Shock Jocks

by Rory O'Connor, Aaron Cutler

Shock Jocks Hate Speech & Talk Radio reveals the real agenda of America's shock jocks-promoting hate speech under the guise of "free" speech. Rory O'Connor tackles the "hate talk establishment" and shows how huge media conglomerates not only make hate talk possible but profitable. He profiles the IO worst offenders, including Don Imus, Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage, Bill O'Reilly, and Sean Hannity, and shows how they dangerously blur the distinctions between news, opinion, and entertainment. "Shock Jocks" offers a clear analysis of how hateful sound bites hinder democratic dialogue and exacerbate racist, sexist, homophobic, and xenophobic attitudes.

O'Connor also chronicles the rising tide of progressive talkers challenging right-wing air dominance. "The number, quality, and stature of progressive alternatives to Limbaugh and his ilk have been mounting steadily in the past few years-no doubt as a result of the rise and resonance of progressive values," says O'Connor. "Shock Jocks" exposes the greed, the rancor, the characters, and ultimately the stakes in the fight for America's airwaves.

226 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2008

About the author

Rory O'Connor is an award-winning journalist, author and filmmaker whose work centers on the nexus of media and politics. For more than twenty years Rory has engaged the public with stories from Asia, Africa and the Americas told in print, film, television and radio broadcasts and via the Internet. Co-founder and president of the international media firm Globalvision, Inc, and Board Chair of The Global Center, an affiliated non-profit foundation, Rory's films and television programs have aired on PBS, BBC, NHK, CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox, and numerous other leading international broadcast networks. His broadcast, film and print work has been honored with a George Polk Award, a Writer's Guild Award, a George Orwell Award and two Emmys, among many awards. The author of three books, including "Nukespeak: The Selling of Nuclear Technology from the Manhattan Project to Fukushima" (Sierra Club Books, Second Edition, 2011), "Shock Jocks: Hate Speech and Talk Radio" (AlterNet Books, 2008), and, most recently, "Friends, Followers and the Future: How Social Media are Changing Politics, Threatening Big Brands, and Killing Traditional Media" (City Lights, 2012), he is also blogs for the Huffington Post, AlterNet, Salon and other prominent Internet news sites and posts regularly at his own "Media Is A Plural' blog, accessible at www.roryoconnor.org.

Reviews

[Dr Wang Jenn Chyuan · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is an angry White Chritian Male following for right-wing conservative radio over many decades.