What do you think?
Rate this book
The Radio Right: How a Band of Broadcasters Took on the Federal Government and Built the Modern Conservative Movement
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.
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.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2020
18 people are currently reading
180 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
April 14, 2021
Fascinating read about the rise of right wing radio hosts and the Fairness Doctrine's effect.
December 16, 2021
A fascinating look at a little-discussed chapter of American history – the Kennedy administration's battle against funamentalist radio broadcasters in the 1960s – but one that ultimately falls short of its grandiose subtitle and its authors own claims.
Matzko works for the Cato Institute, and it shows. He's a libertarian, and his overheated descriptions of federal action against extremists using public airwaves to broadcast racism and violent anti-government rhetoric ring especially hollow when placed against ther government actions from the same period, such as spying on Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders, breaking up the Black Panthers through unjust arrests and violence, etc. Likewise, Matzko fixates on a distinction between "supply side" and "demand side" studies of media – clearly language that's at home in a place like the Cato Institute, but which doesn't really work when these sides so clearly influence each other in the world of media.
Speaking of media, Matzko's attempt to connect this episode to more recent political developments falls flat because he fails to understand the difference between journalism and commentary, using an example of the latter to critique the former, which for anyone with experience in either is a big red flag that his ideology is obscuring his scholarship.
Matzko works for the Cato Institute, and it shows. He's a libertarian, and his overheated descriptions of federal action against extremists using public airwaves to broadcast racism and violent anti-government rhetoric ring especially hollow when placed against ther government actions from the same period, such as spying on Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders, breaking up the Black Panthers through unjust arrests and violence, etc. Likewise, Matzko fixates on a distinction between "supply side" and "demand side" studies of media – clearly language that's at home in a place like the Cato Institute, but which doesn't really work when these sides so clearly influence each other in the world of media.
Speaking of media, Matzko's attempt to connect this episode to more recent political developments falls flat because he fails to understand the difference between journalism and commentary, using an example of the latter to critique the former, which for anyone with experience in either is a big red flag that his ideology is obscuring his scholarship.
December 23, 2019
Disclaimer: I know the author from undergrad and received an ARC from the publisher in preparation for a podcast that will air on Christian Humanist Profiles.
This was not the book I thought it would be. Following Matzko on social media and other public forums, he often appears unsympathetic towards fundamental American evangelicals.
However, this book is remarkably fair and balanced. (Yes, I did “go there”). Matzko presents the rise of the Silent Majority as a series of self-fulfilling prophecies often overlooked by other historians in favor of the role of television in their attempt to find “one big issue” that explains why conservatives “are the way they are”.
From grassroots efforts to presidential backlash (perhaps not the one you’re thinking of) to polish hams and card parties, Matzko presents the so-called Radical Right and Liberal Left as existing as a kind of theodicical ouroboros, each responsible for creating the other while simultaneously devouring themselves (itself?).
This is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the complicated relationship of conservatives and the media.
This was not the book I thought it would be. Following Matzko on social media and other public forums, he often appears unsympathetic towards fundamental American evangelicals.
However, this book is remarkably fair and balanced. (Yes, I did “go there”). Matzko presents the rise of the Silent Majority as a series of self-fulfilling prophecies often overlooked by other historians in favor of the role of television in their attempt to find “one big issue” that explains why conservatives “are the way they are”.
From grassroots efforts to presidential backlash (perhaps not the one you’re thinking of) to polish hams and card parties, Matzko presents the so-called Radical Right and Liberal Left as existing as a kind of theodicical ouroboros, each responsible for creating the other while simultaneously devouring themselves (itself?).
This is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the complicated relationship of conservatives and the media.
August 16, 2021
It was a little dry and stuck mostly with the 60s. I would have been a bit more engaged if it had talked more about how the Reagan Revolution used the radio and if it had delved more into the modern era of talk radio & Rush Limbaugh.
I did learn a bit about JFK and how he tried to squelch the voice of his opposition. I had liked JFK before but liked him a bit less after learning this.
There's a brief chapter at the end about Reagan and briefly mentions Trump and Rush Limbaugh. But most of it is in the 60s.
I did learn a bit about JFK and how he tried to squelch the voice of his opposition. I had liked JFK before but liked him a bit less after learning this.
There's a brief chapter at the end about Reagan and briefly mentions Trump and Rush Limbaugh. But most of it is in the 60s.
