The Right Frequency: The Story of the Talk Giants Who Shook Up the Political and Media Establishment

American politics was transformed from the time a WABC manager told Rush Limbaugh, "You're kidding yourself if you think we'll ever carry your national show." to the day an establishment Republican senator griped "talk radio is running America."Limbaugh ignited a new generation of talkers such as Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck helping to define the Conservative movement and challenge the elite media. But Rush can't take all the credit. From the inception of radio, bombastic personalities have used the airwaves to sway public opinion. The Right Frequency by Fred V. Lucas tells the remarkable story beginning with the early voices opining on the New Deal and McCarthyism to today snd on-air giants who exposed Clinton corruption, Obama failures and even Bush missteps. The book features interviews with leading conservative talkers and explains why talk radio is the only media venue thoroughly dominated by the right. Readers will learn about the inventor of infotainment Walter Winchell and the divisive radio priest Father Coughlin; how Bob Grant, Barry Farber and Neal Boortz rose to prominence and how the Kennedy and Johnson administration silenced opposition radio voices. After the demise of the Fairness Doctrine in the 1980s, Limbaugh s star was born, ringing in an alternative media universe. Dick Morris, Fox News analyst and former advisor to President Clinton said, "Talk radio destroyed the liberal media monopoly and gave the conservatives a voice. But precisely because it brought the giants low, the publishing industry has ignored its history. Fred Lucas now fills that void, explaining from where it came and where it might be headed."