko reveals that this is not the first such moment in modern American history.

The Radio Right tells the story of the 1960s far Right, who were frustrated by what they perceived to be liberal bias in the national media, particularly the media's sycophantic relationship with the John F. Kennedy administration. These people turned for news and commentary to a resurgent form of ultra-conservative mass media: radio. As networks shifted their resources to television, radio increasingly became the preserve of cash-strapped, independent station owners who were willing to air the hundreds of new right-wing programs that sprang up in the late 1950s and 1960s. By the early 1960s, millions of Americans listened each week to conservative broadcasters, the most prominent of which were clergy or lay broadcasters from across the religious spectrum, including Carl McIntire, Billy James Hargis, and Clarence Manion. Though divided by theology, these speakers were united by their distrust of political and theological liberalism and their antipathy towards JFK. The political influence of the new Radio Right quickly became apparent as the broadcasters attacked the Kennedy administration's policies and encouraged grassroots conservative activism on a massive scale.

Matzko relates how, by 1963, Kennedy was so alarmed by the rise of the Radio Right that he ordered the Internal Revenue Service and Federal Communications Commission to target conservative broadcasters with tax audits and enhanced regulatory scrutiny via the Fairness Doctrine. Right-wing broadcasters lost hundreds of stations and millions of listeners. Not until the deregulation of the airwaves under the Carter and Reagan administrations would right-wing radio regain its former prominence. The Radio Right provides the essential pre-history for the last four decades of conservative activism, as well as the historical context for current issues of political bias and censorship in the media.

ISBN-13

978-0190073220
Sticky notes

On Kindle Scribe
Publisher

Oxford University Press
Publication date

April 1, 2020
Language

English
File size

15481 KB
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Paul Matzko is a historian who specializes in the intersection of politics, religion, and mass media in modern America. He currently works at the Cato Institute as the Editor for Tech and Innovation for Libertarianism.org and is the host of the weekly podcast Building Tomorrow. --This text refers to the audioCD edition.

Review

"Challenging the conventional wisdom of 1960s political history, The Radio Right not only shows how far-right broadcasters laid the grassroots groundwork for modern conservatism but also chronicles how the liberal establishment--from the Kennedy administration to the National Council of Churches--worked feverishly to fight them." -- Kevin M. Kruse , co-author of Fault Lines: A History of he United States Since 1974

"In the current climate of divisive social media and polarized cable news, it is tempting to romanticize the network era as a halcyon moment of 'fair and balanced' political media. Of course, that moment never really existed, as this wonderful, meticulously researched book demonstrates. Matzko's story of how the Kennedy administration pushed back against right-wing broadcasting in the 1960s helps us understand not only the past but also, importantly, the present." -- Heather Hendershot, author of What's Fair on the Air: Cold War Right-Wing roadcasting and the Public Interest

"In Radio Right, Paul Matzko masterfully tracks the ascent of conservative radio in the early 1960s, subsequent efforts by John F. Kennedy to quell this rising tide, and the long-term consequences of this bitter media war. Censored by liberal Democrats, radical right-wing voices cried foul, reorganized at the grassroots, then waited for their chance to fight back; we know the rest of the story. Thoroughly researched and sharply argued, this provocative and timely book is full of important (and surprising) insights that help us better understand how this nation's fourth estate evolved into the polarized and polarizing entity we find familiar today. It also challenges readers to rethink the roots and contours of political censorship and the political Right in the age of Kennedy-and Nixon, Reagan, and Trump." -- Darren Dochuk , author of Anointed With Oil: How Christianity and Crude Made Modern America

--This text refers to the hardcover edition.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B085YF29L1
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Oxford University Press (April 1, 2020)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 1, 2020
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 15481 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 316 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #933,808 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #49 in General Broadcasting (Kindle Store)
- #499 in Radio Communications
- #726 in Comparative Politics

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3.9 20 ratings

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Paul Matzko

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Paul Matzko is a historian specializing in the intersection of politics and religion in twentieth century America. He previously taught at Pennsylvania State University and Princeton University; he is currently the Assistant Editor for Tech and Innovation at the Cato Institute and host of a podcast about the future called "Building Tomorrow."

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Solidly argued book, only one concern...

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 10, 2020

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Overall, I think Paul Matzko has written a compelling work that helps us to understand the intersection between politics and the media starting in the 1960s. The argument that early broadcasters set the tone for the conservative movement of the 80s is fascinating, and in general I agree with the argument.

Matzko uses significant primary source material to craft his argument, and his demonstration that JFK was a master at using political Power to reduce the immediate impact was incredibly strong.

The argument that radio was a ticket to Reagan’s winning the White House, along with the conservative movement in the 89s was equally compelling. I, however, am a stickler for facts, and the author stated on pg. 227 that President Carter’s appointment of liberal justices to the Supreme Court led to disaffection by the evangelicals. The problem is that Carter is the only President in recent memory that did not have any appointments to the US Supreme Court. This one slip makes me ask - bad editing? Or do bad facts lurk elsewhere?

23 people found this helpful

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Preston Oade

Excellent Political History

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 5, 2021

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Highly informative well-written history with extensive supporting footnotes based on multiple and varied sources.
I gained a much broader perspective on the current political climate. The fact is, politicians and bureaucrats instinctively abuse their power to the detriment of the People. It's always been true, and this history gives many, many details of how interest groups used politicians to advance their own interests. In particular, The FCC was the lead spear carrier for the Kennedy and Johnson administrations to abuse the First
Amendment rights of broadcasters and listeners.

Very readable and informative.

One person found this helpful

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Samuel Perry Cook

Southern Strategy

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 30, 2020

Verified Purchase

Odd to find a conservative author that perpetuates the myth of the Southern Strategy, among several historical inaccuracies. Reads like a blown up masters thesis.

2 people found this helpful

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Charlie Deist

A Much-Needed Primer on The Fairness Doctrine

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 17, 2021

Critics of social media’s monopoly power like Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz might be surprised to learn that they have much in common with progressive broadcast reformers of the mid-20th century.

In the book, Matzko documents the fascinating history of how the “Fairness Doctrine” was used to undermine the free speech rights of conservative radio broadcasters. From the Kennedy until Carter, Presidents weaponized FCC regulations to target dissenting voices under the guise of the public interest.

Perhaps today’s conservative crusaders against Facebook have the “free speech” argument backwards.

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