Episode 1 - The Divided Dial

Summary

Summary of "On the Media" Episode 1 – The Divided Dial

Podcast Information:

• Title: On the Media
• Host/Author: WNYC Studios
• Episode: Episode 1 - The Divided Dial
• Release Date: May 6, 2023

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Introduction: The Rise of Conservative Dominance in Talk Radio

In the premiere episode of On the Media, titled "The Divided Dial," hosts Brooke Gladstone and Micah Loewinger delve into the profound influence of conservative voices within American talk radio. This episode, the first installment of a five-part series, explores how the radio landscape has become predominantly conservative, examining the mechanisms and key players driving this shift. The discussion highlights the role of influential figures like Eric Metaxas and the Salem Media Group in shaping public discourse and propagating specific political narratives.

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Eric Metaxas: From Intellectual to Election Fraud Spokesperson

The episode opens by tracing the transformation of Eric Metaxas, a once-celebrated evangelical intellectual, into a prominent voice advocating election fraud conspiracies. Initially recognized for his scholarly work on figures like Martin Luther and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Metaxas hosted the "Socrates in the City" lecture series and even contributed to mainstream outlets like the Wall Street Journal. However, his trajectory took a sharp turn with the 2020 election.

Notable Transformation:

• 07:00 Eric Metaxas: “That is idolatry. Thank you very much. Thank you. If you don't know what idolatry is, you're probably not saved.”

This shift became evident as Metaxas began endorsing and amplifying unfounded claims of election fraud, aligning himself closely with Donald Trump and the broader right-wing movement. By 2016, Metaxas had ardently supported Trump, even penning an op-ed urging Christians to back the then-presidential candidate despite earlier mockery of Trump’s religious appeals.

Impact of Metaxas: Metaxas's extensive reach—estimated at 8 million listeners weekly—allowed him to significantly influence public opinion, particularly among conservative Christians. His fervent rhetoric contributed to the environment that culminated in the January 6 Capitol riot, where many of his listeners acted on the misinformation disseminated through his and similar platforms.

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Salem Media Group: Architects of the Conservative Airwaves

A substantial portion of the episode is dedicated to exploring Salem Media Group's pivotal role in shaping conservative talk radio. Under the leadership of veteran programmer Phil Boyce, Salem has strategically cultivated a network of influential conservative and Christian talk show hosts, including Charlie Kirk, Sebastian Gorka, Dennis Prager, Hugh Hewitt, and Mike Gallagher.

Phil Boyce's Strategy:

• 09:03 Phil Boyce: “So we're going to talk a little bit about what's going on in talk radio and how the news talk format continues to make a difference in America.”
• 10:24 Nicole Hemmer: “This is America first on the Salem Radio Network.”

Boyce’s tenure at Salem saw the recruitment of Metaxas and other like-minded hosts, systematically expanding Salem’s reach across major cities in the United States. Salem’s business model emphasizes consistent, conservative Christian programming, often foregoing the need to adapt to changing audience preferences or advertiser demands. This steadfast commitment allowed Salem to proliferate its conservative agenda without the typical commercial constraints faced by other media companies.

Business Model Insights: Salem’s revenue primarily stems from paid programming, particularly from conservative Christian ministries, ensuring a steady stream of income irrespective of broader market trends. This financial independence has enabled Salem to maintain and expand its influence without succumbing to external pressures, such as advertiser boycotts that plagued other conservative outlets like Cumulus.

Internal Purges to Align with Trumpism: As the political landscape shifted with Trump’s rise, Salem undertook significant personnel changes to align more closely with pro-Trump sentiments. Hosts like Alicia Krause and Michael Medved, who were less supportive of Trump, were ousted, reinforcing a unified front that mirrored Trump’s rhetoric and objectives.

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Propagation of Election Fraud Narratives

The episode meticulously details how Salem Media became a cornerstone in perpetuating the narrative of a stolen 2020 election. Through strategic programming and the promotion of influential pundits, Salem ensured that election fraud conspiracies became mainstream within conservative circles.

