The declining influence of Rush Limbaugh has been a topic of discussion for some time now; for so long, in fact, that there’s little left to discuss. Throughout the presidential election last year, if he was talked about at all, it was mostly in the context of how poisonous his divisive shtick has become to the Republican Party. That’s a far cry from the early 1990s, when the radio host changed the face of modern discourse with his ability to break down the country’s salient liberal-conservative divide into the most puerile of terms.
Now, Limbaugh is feuding with Cumulus Media Inc. (NASDAQ:CMLS) — the company that broadcasts his radio program on 40 stations in 36 markets — over who is to blame for an ongoing decline in advertising revenue. Lew Dickey, Cumulus Media’s chief officer, has been pointing the finger at Limbaugh, and in particular a grassroots advertising boycott that erupted in early 2012, following the infamous Sandra Fluke controversy...People were fed up, and they took to the Internet and social media to send a message to Limbaugh’s advertisers that they won’t support any business that supports Limbaugh’s brand of radio rabble-rousing. Jittery over the response, advertisers began to bolt. Some never came back, including Geico, Sears, John Deere, Netflix, Capitol One and hundreds of others.
Zara goes on to point out that the free market, which conservatives like Limbaugh worship, seems to be functioning in a ruthlessly efficient manner in this case.
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