Political Memes

Rush Limbaugh's show was just starting to syndicate across the country, but radio stations who played his show, were supposed to balance it with 3 hours of alternate programming, and neither he nor the conservative radio station owners liked that. He spoke out often against the Fairness Act, and loudly called for its end. So once Reagan abolished the Fairness Doctrine, those stations went to work.

First they bookended Rush's Noon-3 PM slot. I believe Hannity was before him, and Glenn Beck was before Hannity. Where I lived was a fairly neutral local talk show, followed by Laura Ingraham. Other show were gradually added until the station had 24 hours of conservative talk. There was enough demand that a second Conservative talk station came on, obviously without Trump as the tentpole, but they still survived.

Every city added Conservative talk stations, and the Conservative Propaganda Machine envisioned by Cheney and Ailes in the wake of the Watergate debacle, was underway. In the mid-90s, Ailes produced a half-hour TV version of Rush's radio show, which was successful, although It didn't last, because it was too much work for Rush, but it was proof of concept, and allowed Ailes to put together Fox News.

And that's how Ronald Reagan, Rush Limbaugh, and Roger Ailes ushered in the Golden Age of the Conservative Propaganda Machine, following the abolition of the Fairness Doctrine.