Key Events and Figures:

• Charlie Kirk’s Influence: In a prelude to the Capitol riot, Salem host Charlie Kirk outlined a strategy to overturn the election results, echoing sentiments that would later fuel the January 6 insurrection.

  • 20:02 Charlie Kirk: “Believe it or not, there is a almost guaranteed way that Donald Trump serves four more years.”

• Dinesh D'Souza’s 2000 Mules: Salem produced and released the documentary 2000 Mules, which falsely claims widespread voter fraud through alleged “mules” depositing fraudulent ballots. Despite its factual inaccuracies, the film resonated with millions, amassing $10 million in sales and being screened privately by Trump and other right-wing figures.

  • 24:35 Dinesh D'Souza: “What you are seeing is a crime. These are fraudulent votes.”

Consequences: The relentless promotion of these unfounded claims not only solidified Salem’s influence but also had tangible political repercussions. In the subsequent midterm elections, numerous candidates who endorsed election fraud theories secured office, potentially impacting the integrity of future elections.

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Radio as a Medium for Misinformation

Throughout the episode, the hosts emphasize the unique advantages that radio offers in spreading misinformation. Unlike digital platforms, radio broadcasts are harder to monitor, clip, or fact-check in real-time, allowing hosts to disseminate false narratives with minimal accountability.

Advantages Highlighted:

• Nicole Hemmer: “You have to listen to it live in order to capture what's being said, and that gives a lot more freedom to people who are on radio to say things that aren't true.”
• Phil Boyce: “...to say it on the air than to post it in a tweet. Because you post it in a tweet, it's out there for the end of time to say it on the air. Maybe they didn't hear it.”

This structural characteristic of radio has enabled Salem and other conservative hosts to maintain control over their messaging, fostering environments where deceitful or incendiary content can thrive unchecked.

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Conclusion: The Enduring Power of the Radio

"The Divided Dial" underscores the profound and often underestimated impact of talk radio in shaping political narratives and influencing public opinion. Salem Media Group, through its strategic programming and unwavering commitment to conservative and Christian values, has cemented its role as a primary disseminator of right-wing ideology. The episode serves as a critical examination of how radio, despite being an older medium, remains a formidable force in the modern media landscape, capable of driving significant cultural and political changes.

Upcoming Focus: The series promises to further investigate Salem's deep ties to the Republican Party and its connections with influential conservative strategists, providing listeners with a comprehensive understanding of the underpinnings of conservative talk radio's dominance.

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For those interested in the intricate dynamics of media influence and political discourse, "The Divided Dial" offers a compelling exploration of the intersection between radio programming and political ideology in contemporary America.

Transcript

[Progressive Insurance Ad]

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[Phil Boyce]

You will be able to provide for others as the Lord provides for you.

[Katie Thornton]

A few weeks after the 2020 election, radio host Eric Metaxas had one of his frequent guests back on the air, Colonel Doug Mastriano.

[Eric Metaxas]

This man is an American hero.

[Katie Thornton]

Doug Mastriano, freshman Pennsylvania state senator and recently defeated 2022 Republican nominee for governor, was at the vanguard promoting allegations of Widespr right after the 2020 election. And so was conservative Christian talk show host Eric Metaxas. So this was familiar fare to his listeners.

[Eric Metaxas]

What happens if these people don't join you in this?

[Phil Boyce]

You can kiss fair and free elections goodbye.

[Katie Thornton]

Mastriano had a plan to get the state's General assembly to intervene in the election results. It was a legal long shot, or more accurately, an impossibility. Even the plan's creator, Trump lo John Eastman, said it wouldn't hold up in court. But Metaxas and Mastriano begged listeners to get their senators on board.

[Eric Metaxas]

I just want to say to my audience, if you live in Pennsylvania and you don't do this when things go to hell, which they will, I want you to know you're responsible.

