Here’s why Rush survived pressure on advertisers while O’Reilly didn’t

Legalinsurrection.com ^ | 4-19-2017 | William A. Jacobson

[servo1969]

William A. Jacobson is Clinical Professor of Law and Director of the Securities Law Clinic at Cornell Law School. Prof. Jacobson is a 1981 graduate of Hamilton College and a 1984 graduate of Harvard Law School. At Harvard he was Senior Editor of the Harvard International Law Journal and Director of Litigation for the Harvard Prison Legal Assistance Project.

Prior to joining the Cornell law faculty in 2007, Prof. Jacobson had a highly successful civil litigation and arbitration practice in Providence, Rhode Island, concentrating in investment, employment, and business disputes in the securities industry, including many high profile cases reported in leading newspapers and magazines.

Professor Jacobson has a national reputation as a leading practitioner in securities arbitration, and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association, an organization of over 450 attorneys dedicated to protecting public investors. Professor Jacobson frequently is quoted in national media on issues related to investment fraud and investor protection, and in the past has served as one of a small number of private practice attorneys who trained new arbitrators for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. Professor Jacobson has argued cases in numerous federal and state courts, including the Courts of Appeal for the First, Fifth and Sixth Circuits, and the Rhode Island Supreme Court.

A more complete listing of Professor Jacobson's professional background is available at the Cornell Law School website. The views expressed here are his own and not those of any employer or organization,

The best way to reach Prof. Jacobson is by e-mail is here.

[Darksheare]

Rush is likeable while Bill O’Really is a boorish lying arsehat who hates conservatives.
(Proof of that is in his smear of Freerepublic, repeatedly.)

[Hatteras]

"Sexual harassment is a really big fucking problem in this country," says Carusone.

[submarinerswife]

O’Reilly’s audience was 3.5 million.

Rush’s audience is 20 million.

O’Reilly answers to 21st Century Fox.

Rush answers to nobody. He owns himself.

[bigbob]

Typical lawyer, takes a thousand words to say what we all know already: actions vs. words, and a completely different business model.

Go back to blathering to your Haavahd students now, counsellor.

[freedomlover]

Today Rush will either totally ignore this, or talk about it for 3 hours.

Any bets?

[blueunicorn6]

Hey! I went to grade school with that guy!

We called him Billy Butt Boots.

He wore these tall rubber boots that went all the way up to his behind.

Old Billy Butt Boots.

I always wondered what happened to him.

[Paladin2]

"...big fucking problem...."

Not from what I hear re: BOR..

[LS]

He’s already talking about it.

[relictele]

LOL

It should be pointed out that Rush adopted his 1950s style spoken word adverts during the crisis as a hedge against the loss of traditional commercial advertisers.

Unfortunately, the spoken word spots endure despite their agonizingly cliched copy and reliance on Fear Uncertainty & Doubt (FUD) ie the very thing Rush rails against when it’s employed by politicians. Now the third ‘hour’ of his show contains 15-20 minutes of content when all the dross is removed.

[ichabod1]

There is truth in that. When your whole reputation is based on being an arsehole, it’s hard to find anybody to defend you when the chips are down.

[joesbucks]

Rush’s audience is 20 million.

Can you provide me a certified audience estimate of that amount of people?

Rush answers to nobody. He owns himself.Rush does have a syndicator he needs to answer to. Although the relationship is contractual vs employer/employee, there is a certain amount of ownership that the syndicator has over Rush. Also, a huge amount of Rush's stations are stations owned by the syndicator.

[RitaOK]

Superb analysis.

“Lovable little fuzz ball” was a regular reference that Rush often made of himself. How many times I doubled over laughing with him.

O’Really was a hard man, humor so dry his face would crack when he heard a laugh escape from his throat. (I’ve never seen anything like him, personally.)

[\/\/ayne]

I said the same thing (but in one or two sentences) to disbelief. Now I can quote a professor with tons of logic and evidence! Take that, disbelievers!

[rlmorel]

"...[Carusone] points out that O'Reilly's issue is not one of free speech but rather of behavior. The charges against him, other Fox colleagues, and Fox itself are serious and mounting. "Sexual harassment is a really big f**king problem in this country," says Carusone...

So is unfiltered profanity (yours) mental insufficiency (yours) and lying a deceit (yours), Carusone. Unfiltered profanity usually indicates intellectual weakness, coming from people who cannot express themselves because they are intellectually and morally bankrupt. You are a case in point.

[ichabod1]

Seems like he too was adopting a persona from the 1950s. He was a school teacher. Always kind of came across as one.

[Buckeye McFrog]

Rush’s listeners rallied around him.

Many people knew that O’Reilly’s nickname inside Fox HQ had been The Lecherous Leprechaun for over a decade. Few were willing to defend him.

True conservatives won’t support someone who’s a boor at work.

[Snickering Hound]

I thought O'Reilly had more in common with the fall of Arthur Godfrey myself.

[KarlInOhio]

Also the biggest cost in the Rush Limbaugh show is Rush himself, so if he is willing g to take less in advertising revenue he can survive. I did notice the “quwlity” of the advertisers went down. There were fewer big name companies and more low end spots like Dinovite.

[ssfromla]

FOX needs me to show them how to get rid of bullies. You’d think they would be smart enough to know how but some people lack common sense.