What's fair on the air? : Cold War right-wing broadcasting and the public interest / Heather Hendershot.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hendershot, Heather.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Hunt, H. L.

Hargis, Billy James, 1925-2004.

Hargis, Billy James.

Smoot, Dan.

McIntire, Carl, 1906-2002.

McIntire, Carl.

Right-wing extremists--United States.

Right-wing extremists.

Radio in politics--United States.

Radio in politics.

Mass media and propaganda--United States.

Mass media and propaganda.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (271 p.)

Place of Publication:

Chicago ; London : University of Chicago Press, 2011.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The rise of right-wing broadcasting during the Cold War has been mostly forgotten today. But in the 1950s and '60s you could turn on your radio any time of the day and listen to diatribes against communism, civil rights, the United Nations, fluoridation, federal income tax, Social Security, or JFK, as well as hosannas praising Barry Goldwater and Jesus Christ. Half a century before the rise of Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck, these broadcasters bucked the FCC's public interest mandate and created an alternate universe of right-wing political coverage, anticommunist sermons, and pro-business bluster. A lively look back at this formative era, What's Fair on the Air? charts the rise and fall of four of the most prominent right-wing broadcasters: H. L. Hunt, Dan Smoot, Carl McIntire, and Billy James Hargis. By the 1970s, all four had been hamstrung by the Internal Revenue Service, the FCC's Fairness Doctrine, and the rise of a more effective conservative movement. But before losing their battle for the airwaves, Heather Hendershot reveals, they purveyed ideological notions that would eventually triumph, creating a potent brew of religion, politics, and dedication to free-market economics that paved the way for the rise of Ronald Reagan, the Moral Majority, Fox News, and the Tea Party.

Contents:

Right-wing media vs. Cold War America : "lace, luncheons, and frying pans" collapse into a "nightmare of raw violence and brutality"

"A strong reek of the not-quite-crackpot" : H. L. Hunt, right-wing radio's "constructive" conservative

Right-wing broadcasting's supreme individualist : Dan Smoot and the tactics of constitutional conservatism

God's angriest man : Carl McIntire, neoevangelicalism, and the long-lingering fundamentalist fires

A story of "epic proportions" : the battle between the FCC and WXUR

Everything old is new again : Billy James Hargis, extremist tactics, and the politics of image

Conclusion : from Birchers to birthers?.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 24. Apr 2020)

ISBN:

9786613242242

9781283242240

1283242249

9780226326764

0226326764

OCLC:

745865989