[Katie Thornton]

But right before this interview with Mastriano, something unexpected happened, something that Eric Metaxas divine intervention, Mastriano got a call. Hey sir, I'm here with Eric Metaxas.

[Phil Boyce]

He wants to know if you want.

[Katie Thornton]

Any message to go out on his show today from lame duck President Donald Trump. Seeing how the attempt to change the Pennsylvania election results was going and Trump was happy to get on speakerphone with Metaxas.

[Phil Boyce]

Can you hear him, Eric?

[Eric Metaxas]

Yes, I can HEAR the President, Mr. President, I want to know what can I do?

[Katie Thornton]

Your whole show and your whole deal is great. So just keep it up.

[Eric Metaxas]

We're making a lot of progress actually.

[Katie Thornton]

With a cleanly parted shock of salt and pepper hair, sports coats over button down shirts, and bookish round glasses, Metaxas style suggests more Manhattan dandy than would be crusader. But when it came to defending Trump's seat against a supposedly stolen election, Metaxas was ready for battle.

[Eric Metaxas]

I'd be happy to die in this fight. This is a fight for everything. God is with us. Thank you, Mr. President. God bless you.

[Katie Thornton]

Yep, they stole an election but we're not gonna. We're just not gonna let it happen.

[Eric Metaxas]

No, we're not.

[Katie Thornton]

A fight for everything with God on our side. A fight worth dying for. It's a sentiment that many on the right became convinced of and that some took to the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. Spoiler alert. Metaxas did not die in this fight, but he fired off many of the lies that fueled the attack. Metaxas is not a fire breathing talk show host on some fringe local radio station. In fact, there's a very good chance that his voice floats into your home on invisible radio waves every day, just waiting for you to press a button, turn a D and tuneman. His show is beamed from the heart of New York City out of a corner office radio studio in the Empire State Building to cities and towns across the United States. One estimate puts his audience at 8 million listeners each week. Way more than many of the most popular NPR shows and enough to sell out Madison Square Garden almost 50 times over every single night. This is the Divided Dial, a five part podcast series from on the Media about how one side of the political spectrum came to dominate talk radio and how one company is using the airwaves to launch a right wing media empire. I'm Katie Thornton and I've worked and volunteered in radio since I was a teenager, doing everything from hosting music shows to legal and operational support to selling ads. I love radio. In an era so driven by distant virtual connection, it's a medium that's so intimate and immediate and so inherently local, delivering information that's relevant to my community, at least in theory. But flip around through the AM&FM dial and you notice that radio writ large is pretty homogenous. And that's especially true on talk radio, where one political and religious perspective reigns.

[Eric Metaxas]

The COVID pandemic. This has been the biggest global dry run to prepare the world to receive the mark of the beast in the seven year tribulation in the history of mankind.

[Katie Thornton]

The vast majority at this point of.

[Eric Metaxas]

Gender confusion is being driven by societal mania.

[Katie Thornton]

Racial profiling is good for your health.

[Eric Metaxas]

It could save your life.

[Katie Thornton]

I know a lot of people. Oh my God. This is racist. No.

[Eric Metaxas]

No, it's not.

[Katie Thornton]

No, it's not.

[Charlie Kirk]

Drill. Build a Keystone pipeline. Deport illegals. Build the wall. I don't want to hear about the EPA or the Department of Energy. I don't want to hear about Biden's overreach. Defy the federal government.

[Katie Thornton]

I wanted to know how we got to this divided dial, how rhetoric like Metaxases far right conspiracies and incitements to violence has found a comfortable home on the public airwaves. And how many talkers who have been deplatformed on social media still have a haven on the radio dial? As it turns out, radio is still really influential and a crucial component of the American far right movement. And getting here didn't happen by accident. But let me finish telling you about Eric Metaxas. Welcome Eric Metaxas. To a lot of people who knew him a decade ago. His current role as spokesperson for election fraud conspiracies and an evangelist for a politicized God who would support going to battle for Donald Trump came as a surprise.

