Rush Limbaugh, dead at 70 following battle with cancer

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Rush Limbaugh, dead at 70 following battle with cancer

Postby radiofan » Wed Feb 17, 2021 1:20 pm

Rush Limbaugh, conservative media icon, dead at 70 following battle with cancer

By Oliver Darcy, CNN Business Updated 1:33 PM ET, Wed February 17, 2021

New York (CNN Business)Rush Limbaugh, the conservative media icon who for decades used his perch as the king of talk-radio to shape the politics of both the Republican Party and nation, died Wednesday after a battle with cancer. He was 70 years old.

Limbaugh's wife Kathryn made the announcement on his radio show Wednesday.

"As so many of you know, losing a loved one is terribly difficult, even more so when that loved one is larger than life," she said. "Rush will forever be the greatest of all time."

Limbaugh announced in February 2020 that he had been diagnosed with advanced lung cancer. Limbaugh continued to host his show while undergoing treatment, and he told listeners that he remained hopeful he would defeat the disease.

A pioneer of AM talk-radio, Limbaugh for 32 years hosted "The Rush Limbaugh Show," a nationally-syndicated program with millions of loyal listeners that transfigured him into a partisan force and polarizing figure in American politics. In many ways, his radio show was like the big bang of the conservative media universe. "The Rush Limbaugh Show" helped popularize the political talk-radio format and usher in a generation of conservative infotainment.

Using his sizable platform, Limbaugh advanced conservative ideas, though he often waded into conspiratorial waters and generated controversy for hateful commentary on gender and race. During the course of his career, Limbaugh started a number of fires with his commentary.

Limbaugh offered a conditional apology after he accused actor Michael J. Fox of exaggerating his Parkinson's disease and apologized when he insulted law school student Sandra Fluke. He relentlessly attacked President Barack Obama, going as far as to fan the flames of birtherism, the discredited idea that Obama was born outside the United States and therefore not eligible to be president. And, in the last few years, he peddled "deep state" conspiracy theories, providing cover for former President Donald Trump during his term, who he counted as a friend.

More recently, Limbaugh appeared to approve of some forms of political violence in the immediate aftermath of the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol. He also drew backlash at the outset of the pandemic when he dismissed the coronavirus as the "common cold" and contended that it was being "weaponized" by members of the mainstream press to bludgeon Trump and harm his re-election chances. The missive was classic Limbaugh, who built a career on expressing strong distrust of the established press order and referred to himself as "America's Anchorman."

Despite his penchant for pushing conspiracy theories and peddling misinformation that benefited Trump and the other political figures he supported over the years, Limbaugh acknowledged the weight of his words in a 2008 interview with The New York Times.

"I take the responsibility that comes with my show very seriously," Limbaugh told the newspaper. "I want to persuade people with ideas. I don't walk around thinking about my power. But in my heart and soul, I know I have become the intellectual engine of the conservative movement."

Read the full story at: https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/17/media/ru ... index.html
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Re: Rush Limbaugh, dead at 70 following battle with cancer

Postby Peteradio » Wed Feb 17, 2021 8:13 pm

The PATHETIC Global News at 6 TODAY has zero about Rush. Wow!
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Re: Rush Limbaugh, dead at 70 following battle with cancer

Postby Aaron » Wed Feb 17, 2021 8:36 pm

Peteradio wrote:The PATHETIC Global News at 6 TODAY has zero about Rush. Wow!


That's because he's irrelevant.
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Re: Rush Limbaugh, dead at 70 following battle with cancer

Postby the-real-deal » Wed Feb 17, 2021 11:16 pm

He was relevant, but was like Trump in many ways, making up falsehoods and bullshit that people naively believed, and out of sheer stupidity ?

The racism was outrageously nasty and you wonder if the FCC had two rules; one for Limbaugh and another for the rest of us !

He had many fans in Canada, such as the owner of the "other" website, isn't it true !
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Re: Rush Limbaugh, dead at 70 following battle with cancer

Postby pave » Thu Feb 18, 2021 3:24 am

The clan at the "other" site have covered their heads in ashes and are flailing themselves over the Limbaugh demise. If there ever was a polarizing figure...
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Re: Rush Limbaugh, dead at 70 following battle with cancer

Postby paterson » Thu Feb 18, 2021 7:56 am

Limbaugh may have had some fans in Canada but they actually weren't huge in numbers, I don't believe he had any measurable audience here. His show was never picked up by any radio stations and I am not aware that Canadians living near US border towns went out of their way to listen to him. But in the US, well that is another story as we know.

However, I believe that Limbaugh actually hurt AM radio in America more than he helped. When his show went national in August of 1988, it was the beginning of the end for local AM radio in the US. His successful nationally syndicated show produced many imitators and most of these were also syndicated programming which was picked up by thousands of AM stations. In many cases these programs were free and the local affiliate only had to give up some air time for national spots to air in the show. The format was at times vulgar, bigoted shout fest talk shows, that only added to AM's image of being unsophisticated, inferior and lowbrow compared to FM. I believe this programming led to the demise of thousands of AM radio stations across the US. Stations that became totally automated with no local on air staff and ran syndicated programming all day and night.

Today AM is only successful in some large and medium sized markets with news/talk/sports formats or some NPR radio outlets. Thousands of local AM radio outlets have gone dark largely because of the initial success of shows like Rush Limbaugh. Many may have closed eventually, but I believe it was speeded up greatly and made worse with the advent of so much syndicated talk. These stations had long left their local markets with no local content other than some commercials and eventually closed.

Today we have AM stations trying to hang on with the inefficient "translators" which allow struggling AM broadcasters a foothold on the FM dial with low power frequencies to help expand their reach. However to me all the translators are doing is clogging up the already crowded local FM band and are just prolonging the death watch for some AM stations. One station in Buffalo NY has three different low power translators or frequencies just to cover the city, plus the original AM pattern. And the FCC will not allow AM stations who apply for a low power translator, to shut down the original AM frequency. As most on here will know, AM transmitters are more expensive to run because of land, multiple towers, maintenance and power than FM.
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Re: Rush Limbaugh, dead at 70 following battle with cancer

Postby jon » Thu Feb 18, 2021 4:58 pm

A columnist at CNN wrote an interesting piece that concluded that Rush, more than anyone else, was responsible for Trump being elected President.
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