Posted on 04/23/2013 2:02:19 PM PDT by Jim Robinson
To borrow a Sarah Palin aphorism, after their election defeat in 2008, conservatives didnt retreat, they reloaded. Instead of finding new solutions to public policy problems or seriously reevaluating Bushs failures, conservatives focused almost solely on new ways to communicate their old ideas. To do so, they looked to their natural allies in corporate marketing for inspiration and they looked to the Left for imitation. The result has been a recent and profound turnaround that has allowed the Right the bury Obamas message and dominate the political debate.
Historical right-wing domination of the media
Traditionally, conservatives have almost always dominated direct mail solicitations, retained the best pollsters money could buy and paid for the most celebrated advertising makers. Message discipline is the first lesson for any Republican politician. Talk radio? unquestionably controlled by conservatives.
Cable news? Fox News couldnt be more right-wing and popular. The Right had also dominated the Internet for most of the Internets fledging history. Throughout the 1990s and for much of President George W. Bushs first term, conservatives easily ruled online news. And much of that initial sucess stemmed from foundations and entrepreneurial pioneers such as Matt Drudge, creator of the wildly popular headline-aggregating site Drudge Report, and Jim Robinson of the news message board Free Republic. The pair formed a symbiotic relationship. Drudge, who played a role in breaking the Monica Lewinsky story, made waves in the media with scoops on the latest Clinton scandals, and Free Republic provided a platform for conservatives to share conspiratorial perspectives and to organize their own rallies and events. Many of the angry mobs hounding Clinton at public events were mobilized by Free Republic. The impeachment rally that was organized by the Free Republic, Treason Is the Reason, featured Republican lawmakers and writer Christopher Hitchens...
(Excerpt) Read more at salon.com ...
He Sure Has! Free Republic is a Blessing a thousand fold.
Think where we would be Without it!
Go Jim!
GO F.R.!!!
Buuuuump!
Ah yes...what a photo...the eye contact is amazing. Wasn’t Sarah lucky to have met Jim!
Fox News is NOT “rightwing”
this author is insane
Well put.
Agree.
Love you Jim.
Good to see you getting credit...illegitimi non carborundum (Don't let the bastards wear you down!)
Cheers!
“almost solely on new ways to communicate their old ideas.”
They say that as if it were a BAD thing.
bookmark
Secrets of the conservative media machine >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Simple secret. We tell the truth regardless of PC requirements.
Some lioberals are so PC that they actually live in their own self created UTOPIAN reality that is completely dysfunctional and unbcivilized.
Thats our secret, not to buy into the PC alternate reality espoused by the left and used by Obama to manipulate and control them.
Fox News couldnt be more right-wing...
Ah, not so much.
5.56mm
Thanks KC... you honor my words...
These folks - Salon, MSNBC, NYT, Democrap Party, etc. - are Stalinists, Jim; sooner or later the conservatives on FR and elsewhere are going to realize that the chances of winning our country back at the ballot box is diminishing, along with truthful elections. We are in a terminal battle for the very survival of Western Civilization!!!
We will get little help from New England, New York, California, Illinois, Michigan, Oregon, Washington [state]... probably more.
Also, Obama's Marxism has put so many people on the government dole that they cannot afford to stand up against the government take-over of freedom.
Gird your loins, FReepers... we are in a real battle; if we lose we will cease to exist as individuals... we will be property of the state [Stalin!]
Delusional much? (Not you Jim, the author) Not in the sense of acknowledging work and successes by FR or Drudge but in that absurd yet ubiquitous canard about how the right has all the media on its side. Do they imagine if they say this enough times it might become true, or might start to appear to be true? Please. Idiots.
“Angry mobs” ??
Not what I was part of! We were a calm, enthusiastic, well-informed, clear thinking, organized group —— with the concerns of our country in mind. Not what conjures up the vision of an ‘angry mob’.
>>>Dalton reasoned that because conservatives philosophically embrace ideological loyalty and are generally more comfortable with authoritarian, top-down communication, they would never really harness the potential of new media. Liberals on the other hand automatically flourish in environments where users are granted freedom to communicate with infinite possibilities.<<<
It’s like watching the Bizarro world reading this article. I had to stop here... I really think this Dalton guy believes what he’s saying, which is frightening enough. All I have to do is compare Free Republic’s comments to those at the Daily Kos or DU to demonstrate the vapidity of Dalton’s observations.
On the other hand, the idea of “infinite possibilities” sure does sound like Jonah Goldberg’s definition of fascism - a belief system untethered by any adherence to morals or ethics, where the only thing that matters is having the power to do what you want.
God help us.
Where liberty dwells, there is my country." Benjamin Franklin
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