[Eric Metaxas]

That is idolatry. Thank you very much. Thank you. If you don't know what idolatry is, you're probably not saved.

[Katie Thornton]

Ten years ago, Metaxas was known as an up and coming evangelical public intellectual type. He wrote a book about Martin Luther and one about German anti Nazi pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He hosted a Manhattan lecture series called Socrates in the City, where he interviewed people like Malcolm Gladwell about faith and public life. Before all this, he was a writer on Veggie Tales.

[Sebastian Gorka]

Have we got a show for you.

[Katie Thornton]

The Evangelical Kids show featuring talking vegetables and life lessons. We know that God's word is for everyone. And now that our song is done, we'll take a. Hey, that's cool. Metaxas was even a featured speaker at President Barack Obama's prayer breakfast in 2012.

[Eric Metaxas]

I'm the son of European immigrants who met in an English class in New York City. My mom is German, hence my deep love for Siegfried and Roy.

[Katie Thornton]

Two years later, he came out with one of the Wall Street Journal's most engaged with articles ever, called Science Increasingly Makes the case for God. And when businessman and reality TV star Donald Trump entered the presidential race halfway through 2015, Metaxas poked fun at Trump's plea for Christian votes. He wrote satirical tweets mocking Trump's lack of understanding of Christianity, calling it Trumpbible. Things like, therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife for a season. And Jesus went out into the desert, but he should have invested in hotels there. I mean, I'm killing it in Vegas. Trump Bible was featured twice in the New Yorker. But as the 2016 election season bore on, Metaxas changed his tune. And it all started not long after, he was recruited to have a radio show by this guy.

[Phil Boyce]

How about this? Hey, look, I'm a program director. What do I know about Microphones.

[Katie Thornton]

This is Phil Boyce, a talk radio programming veteran, speaking here in 2018 to a group of industry professionals.

[Phil Boyce]

So we're going to talk a little bit about what's going on in talk radio and how the news talk format continues to make a difference in America. Notice I resisted the urge to say make America great again. But I did come up with kind of a cool, sexy secondary title. How to take advantage of the biggest boon to talk radio to come along since Monica Lewinsky wore a blue dress.

[Katie Thornton]

Boyce was talking about, you guessed it, Donald Trump.

[Phil Boyce]

We call him the gift that keeps on giving. This guy right here is a game changer for our format, and you can take advantage of this every single day.

[Katie Thornton]

Boyce spent 14 years programming WABC, one of the most listened to talk radio stations in the country. He discovered Sean Hannity and put him on the air so he knew how to turn a profit from invective.

[Phil Boyce]

I'm sitting there in November of 2016 thinking, it's all over for me. I really thought Hillary was gonna win. How many of you thought Hillary was gonna win? Come on, be honest. Okay. And if she had, I was fearful it was gonna be damaging to our format. She might try to hurt talk radio, knowing her. Well, guess what? 2017 was a great year because of Donald Trump winning that election.

[Katie Thornton]

That year, Boyce smashed the revenue record for the network he helps run.

[Nicole Hemmer]

This is America first on the Salem Radio Network. Broadcasting across the nation from just outside the insalubrious that is Washington, the Salem.

[Phil Boyce]

Radio Network proudly presents our newest nationally.

[Charlie Kirk]

Syndicated program live from the Salem Radio Network studios in Washington, D.C. to officially kick off the Second Amendment march.