April 19, 2021
At first, I thought this book was about modern conservative radio. However, it actually covers the early days of talk radio. After reading about the history of the Fairness Doctrine, I will never understand this piece of history in the same way. While I am still of the persuasion that some regulation is necessary on public platforms, my views are more nuanced and cautious after reading this book.
July 13, 2021
Exhaustive account of the unconstitutional and illegal conspiracy led by the sitting president, John F. Kennedy, Jr., and his Attorney General brother Robert Kennedy to silence conservative radio broadcasters. Unable to beat the underfunded conservative broadcasters in the marketplace of ideas, for better or for worse, Kennedy brought the full weight of the federal government (including the IRS and FCC) against the broadcasters to silence their voices and suppress criticism of Kennedy and his administration. Empowered by the Fairness Doctrine, emboldened by the shameless thuggery of the Kennedys, and tacitly supported by the mainstream media which looked the other way, other powerful liberal groups enthusiastically took up the reins of the conspiracy after Kennedy's assassination. This book serves as an important reminder of the terrible person and president that was John F. Kennedy. Although he is only discussed briefly, it's also a good reminder that Jimmy Carter was perhaps the most important president since the end of World War II and a far better man than Kennedy.
It's also a cautionary tale for conservatives seeking some sort of Fairness Doctrine analogue for the modern age, which Paul Matzko delves into briefly at the end of the book. It's certainly true that the government usually makes things worse and can't be trusted not to abuse its powers. One thing he doesn't really consider, however, is whether the major social media companies have already taken up the roles of the NCC and UCC in suppressing conservative speech, either on their own or in response to pressure from Democrats. Until recently, the vast majority of the attacks against these companies (including threats to break them up) by members of the government have come from the democratic side of the aisle.
The book is organized around several broad themes, which leads to some repetitiveness as issues that were important in one theme show up in later themes as well.
It's also a cautionary tale for conservatives seeking some sort of Fairness Doctrine analogue for the modern age, which Paul Matzko delves into briefly at the end of the book. It's certainly true that the government usually makes things worse and can't be trusted not to abuse its powers. One thing he doesn't really consider, however, is whether the major social media companies have already taken up the roles of the NCC and UCC in suppressing conservative speech, either on their own or in response to pressure from Democrats. Until recently, the vast majority of the attacks against these companies (including threats to break them up) by members of the government have come from the democratic side of the aisle.
The book is organized around several broad themes, which leads to some repetitiveness as issues that were important in one theme show up in later themes as well.
January 30, 2021
So I'm not a conservative or into talk radio (other than maybe NPR). But I'm honestly dismayed by how the Kennedy and Johnson administrations abused their regulatory authority to muzzle political opponents (even if I personally have little sympathy for reactionary race baiting cold war hawks). This book has definitely deterred me from whatever support for the Fairness Doctrine I may have had. An interesting tale, to be sure.
March 7, 2021
This was an extremely interesting book, a slow read and I took away one star for the alphabet soup of organizations. It was hard to keep track of them all. It also illustrates the sad shape of media today with censorship of any conservative point of view. Recent administrators have just taken a page from predecessors, especially the Kennedy brothers. Politics is all about money and power!
February 15, 2021
An informative and bi-partisan review of the use of regulatory agencies to silence opponents. I appreciated the philosophical discussion of when free speech counts in America. Well researched and an easy read. Strongly recommend.
December 30, 2020
Southern Strategy
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.
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.
January 31, 2021
There is a lot of head scratching by many still going on as to how Trump actually got where he is. But it isn't really too surprising. He's the end product of a long long effort by people on the right in the US to move the country further to the right.
Remember the Discussion between Jon Stuart and Tucker Carlson in 2014 on MSNBC?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFQFB...
Well, even this wasn't the start, as "The Radio Right" chronicles this harks back all the early days of talk radio and to this day you have people like Rush Limbough broadcasting their worldview to the air waves.
It is a truly fascinating book giving a deep insight into how America has come to elect someone like Donald Trump, and whoever will follow in his foot steps.
Remember the Discussion between Jon Stuart and Tucker Carlson in 2014 on MSNBC?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFQFB...
Well, even this wasn't the start, as "The Radio Right" chronicles this harks back all the early days of talk radio and to this day you have people like Rush Limbough broadcasting their worldview to the air waves.
It is a truly fascinating book giving a deep insight into how America has come to elect someone like Donald Trump, and whoever will follow in his foot steps.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews