When Rush Limbaugh made his now famous remarks about Sandra Fluke's Congressional testimony he set off a social media firestorm. The ensuing backlash cost Limbaugh many prominent advertisers and damaged his public image. In this study, we examine the characteristics that motivated some to engage in the social media conversation while others remained on the sidelines. We find that political information efficacy, or confidence that one has the knowledge and skills necessary to participate, dictate political engagement online. We discuss the implications of this finding for radio, communication and media scholars, and healthy democratic deliberation among young Americans.

Limbaugh's Social Media Nightmare: Facebook and Twitter as Spaces for Political Action

This study takes a social networks approach to studying the Twitter talk evoked by politically oriented cable television hosts. Two aspects of user interactions are examined: the interconnectedness of users as an indication for users' networks of exchange of opinions and information, and exposure to a political diversity of information sources. Findings suggest that users prefer exposing themselves to politically like-minded information sources. Furthermore, television hosts failed to evoke an exchange of opinions and ideas among their followers. In contrast, other information sources that reported about these hosts evoked denser interaction among their followers.

Political Television Hosts on Twitter: Examining Patterns of Interconnectivity and Self-Exposure in Twitter Political Talk Networks

This article is based upon extensive research of the BBC Radio Ulster daily phone-in programme, Talkback. The wider research is investigating the role of phone-in programmes as a contemporary public sphere for democratic debate. This article places the Talkback phone-ins within the specific context of a contested society within which two publics seek to assert their separate identities. The relationship between on-air public talk and official political talks is considered. The socio-political functions of phonein talk are considered empirically (within the confines of limited space) and it is argued theoretically that talk on Talkback is addressed to one of three publics: ones own public; the divided public; and the imagined consensual public (which is addressed mainly by the BBC). STEPHEN

/pdf/bbc-radio-ulster-s-talkback-phone-in-public-feedback-in-a-4wylxg7ewl.pdf

BBC Radio Ulster’s Talkback Phone-in: Public Feedback in a Divided Public Space

This study analyzes the rhetorical strategies used by Rush Limbaugh to rebuild his public image after he made offensive remarks about law student Sandra Fluke in early 2012. A close reading of Limbaugh's public statements reveals that Limbaugh employed the strategies of evading responsibility, reducing offensiveness, and mortification (i.e., apologizing). However, Limbaugh's apology was more of a pseudo-apology than a genuine apology. This article argues that Limbaugh adopted the strategies he did because the nature of political talk radio makes it more important to maintain a good public image with the audience than with political opponents or even advertisers.

Not the Best: What Rush Limbaugh's Apology to Sandra Fluke Reveals about Image Restoration Strategies on Commercial Radio

This article provides a case study of The Tom Joyner Morning Show (TJMS), a successful ABC Radio syndicated morning program. The analysis of the TJMS uses the market and public sphere models of media behavior to examine the program in the context of consolidation and other contemporary industry issues and business strategies such as, minority ownership, localism, webcasting, micro formatting, and diversity. ABC's TJMS provides its affiliated stations with a commercially successful programming formula that combines music, entertainment, news, information, and community service in a manner that encourages Black activism and contributes to a vibrant public sphere.

The Tom Joyner Morning Show: Activist Radio in an Age of Consolidation

The Rush Limbaugh phenomenon raises serious questions about the way political thought may be influenced by a medium—talk radio—that adheres to no standards of credibility. The author analyzes the way Limbaugh uses call screening, half‐truth, oversimplification, and undocumented opinion to, in effect, carry on a monologue under the illusion of dialogue. She concludes that Limbaugh's rhetoric must be judged as both unethical and demagogic.

Rush Limbaugh—broadcast demagogue

A content analysis of National Public Radio's "All Things Considered" concluded that there were significant differences in the coverage of presidents Ford, Carter, and Reagan compared to their Congresses. This conclusion is very different from studies of television network news which concluded that presidents receive two to thee times as much coverage as their Congresses. These differences could easily create differences in audiences' perceptions about which branches of government actually respond to constituents, and take action to solve problems.

The President and Congress in NPR's "All Things Considered," 1974–1983

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Rush Limbaugh—broadcast demagogue

The President and Congress in NPR's "All Things Considered," 1974–1983