BloggeRhythms

With all the hubbub about Brian Williams fabricating a story about his personal involvement in a helicopter downing in Iraq 12 years ago, media in general has come under speculation as to its truthfulness when reporting to the public.

 

In that regard, many years ago Rush labeled anyone involved in broadcast news as the “drive-by media” whereas he believes those individuals simply deliver biased reports slanted to reflect their personal and/or political beliefs rather than the unvarnished truth. Especially so if the facts don’t match their particular proclivities. Which is why today’s item has significant impact for Rush. 

 

It seems that on Friday, Peter Slen, Senior Executive Producer of C-SPAN’s Washington Journal referenced Rush, as follows in an excerpt from Rush’s radio broadcast:

 

SLEN:  Rush Limbaugh spent a lot of his show on Thursday talking about this issue, and from the website, RushLimbaugh.com, "Brian Williams Should Not Resign His Job as NBC Narrative Reader," is the headline.  Here's a little bit of the transcript: "They're not news readers anymore.  There certainly isn't journalism going on here.  It's not just NBC.  It's the whole Drive-By Media.  They're narrative readers," Mr. Limbaugh said.  "You know, in the UK they call 'em 'news readers.' You know, BBC, the news anchors, they're called 'presenters' and 'news readers.'  Here they call themselves 'journalists,' and they give themselves awards for bravery and courage."

 

RUSH:  And you know what? I have to give credit to Peter Slen of C-SPAN. He actually went to my website to find out what I said, rather than rely on some liberal "watchdog" fraud website.  So thank you, Mr. Slen. Thank you, C-SPAN.  But I'm not surprised they found that interesting.  "Narrative readers."  That's a... Hey, folks, that's exactly what the news has become.  It's the daily soap opera, the purpose of which is to advance the liberal agenda in America.  I don't even think that is disputable.”

 

The most interesting aspect of the scenario, though, is that while the major media goes out of their way to discredit Rush as a radical right-wing rabble-rouser, his show has been the number one commercial talk show since at least 1991 when record keeping began, according to Wikipedia, with 13.5 million listeners currently.

 

Additionally, in January 2013, Hart Research conducted a survey which showed that 47 million adults, or 24% of adults with access to cable television, watch C-SPAN weekly. Of the 47 million regular C-SPAN viewers, 51% are male and 49% female; 26% are liberal, 31% conservative, and 39% moderate. About half are college graduates. 28% of 18-to-49-year-olds report watching at least once a week, as do 19% of 50-to-64-year-olds, and 22% of those over age 65.

 

Which means that, if the combined audience statistics are correct, discounting overlaps, more than 60 million adults have heard about Rush’s take on Brian Williams misleading the public. And what’s more, due to the prestige of C-SPAN’s name and reputation, despite all the effort of others in media to belittle him, Rush received a tacit endorsement just by being important enough to gain the attention of one of their most respected newsmen.

 

In conclusion, aside from Rush’s gaining mention from C-SPAN, another beneficiary is Wisconsin Governor, Scott Walker. Because, the Limbaugh name obviously carries some clout. And although Rush claims he doesn’t issue endorsements, there's no doubt he currently favors him quite strongly as a contender for the presidency of the US. 

 

That’s it for today folks.

 

Adios