Hartmann lays out why the media speak virtually with one voice,

The 1980s saw massive funding of right-wing think tanks that have engaged in blitzkrieg campaigns to overwhelm the mainstream media with conservative viewpoints. The man whose followers claim he's Jesus Christ's reincarnation, Reverend Moon, started the Washington Times newspaper in 1982, and although it has lost money ever since, it has succeeded in pushing political discourse in Washington to the far right, presumably helping the good Reverend's other military/industrial investments and lent legitimacy to his religion. Republican operative and former Rush Limbaugh TV Show producer Roger Ailes, with access to Rupert Murdoch's billions, founded the Fox News Network to openly push the Republican agenda into America's living rooms.

But the goal wasn't just to provide an alternative media - it was to influence all media.

This aspect of the conservative strategy was outlined by former Republican Party chairman Rich Bond, who told the Washington Post (8/20/92) that their main goal was to convince Americans and, most important, journalists themselves - the referees of public discourse in America - that they should become hypersensitive to any story, writer, or source that may carry Democratic bias and thus only present the Republican side of the story. "If you watch any great coach," Bond explained, "what they try to do is 'work the refs.' Maybe the ref will cut you a little slack next time."

The plan started several years before Bond spilled the beans to the Post. And its most powerful component has been "conservative" talk radio.

The Reagan/Bush administration ended the FCC's Fairness Doctrine in 1986, and the next year saw Rush Limbaugh appear in over 50 major markets across America - with no sponsors. The myth believed by his listeners is that Americans just so loved Rush and his philosophy that those stations that altruistically carried his show quickly found sponsors. The liberal myth is that the way to replicate Limbaugh's success is to re-invent a radio network like ABC or Premiere but that carries liberals, and stations in major markets will flock to pick up the programming.

But making something like the Rush phenomenon happen isn't about networks or stations or even about philosophy: It's about quality programming, a good business strategy, and lots of cash. Particularly the cash.

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