[Katie Thornton]

Salem Radio Network is part of the larger Salem Media Group. And Salem just may be the most influential media entity you've never heard of. Named after a biblical title for Jerusalem, Salem is the country's largest conservative Christian mosque multimedia company. Phil Boyce has overseen all national talk programming there since 2015. In their public filings, they write that they are fundamentally committed to programming and content emphasizing Christian values, family themes and conservative news. And that their, quote, commitment to these values means that we may choose not to switch to other formats or pursue potentially more profitable business opportunities in response to changes in audience preferences. In other words, Christianity and conservatism. 247365. From my home in Minneapolis, I can tune into four different Salem stations, Philadelphians and New Yorkers. You have two a piece. Portland, Oregon has six. Little Rock, Sacramento, Atlanta, four each, five in Dallas. And that's only a fraction of Salem stations. They have conservative talk stations on Philadelphia's.

[Charlie Kirk]

AM 990 the answer, Atlantis Home for Conservative Talk right here on 1280 the Patriots Intelligent Radio.

[Katie Thornton]

They have Christian talk stations, AM 980.

[Charlie Kirk]

The Mission, the Twin Cities Christian KDR.

[Eric Metaxas]

98.3 FM, the word you are on.

[Katie Thornton]

The men's show and Christian music stations 104.7 the Fish, How I Long to Breathe, the Air of Heaven. In addition to the stations, they own, Salem syndicates their talk shows on over 3,000 other stations. In some cases, they give their shows away in exchange for nothing other than advertising time, so Salem hosts can be heard on stations across the country. One of the first things Phil Boyce did in his new role at Salem was to bring in up and coming evangelical celebrity Eric Metaxas. Metaxas, who'd never worked as a radio host before, was eager. But not long after Boyce hired him, there was a shakedown on the company's airwaves. Conservative commentator Alicia Krause was the first to go.

[Charlie Kirk]

She is the former Sean Hannity producer.

[Eric Metaxas]

And also the co host of the Answer.

[Katie Thornton]

She co hosted the morning show on Salem's Los Angeles station with Ben Shapiro, now one of the country's most popular conservative podcasters. Kraus, then an anti Trump conservative, said staff pressured her to cover Trump more favorably during the 2016 election. She didn't, and she said she felt she was fired because of it. The company said it was because she didn't have great chemistry with one of her co hosts, who was a very rare liberal voice on the station, but who was also eventually let go back in 2016. Their other co host, Ben Shapiro, didn't support Trump either. When he sent Phil Boyce an email asking how to cover the candidate, Boyce responded with a message saying Salem didn't have an official position, but that the CEO of the company had argued that beating Hillary would mean supporting Trump. Boyce wrote, I suggest that you become a trial lawyer. You suspect your client is guilty, but you are paid to get him off. Shapiro left of his own accord, and the weeding out continued into 2018. Here's Phil Boyce at that conference again.

[Phil Boyce]

I've got a host right now. I'm coaching him out of bad habits. He understood that Trump is good for our audience, but there's some days he just can't bring himself to say good stuff.

[Katie Thornton]

A few years earlier, former Republican congressman and Salem host Joe Walsh had suggested that President Obama and BLM activists were to blame for a lonely gunman's murder of five police officers his tweet read, this is now war. Watch out Obama. Watch out Black Lives Matter, punks. Real America is coming after you. But he was fickle on Trump and.

[Phil Boyce]

I said, what are you doing? Your listeners rely on us. We are the antidote to the mainstream media. If you align yourself with them, you'll eventually lose.

[Katie Thornton]

Salem pulled the plug on Walsh's show shortly after, though they said it wasn't because of his stance on Trump. That same year, host Michael Medved, also an anti Trump conservative and who had been with Salem for more than 20 years, was let go, too. Salem said it wasn't because of his politics, but a lot of company staff who were fired around this time went on the record saying there was a purge of anti Trumpers at Salem. Eric Metaxas, though, was safe despite his earlier wavering. By 2016, he was committed to the Salem company line, even writing an op ed for the Wall Street Journal arguing that Christians needed to throw their support behind Donald Trump.

[Eric Metaxas]

If you care about America, sometimes you have to hold your nose and vote for the person who's gonna do the least damage or who's gonna maybe pull you back from the brink. I'm genuinely convinced that that means voting for Trump.

