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Mother Jones: How the rise of Salem Communications' radio empire reveals the evangelical master plan

B

bigtalkradiofan

Guest
Mother Jones: How the rise of Salem Communications' radio empire reveals the evangelical master plan

Note - I thought this article was applicable to both the News/Talk and Religious Radio-Info message boards.

Note 2 - I'm not taking sides - "for" or "against" either side, I just heard about this article, and thought it would be of interest to the Radio-Info message boards, so I posted a link for all to read.


http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2005/12/higher_frequency.html

A Higher Frequency

News: How the rise of Salem Communications' radio empire reveals the
evangelical master plan

By Adam Piore
Illustration: John Hersey

December/January 2006 Issue

IT'S A SUNNY MORNING IN SOUTHERN California, but inside the gleaming
Glendale studios of KKLA, nationally syndicated radio personality Dennis
Prager has spotted a dark cloud on the horizon, namely the
“soullessness” of Europe. The white-haired host with a deep baritone
and, this morning, a purple tie has fresh evidence of the Continent’s
decline: a recent study linking depression in France to the nation’s
loss of religious faith. “The breakdown in Christianity has led to a
profound crisis,” he says, his meaty hands cutting the air for emphasis.
“What will people believe in? It leads to communism and fascism. It’s
one of the reasons I so worry about secularism in our society. I don’t
want that breakdown here.”

You’ll hear that message a lot on stations owned by Salem
Communications, a little-known for-profit Christian radio empire that
has ridden the evangelical movement to the big leagues and is quietly
becoming a force in national politics. Before it was purchased by Salem,
KKLA was owned by a cigar-chomping preacher whose promises of redemption
raked in millions to help finance a lavish Pasadena estate, replete with
a Rembrandt, a Monet, and show ponies. But Salem’s founders, Stuart
Epperson and Edward Atsinger III, have a far grander goal: spreading the
word of the Lord and offering an alternative to the creeping secularism
that they see as responsible for America’s moral decay. “When you
secularize a culture,” says Epperson, “you lose your moral compass.” A
mission statement in Salem’s 2003 annual report reads: “One mended
marriage. One regained childhood. One restored faith. One broadcast at a
time.”

[Click link above for the rest of the Mother Jones article.]



http://www.wpr.org/ideas/programnotes.cfm

5:00 PM

Media Talk with Dave Berkman - 12/09M Listen

Today after five, on Media Talk, Dave Berkman talks with his guest about
Salem Communications and evangelical radio.

Guest: Adam Piore, reporter, Mother Jones Magazine www.motherjones.com
 
Re: Mother Jones: How the rise of Salem Communications' radio empire reveals the evangelical master plan

> The white-haired host with a deep
> baritone
> and, this morning, a purple tie

What real talk talent wears a tie on the air?
 
Re: Mother Jones: How the rise of Salem Communications' radio empire reveals the evangelical master plan

> > The white-haired host with a deep
> > baritone
> > and, this morning, a purple tie
>
> What real talk talent wears a tie on the air?
>
Of all the things you could have said, this shows a tremendous lack
of intelligence and real thought. You had a golden opportunity to
engage in a thought of merit. Way to go with the post!
(sarcasm emphasis on "way to go")
The Spindoctor
 
Mother Jones and Salem Communications

> I thought this article was applicable to both the
> News/Talk and Religious Radio-Info message boards.
>
> Note 2 - I'm not taking sides - "for" or "against" either
> side, I just heard about this article, and thought it would
> be of interest to the Radio-Info message boards, so I posted
> a link for all to read.

http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2005/12/higher_frequency.html

I haven't read it yet. I'll do it tonight.

But, for the record, the prospect of a country run
by the readers of Mother Jones scares me at least
as much as the prospect of a country run by Salem
listeners!

Thanks for posting the link. Should be interesting.
And scary!

BTW, our local Salem station is WKAT.<P ID="signature">______________
<A href='http://happyholidays.atspace.com/holidaymusic.html'><font color='#990000'>
Happy Festivus, Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, Happy Saturnalia, and Happy Kwanzaa </font></A> from 954</P>
 
How the rise of Salem Demonstrates Air America's Incompetence

Interesting article. It should be required reading for the suits at Air America. This is how it's done: Make money AND promote your agenda.

Error: The article says Dennis Praeger is on KKLA. He is not. He is heard in LA on KRLA. Salem operates "Christian Teaching and Talk" and News/Talk networks. KKLA is Salem's Christian teaching outlet in LA. Praeger is on the News/Talk network. Whoever wrote the Mother Jones article seems to confuse the two formats.
 
Re: Mother Jones and Salem Communications

What scares me is all the dummies who come on here and comment on things without having heard or read them.

