September 24, 2014 What Rush
Limbaugh's Attack On Activists Is Telling Us by Spocko Over at Daily Kos
Leslie Salzillo wrote a great diary that breaks down the 'secret story' that
Rush Limbaugh's crisis communications person wrote about the StopRush movement.
Rush Limbaugh Must Be Terrified - He's Releasing
Secret 'Facts' About StopRush Salzillo does a great job pointing out all the
nonsense in the report. I want to point out to people why Rush is attacking
activists now and how I view the attack as a gift to the community of people
alerting advertisers. Rush's Report
"The Hidden Story Behind Stop Rush" tells us what they are telling
the distributors, radio stations and sales reps. That's good news,
activists can use that information to keep pushing. When I developed my
method, I always liked to learn what the sales rep at KSFO was telling
advertisers about the letters, calls, and faxes(!) they were getting from me
and my friends. They tried
multiple ways to discount the work I was doing. They made excuses, told lies,
attacked my character and threatened me financially and legally. Then I
would incorporate their criticisms into my next round of letters to
advertisers. That is why
this article is a gift. They are telling us the lines they are giving to radio
station owners on why Rush isn't bringing in the revenue he used to. They are
also telling the station owners and sales reps what to tell the advertisers who
are leaving. Things like: 1) These people aren't from your
community 2) They aren't your customers 3) There are only a handful of
them--it's all robots 4)
They are afraid to use their real names for no good reason 5) It's all a big
conspiracy, not a grass roots movement.
In sum. they tell the advertisers, "You
are hearing from out-of-state bullies and cowards, paid for by George Soros. Ignore
them and keep advertising on the Rush Limbaugh show!"
(Fun Fact: The reason they think this is what is
happening is because that is what THEY do. Projection, it's not just in movie
theaters these days.) Another
thing this report tells us is that the distributors have put pressure on Rush
to DO something, such as stop saying such offensive things. But he will not. So
they attack the activists.
That is what KSFO, ABC/Disney and the hosts did to me. So instead of the
management telling the hosts to stopping spewing violent rhetoric and bigotry,
they went after me as a way to stop their financial pain. Rush will not
modify what he says, so he attacks the people who capture the clips, Media
Matters, and all the activists who use them to point out what he is saying to
advertisers. Putting
this movement on the "George Soros funded" Media Matters, and naming
them as the leader kills two birds with one stone in their minds. (BTW, am I
glad I used a pseudonym? You bet. Who I am would have been the focus instead of
the issues of copyright and what the hosts were saying on air.) The other target for this article
are the Rush listeners. They are being educated too. As usual they are given pre-digested talking points to use when
questioned about an issue.
The report cues up the real bullies by listing some
of the twitter handles of the people involved in the StopRush campaign. I can
almost hear the dog whistle to listeners, "Will no one rid me of this
turbulent priest?" (King Henry /Becket reference) If the activists didn't
have "good evidence" to be afraid before, they will now. Be sure to
file the police reports of your death threats folks!
I'm
sure women on the internet objecting politely to advertisers about Rush
Limbaugh's comments about women won't be subject to anything vile by Limbaugh
fans. /sarcasm
"Advertisers aren't leaving Rush because of what he says, but
because they are being bullied by those mean ol' libs! Rush is the real victim
here." - a fine red whine, circa 2014
Remember, the Right always wants to be The Victim, especially
when they are in power.
The Leverage Point for Advertisers Isn't Money, It's Brand Name
Integrity
The
people whose voices really matter to the distributors and stations are the
advertisers. The advertisers have figured out that Rush isn't going to change.
Appealing to their desire to make more money by advertising on Rush's show
isn't going to work like it used to. Now not supporting Rush is a message about
who they are and what their brand is.
Before writing an advertiser I always would
go to the advertisers' web page and look at their values statements. I asked
them. "Does this host, who you are sponsoring, reflect your values? This
is what you say on your page." I also looked at the people who worked
there, who are they as people? I found lots of decent folks, just like you and
me.
That is also why I contacted not just the person responsible for
advertising, but the head of HR, marketing and PR. They all needed to hear what
it was that the hosts were saying that they were paying for. The fact that many times the
head of PR and HR were women helped clarify the case. Additionally these people usually
helped write those value statements and their brand identities. Sometimes these
people cared about their brand because it also reflected something about who
THEY are. Very few people and companies like to associate themselves or their
brand with sexism, racism, bigotry and violent rhetoric. Today we also can include homophobia. However, some were fine with what Rush was
saying. I was always polite as a way of telling them I respected their
decisions although I didn't agree with them.
The
Advertisers Chooses. Let the Host Taint Your Brand or Walk Away.
The
Spocko Method isn't a boycott, I never threaten anyone. I ask them. "Do you agree with what he is saying? Is
this host for you? Imagine the host wearing your company logo shirt and saying
the things he said on air at a company meeting. Do you still want to sponsor
him?"
This report
shows they are grasping at straws (and straw men!) in order to stop the
continuing financial pain. By focusing on the activists they are telling the
advertisers, "We have no intention of changing anything, your money isn't
that important to us, we'll find some RW think tanks to funnel us
money." The entire radio
industry advertising model for RW radio has been upset. They don't like to talk
about it, but the managers and distributors are hoping the money hemorrhage
will stop during political advertising season. But that is a temporary
reprieve. They have lost thousands of customers facing advertising and they
aren't coming back as long as Rush keeps being Rush. If I allowed my human emotions to show now I would be
smiling.