[Katie Thornton]

It doesn't mean that Metaxas was an early recruit to Phil Boyce's new national radio team, but there were more to come. After the break, we meet. The lineup.

[Sebastian Gorka]

Onthemedia is supported by the New York Community Trust. These days, it's hard to know what the future will hold. Thankfully, there is a powerful way to ensure the causes you care about are supported for decades to come. Join the New York Community Trust to support affordable housing, provide opportunity, improve education, nurture the environment and more. A team of experts can connect your generosity with nonprofits making a lasting difference. You can turn retirement funds, appreciated securities, real estate and other assets into a force for good. Amplify your impact with community powered giving. Contact the New York community trust at GiveTo NYC.

[Charlie Kirk]

That's GiveTo NYC OnTheMedia is supported by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever find yourself playing the budgeting game? Well, with the name your price tool from Progressive, you can find options that fit your budget and potentially lower your bills. Try [e-mail] Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates Price and coverage match limited by state law not available in all states.

[Mary Harris]

The election has come and gone. Now we're in a new era. It can be easy to get discouraged, frustrated, but you can't afford not to pay attention. You need trustworthy independent journalism to cut through the noise and hold Power to account. I'm Mary Harris, host of what next from slate.com. we are a Daily news podcast with a kind of transparent, smart, yet tongue in cheek analysis you can only find at Slate. Follow and listen to what Next wherever you get your podcasts.

[Katie Thornton]

This is the Divided Dialogue. I'm Katie Thornton and I was about to introduce you to the lineup.

[Nicole Hemmer]

The number is 83333GORKA. But don't call us on a cell phone that's connected to one of the big cell phone providers because they are utterly woke and they hate you.

[Katie Thornton]

Sebastian Gorka, host since 2019. He was an anti terrorism adviser to President Trump, but failed to get the necessary clearance to actually work on national security issues. He's been shown to have ties to a Hungarian far right neo Nazi group that's on a U.S. department of State watch list. And there's Charlie Kirk.

[Charlie Kirk]

Let's talk about this war on white people. That's a thought crime. Douglas, you're not allowed to say it. Oh yeah, you're obviously welcome to say it here. We agree.

[Katie Thornton]

Kirk runs the ultra conservative anti higher ed youth organization turning point USA. Boyce brought him on in mid 2020 along with Long standing Salem hosts Dennis Prager, Hugh Hewitt and Mike Gallagher. These new voices make up the core of Salem's national talent, a sort of B list of right wing celebrities who don't get reported on the same way your Alex Joneses or your Tucker Carlsons do. And by the time the 2020 election season came around, listeners across the country heard a unified message from Donald Trump and Salem talkers alike. This is going to be a fraud.

[Eric Metaxas]

Like you've never seen, all run by Democrats.

[Katie Thornton]

President Trump's a rigged election.

[Charlie Kirk]

If we lose, if the President loses, they will come for us all. They will come for your children, they will come for your schools. They will come in every fashion and they won't stop.

[Katie Thornton]

And on January 4, 2021, Salem host Charlie Kirk used his radio show to lay out a roadmap to a second Trump term.

[Charlie Kirk]

Believe it or not, there is a almost guaranteed way that Donald Trump serves four more years. Mike Pence says based on the power and the authority granted to me as President of the United States Senate and my oath to the Constitution of the United States, I refuse to certify at this very moment the election results of Arizona, Nevada, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan.

[Katie Thornton]

This, this is not true. But it was an idea that was making the rounds in right wing circles two days later. That's exactly what the crowds on the steps of the Capitol were calling for, complete with a hangman's noose and chants to string up the vice president.

[Nicole Hemmer]

Those who elect our representatives and our senators have had enough and they are in their house. Should I feel guilty for feeling good?