What also scares me is people who come on a national board make local references expecting people to understand what they are talking about. I have no idea where you are and I don't care what your local Salem station is.

>
>
> I haven't read it yet. I'll do it tonight.
>
> But, for the record, the prospect of a country run
> by the readers of Mother Jones scares me at least
> as much as the prospect of a country run by Salem
> listeners!
>
> Thanks for posting the link. Should be interesting.
> And scary!
>
> BTW, our local Salem station is WKAT.
>
 
Re: Mother Jones and Salem Communications

> What scares me is all the dummies who come on here and
> comment on things without having heard or read them.
>
> What also scares me is people who come on a national board
> make local references expecting people to understand what
> they are talking about. I have no idea where you are and I
> don't care what your local Salem station is.

Did you know that Mother Jones is an extreme left-wing
magazine, named after a union activist? That's why this
article about the religious right's mouthpiece is interesting.

Did you know that Mother Jones has a weekly radio program on
Air America? So they're not exactly impartial.

Did you know that I don't appreciate your snotty comments
either. If you don't like the local references that I
use in my postings, feel free to ignore them. That's
the way I write.

So before you call someone dummy, look in the mirror.

> > I haven't read it yet. I'll do it tonight.
> >
> > But, for the record, the prospect of a country run
> > by the readers of Mother Jones scares me at least
> > as much as the prospect of a country run by Salem
> > listeners!
> >
> > Thanks for posting the link. Should be interesting.
> > And scary!
> >
> > BTW, our local Salem station is WKAT.

<P ID="signature">______________
<A href='http://happyholidays.atspace.com/holidaymusic.html'><font color='#990000'>
Happy Festivus, Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, Happy Saturnalia, and Happy Kwanzaa </font></A> from 954</P>
 
Re: Mother Jones and Salem Communications

> What scares me is all the dummies who come on here and
> comment on things without having heard or read them.
>
> What also scares me is people who come on a national board
> make local references expecting people to understand what
> they are talking about. I have no idea where you are and I
> don't care what your local Salem station is.

And I thought I needed anger management courses!
Sheesh, don't hold back, tell us how you really feel.
 
Re: Mother Jones and Salem Communications

> So before you call someone dummy, look in the mirror.
>
I thought it was his tribute to Redd Foxx!
>
 
Re: Mother Jones: How the rise of Salem Communications' radio empire reveals its secular programming incompetence

AFAIK Salem has the leading news-talker in "0" markets.

It's usually third, or a very distant second, or sometimes even fourth, behind the top Clear Channel talker, the second conservative talker, and in some cases
the Air America talker.

Yes, I know the model is brokering time slots, but while that model has historically done well on KRLA, it doesn't perform as well on the secular Salem talkers around the country, and even KRLA has cutr back on those
hours a bit as the time devoted to the Salem network lineup has expanded.

Does Bank of America Securities know something we don't, or are they like all the analysts in the 90s who encouraged radio to do all the things that have led to its current peril? <P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by FloridaBear1776 on 12/12/05 10:19 PM.</FONT></P>
 
Re: Mother Jones: How the rise of Salem Communications' radio empire reveals the evangelical master plan

> > > The white-haired host with a deep
> > > baritone
> > > and, this morning, a purple tie
> >
> > What real talk talent wears a tie on the air?
> >
> Of all the things you could have said, this shows a
> tremendous lack
> of intelligence and real thought. You had a golden
> opportunity to
> engage in a thought of merit. Way to go with the post!
> (sarcasm emphasis on "way to go")
> The Spindoctor

It's true. Top talents, save Rush when he might have a court date or knows he's on the DittoCam, wear jeans to work. Who wears a tie? Tony Snow, the Salem hosts... hmm. Last time I checked, Neal Boortz and Glenn Beck hadn't shaved the left side of their face when they strolled in the other morning.
 
Re: Mother Jones: How the rise of Salem Communications' radio empire reveals its secular programming incompetence

> AFAIK Salem has the leading news-talker in "0" markets.
>
> It's usually third, or a very distant second, or sometimes
> even fourth, behind the top Clear Channel talker, the second
> conservative talker, and in some cases
> the Air America talker.

Sheesh... the only place it's second is Cleveland and Columbus where the AM band is so limited that there's more of a need for gospel or classic country stations that a secondary or tertiary news-talkers. Even where Salem has Hannity and Savage, they're not #2! Those would be KNUS (3rd, has both), WWTC (4th, Savage), KRLA (4th or 5th, Savage), and a few others.

Total waste of bandwidth.
 
Re: Mother Jones and Salem Communications

> > So before you call someone dummy, look in the mirror.
> >
> I thought it was his tribute to Redd Foxx!

Hee hee hee. I just watched him on TVland last week.

