Talk Radio

Convenient, entertaining, and provocative, talk radio today is unapologetically ideological. Focusing on Rush Limbaugh -- the medium's most influential talk show -- Rushed to Judgment systematically examines the politics of persuasion at play on our nation's radio airwaves and asks a series of important questions. Does listening to talk radio change the way people think about politics, or are listeners' attitudes a function of the self-selecting nature of the audience? Does talk radio enhance understanding of public issues or serve as a breeding ground for misunderstanding? Can talk radio serve as an agent of deliberative democracy, spurring Americans to open, public debate? Or will talk radio only aggravate the divisive partisanship many Americans decry in poll after poll? The time is ripe to evaluate the effects of a medium whose influence has yet to be fully reckoned with.

The airwaves in America are being used by armed militias, conspiracy theorists, survivalists, the religious right, white supremacists, neo-Nazis, and other radical groups to reach millions with their messages of hate and fear. Waves of Rancor examines the origin, nature, and impact of right-wing electronic media, including radio, television, cable, the internet, and even music CDs.

New Media and American Politics is the first examination of the effect on modern politics of the new media, which include talk radio, tabloid journalism, television talk shows, entertainment media, and computer networks. Davis and Owen discuss the new media's cultural environment, audience, and content, and evaluate its impact on everything from elections to policy making to the old media itself.

Nimmo and Combs discuss the key role political analysts play, their methods and strategies, and the potential danger they pose to American democracy--by transforming it into a "punditocracy" which replaces serious citizen debate with discussion guided by show business values. Punditry, Nimmo and Combs argue, produces symbolic rather than effective healing of political ills, political paternalism rather than political reflection, and, in the end, public disenchantment with politics.

Includes interviews with such well known personalities as Walter Cronkite, Dick Clark, Steve Allen, Art Linkletter, Paul Harvey, Howard K. Smith, Ed McMahon, Bruce Morrow, as well as more than fifty other individuals who were or continue to be actively involved in radio.