[Katie Thornton]

As protesters poured into the Rotunda, Salem host Sebastian Gorka celebrated live on the.

[Nicole Hemmer]

Air as we saw a protester just moments ago on television say to the shock and the chagrin of Fox News, that's our house. It's not the senators. It's not Nancy Pelosi's, it's not Chuck Schumer's. God willing, it will continue to be peaceful. But a message has been sent and.

[Katie Thornton]

I did not it's hard to remember now, but right after January 6, there was a brief moment of almost unity. Even many in the broader right wing media ecosystem, like hosts on Fox News, said that maybe the falsehoods about the election had gone too far.

[Phil Boyce]

I want to be clear. The actions at the United States Capitol three days ago were deplorable, reprehensible, outright criminal. And I don't care whether those who did it think the election was stolen.

[Katie Thornton]

Though no one from the company confirmed it, there were reports that Cumulus, one of the biggest radio chains in the country with tons of conservative talkers, sent a memo to their hosts. It said, the election is over. If you suggest otherwise, you can expect to be fired. People in the radio world speculated that Cumulus was worried about losing advertisers because in commercial radio, the threat of an ad boycott looms large. But Salem is different. Nearly half of their radio income comes from paid programming, mostly conservative Christian ministries that run on their Christian talk stations. And the overwhelming majority of those programs, more than 95%, come back year after year, even as prices go up. So Salem doesn't have to be so concerned with placating advertisers. At Salem, there was no January 6th memoir. The lies about the stolen election continued, and soon the rest of the right wing media ecosystem caught up with Salem, followed closely by a large contingent of the Republican Party. This midterm season, well over half of all Americans had a 2020 election denier on their ballot. And while they didn't all perform as well as many on the right hoped, their influence is not going away. At least 170 of those candidates were elected to state and national offices. Some of those winners will be in charge of future elections. Throughout their campaigns, some of those candidates had cited a key piece of evidence for their claims about the stolen election, evidence brought to the public by Salem Media.

[Dinesh D'Souza]

We must now face the Chilling reality. The Democrats conceived the heist. They funded it, they organized it, then they carried it out.

[Katie Thornton]

In May of this year, Salem released a film hosted by far right activist Dinesh D' Souza.

[Dinesh D'Souza]

They rigged and stole the 2020 presidential election. We cannot be okay with this. We cannot simply move on.

[Katie Thornton]

You remember d' Souza. He was convicted of felony campaign finance fraud for making campaign contributions in other people's names, but was pardoned by Trump. The film 2000 Mules claims to prove election fraud in 2020. It relies on cell phone geo tracking data that they say identifies over 2,000 people in five key states who made multiple trips to unnamed nonprofits which were, quote, stash houses for fraudulent ballots. Then allegedly, those mules went to dropboxes.

[Dinesh D'Souza]

What you are seeing is a crime. These are fraudulent votes.

[Katie Thornton]

In the movie is rife with shortcomings and outright falsehoods. For one, they repeatedly say that they have video footage of the same individuals going to multiple drop boxes to drop off fistfuls of ballots.

[Eric Metaxas]

This particular individual we have in a number of different locations at a number of different times.

[Katie Thornton]

He's actually a mule, but they never show it. Tech experts have said that our phone's geo tracking is just not precise enough to tell if someone went up to a Dropbox or just walked by one. And they are in highly trafficked areas. State bureaus of investigation actually did look into some of the cases the film showed, and they found no wrongdoing. Regardless, the film was a hit. Trump himself held an early screening at Mar a Lago, where the likes of Marjorie Taylor Greene, Rudy Giuliani, and Kenosha Wisconsin shooter Kyle Rittenhouse all came to watch. 2000 Mules has a 100% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. In a moment when election fraud conspiracies had finally broken through to the national stage, 2000 mules gave supposed evidence, and it applauded those who stood behind the lie.

[Dinesh D'Souza]

And therefore, does it follow that the people who suspected fraud, even though they didn't have the proof, their suspicion was right?

