Democracy-loving Americans need offense and nothing would be more offensive to the GOP that to threaten the only unique advantage they have.
Students at and communities around the 87 universities listed below can protest Republican patriarchy and religious extremism right on campus.
Those 87 universities broadcast sports on more than 260 X-Limbaugh stations. Those are some of the loudest AM radio stations in the US and with few exceptions their talk show hosts are always anti-choice and have been since the late 80s and early 90s.
If the GOP would pay $1000 for a one hour radio infomercial to elect politicians to overturn Roe v Wade, 260 stations x 15 hrs/day would be worth $19.5M/week or about $1Billion/year, FREE, endorsed by those universities. Every week for 30 years.
For 30 years those schools have ignored their mission statements to allow those stations to use their athletes, mascots, logos, and their community standing to attract advertisers to pay for Republican efforts to overturn Roe v Wade, deny global warming, and excuse racism.
Those stations were used to attack Anita Hill and Christine Blasey Ford to put Clarence Thomas and Brett Kavenaugh on the Supreme Court. They all helped elect Trump and the other Republicans that have created this radical Supreme Court.
Many professional US sports teams do the same.
Until these schools and teams reassess their support for Republican talk radio they are helping Republicans destroy democracy and are not acting in the best interest of the majority of their students, athletes, and fans.
Most if not all of those universities and pro teams were broadcasting sports on those stations before the stations became part of the Republican talk radio propaganda monopoly. All those schools need to be pushed into publicly reevaluating those relationships. There are many apolitical alternatives now.
Most written complaints will probably be channeled to the athletic departments and will likely go nowhere.
‘Free speech’ purists and local Republicans who depend on those stations to get their candidates elected will insist those schools are not supposed to play politics, but with few, if any, exceptions they are 100% pro Republican. The local talkers on those stations also often weigh in on who is or isn’t acceptable when it comes to choices for university presidents, chancellors, regents, professors, and curriculum.
There will be complaints about lost licensing revenue but radio-related revenue is minuscule compared with TV revenue. There are also many sports talk stations that would love to broadcast those games and would be more suited to selling team merchandise. How much are these schools selling out for?
Many of the those schools already also broadcast on other radio stations that are not talk stations.
Republican complaints will be irrelevant when the radio advertising industry realizes that any public discussion of this issue at one or more schools will spread to other schools, as well as pro sports teams, and will cause many advertisers to look for alternatives.
Those universities need protests. They need Democratic politicians and well known activists to point out the astounding hypocrisy when these universities claim their dedication to truth, science, knowledge, and justice.
Progressive and Democratic Party student organizations have a lot to gain by demanding a change. They can protest right on campus.
From fakenewsradio.org:
Consider how many Republican talk radio stations these universities endorse:
10 or more: Florida 10, Michigan State 11, Penn St 11
7 or more: Georgia 7, North Carolina 8, Illinois 7, Michigan 7, Oregon St 7, Texas AM 9
5 or more: Georgia Tech 5, Notre Dame 6, Missouri 6, Nebraska 6, Oregon 5, Syracuse 6, Washington 5, Virginia Tech 5, Washington 5
Consider the part those schools play in elections and issues in those states by continuing to allow those stations to use them. How much better would Democrats do in elections if those stations had to change format away from Republican hate and disinformation to keep broadcasting sports and retain advertisers? Many of those stations are already suffering, stuck with lousy and less influential replacements after Limbaugh’s death.
*Note: the list may be slightly outdated relative to a few schools but I doubt much has changed the last 10 years.
ALABAMA 8 Auburn 3, Alabama 2, Southern Alabama 2, Troy 1
ARIZONA 1 Arizona St. 1
ARKANSAS 3 Arkansas 3
CALIFORNIA 5 San Jose State 2, USC 2, Fresno St. 1
COLORADO 3 Air Force 2, Colorado State 1
CONNECTICUT 1 Connecticut 1
FLORIDA 20 Florida 10, Florida St. 4 Miami 2, South Florida 2, Central Florida 2
GEORGIA 14 Georgia 7, Georgia Tech 5, Georgia Southern 2
IDAHO 7 Boise St. 4, Idaho 3
ILLINOIS 7 Illinois 7
INDIANA 11 Notre Dame 6, Purdue 4, Indiana 1
IOWA 5 Iowa 4, Iowa St. 1
KANSAS 4 Kansas St. 2, Kansas 1, Wichita St. 1
KENTUCKY 3 Louisville 2, Kentucky 1
LOUSIANA 3 LSU 2, La.-Monroe 1
MARYLAND 2 Maryland 2
MASSACHUSETTS 1 Boston College 1
MICHIGAN 19 Michigan St. 11, Michigan 7, Western Michigan 1
MINNESOTA 4 Minnesota 4
MISSISSIPPI 6 Mississippi St. 3, Mississippi 2, Southern Miss 1
MISSOURI 6 Missouri 6
NEBRASKA 6 Nebraska 6
NEVADA 1 $ Nevada 1
NEW JERSEY 2 Rutgers 1, Seton Hall 1
NEW MEXICO 3 New Mexico 2, New Mexico St. 1
NEW YORK 7 Syracuse 6, Army 1
NORTH CAROLINA 16 North Carolina 8, North Carolina State 3, Duke 3, East Carolina 2
OHIO 10 Ohio St. 6, Toledo 1, Dayton 1, Bowling Green 1, Xavier 1
OKLAHOMA 5 Oklahoma St. 3, Oklahoma 1, Oral Roberts 1
OREGON 12 Oregon St. 7, Oregon 5
PENNSYLVANIA 14 Penn St. 11, Pittsburgh 2, Temple 1
SOUTH CAROLINA 4 South Carolina 2, Clemson 2
TENNESSEE 7 Tennessee 4, Memphis 3
TEXAS 16 Texas A&M 9, Texas Tech 4, Texas 1, Texas Christian 1, Baylor 1
UTAH 1 Utah St. 1
VIRGINIA 6 Virginia Tech 5, Virginia 1
WASHINGTON 6 Washington 5, Washington St. 1
WEST VIRGINIA 2 West Virginia 1, Marshall 1
WISCONSIN 3 Wisconsin 3
Two recent developments will force the ad industry to democratize RW radio.
The biggest political mistake in history. It's the radio, stupid.