I pity the fool that doesn't get that station.<P ID="signature">______________
<A href='http://happyholidays.atspace.com/holidaymusic.html'><font color='#990000'>
Happy Festivus, Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, Happy Saturnalia, and Happy Kwanzaa </font></A> from 954</P>
 
Re: How the rise of Salem Demonstrates Air America's Youth

> Interesting article. It should be required reading for the
> suits at Air America. This is how it's done: Make money AND
> promote your agenda.

For how many years did Salem Communications lose money before they started making money?<P ID="signature">______________
also known as tombetz.</P>
 
Re: Mother Jones: How the rise of Salem Communications' radio empire reveals the evangelical master plan

>
> It's true. Top talents, save Rush when he might have a court
> date or knows he's on the DittoCam, wear jeans to work.

This was several years ago, but I read an interview once with Rush where he stated he wears a tie whenever he's working. I almost got the impression he wears one when he isn't too. He gave his reasons, but I don't recall what they were.
 
Re: Mother Jones and Salem Witch Trials Radio

> Did you know that Mother Jones is an extreme left-wing
> magazine, named after a union activist? That's why this
> article about the religious right's mouthpiece is
> interesting.

It's hardly the extreme magazine it used to be back 15 years ago. They have moderated from some of the "meat is murder" stuff that used to be all over their pages. Mother Jones isn't Newsweek, but neither is the National Review, which also prints articles about current events. Readers have to put it all in context.

> Did you know that Mother Jones has a weekly radio program on
> Air America? So they're not exactly impartial.

Impartiality is in the eye of the beholder. Just because they have a radio program on Air America is not a credibility killer. But they do serve a leftist readership in their magazine, so it's no surprise they are critical of the Salem Witch Trials Network.

That being said, as long as Salem doesn't hijack the educational FM band for their programming and call it "non commercial public service," I don't see a problem with them existing on the commercial airwaves along with everyone else. Their programming clearly has an agenda and anyone who has heard 10 minutes of the lady in pearls, Janet Parshall, will be well aware of the religion injection they are getting, even if they call it a vitamin shot. Their ratings tell the story of how listeners react to it - they know what they are being fed, and the ratings are comparable to other religious outlets, talk or otherwise.
 
Aunt Ester Joins Salem

> > > So before you call someone dummy, look in the mirror.
> > >
> > I thought it was his tribute to Redd Foxx!
>
> Hee hee hee. I just watched him on TVland last week.

Just thinking about this for a moment, would anyone be surprised if Aunt Ester got her own show on Salem? :)
 
Re: WEARING TIES

What in the world is all this criticism over the fact that he wears a tie? lol

Should I provide a link to another TALK RADIO article that mentions a host that ALSO wears a tie?

OK - ok - since people want to criticize the author's choice of words to describe Praeger...INSTEAD of RADIO...here it is...mentions FOUR other west Coast talk hosts:

http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0.../edition_id/457/format/html/displaystory.html

Oh, and by the way, I have a handout from a liberal talk station with glamorous photos of the hosts. Guess what: Mr. Schultz and Mr. Franken are both wearing ties!

Well I guess this is so important that I have just learned (no, not really) Talkers magazine and the Heritage Foundation will be hosting a special forum on Trends in News/Talk fashions "Behind the Studio Glass." To make sure that as many people come as possible, I'll start announcing this as a courtesy for them in my signatures (no I won't):
_________________________________________

"BEHIND THE STUDIO GLASS"

The Talkers Magazine News/Talk Fashion Show

April 1-4, 2006

Hosted by Talkers Magazine and the Heritage Foundation

Fashion Show Judges: Alan Colmes, Doug Stephan, Victoria Jones, and Ellen Ratner

LOL lol lol

D)
 
Re: Aunt Ester Joins Salem

> Just thinking about this for a moment, would anyone be
> surprised if Aunt Ester got her own show on Salem? :)

Yes. That would be surprising since LaWanda Paige died in 2002.
 
God must love dummies because he made so many of them

Once again, you are not dealing with the content of the article. Have you even read the article in question? Did you even read the magazine in question before claiming bias.

I don't care who the magazine is named after or who carries their radio program.

You are the one who seems biased and closed minded here.

bias: n an inclination of temperament or outlook; especially : a personal and sometimes unreasoned judgment

But, of course, that's just the way you write.


> Did you know that Mother Jones is an extreme left-wing
> magazine, named after a union activist? That's why this
> article about the religious right's mouthpiece is
> interesting.
>
> Did you know that Mother Jones has a weekly radio program on
>
> Air America? So they're not exactly impartial.
>
> Did you know that I don't appreciate your snotty comments
> either. If you don't like the local references that I
> use in my postings, feel free to ignore them. That's
> the way I write.
>
> So before you call someone dummy, look in the mirror.
>
 
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