[Katie Thornton]

Absolutely.

[Charlie Kirk]

Their instincts are right.

[Katie Thornton]

According to Salem, the film grossed $10 million in under two weeks, nearly two months after it came out. When I made an account with Truth Social, Trump's alternative to Twitter, Dinesh d' Souza was second only to Trump in my list of recommended accounts to follow. Last year, Salem launched their own podcast network, and the Dinesh d' Souza Podcast was their debut feature. They've added over a dozen daily conservative podcasts since then, often featuring young hosts who vie for a new generation of listeners. And now every Salem radio host has a Salem podcast, too. Those radio hosts can also be found as talking heads on the company's new 24.7internet television station, Salem News Channel, which they launched this summer. Salem also has their own movie streaming service and production house, a rapidly growing conservative Christian influencer network, a series of Christian websites like Christianity.com and GodTube, and a long running conservative publishing house called Regnery. They even run a service that sells sermons to pastors. And for over a decade, they've been quietly purchasing some of the biggest conservative news sites, Town Hall, Hot Air, and Red State. But for all of Salem's varied media strategies, broadcast radio is still central to their operations. According to Nielsen, broadcast radio has a higher reach than television. Pew Research says it's nearly neck and neck with social media for how Americans get their news. Surveys repeatedly show that Americans trust radio over any other medium, and that's why we'll be focusing our investigation in the coming episodes of this podcast series. On the airwaves, radio is a sort.

[Unknown Speaker]

Of perfect medium for the spread of misinformation.

[Katie Thornton]

This is Nicole Hemmer. She's a historian and scholar of conservative media. We're going to be hearing a lot from her throughout this series.

[Unknown Speaker]

You have to listen to it live in order to capture what's being said, and that gives a lot more freedom to people who are on radio to say things that aren't true.

[Phil Boyce]

Remember, with social media, anything you say can and will be used against you.

[Katie Thornton]

Salem VP Phil Boyce it's almost better.

[Phil Boyce]

To say it on the air than to post it in a tweet. Because you post it in a tweet, it's out there for the end of time to say it on the air. Maybe they didn't hear it.

[Katie Thornton]

A single talk radio host goes on the air for hours every day. That's a lot harder to cull through than 280 character tweets. Radio is hard to parse, hard to clip, hard to share, and not particularly glamorous to report on. It's seen as the cast aside, no big deal medium only us flyovers in middle America have to contend with.

[Unknown Speaker]

So not only is it largely unseen and understudied, but it's not taken seriously, even though it has very serious consequences for culture and politics in the United States. And so it just operates out of sight. Nobody pays any attention, and it has so much power.

[Katie Thornton]

Next time on the divided Dial, we dive into Salem's history and find out that the company has deep ties to the Republican Party. And thanks to their involvement with a secretive group of evangelical and conservative leaders. They are tightly networked with right wing political strategists, pollsters and big donors.

[Sebastian Gorka]

It began when these brothers in law.

[Katie Thornton]

Acquired a radio station in Bakersfield, California.

[Charlie Kirk]

I was looking at major campaign donors for George Bush.

[Katie Thornton]

I kept seeing Salem Communications. Anybody who mocks the crucifixion will burn in hell.

[Phil Boyce]

Now many of our Christians have what I call the goo goo syndrome. Good government. They want everybody to vote. I don't want everybody to vote. As a matter of fact, our leverage in the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populace goes down.

[Katie Thornton]

The Divided Dial is written and reported by me, Katie Thornton, and edited by Katya Rogers. We had help from Max Bolton and Tom Colligan. Music and sound design is by Jared Paul. Jennifer Munson is our Technical Director. This series is a production of on the Media and WNYC Studios with support from the Fund for Investigative Journalism. Listen to the upcoming episodes of the series wherever you get your podcasts and follow my work on instagram @its.katiethornton thanks for listening.

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