Interviewee: Rush Limbaugh
Interviewer: Barbara Walters
Date: Dec. 4 2008

In the world of American talk radio, Rush Limbaugh ranks as one of the most entertaining and informative hosts that is still actively broadcasting. He currently ranks as having the most number of listeners among other top broadcasters in the radio talk show format. His wit and rhetoric is what keeps his audience’s ears glued to their radio sets. While his views are considerably conservative, his manner of delivering them makes them more appealing Moreover, his funny and refreshing take on serious topics such as politics has earned him not only the respect of his audience but major players in the American political scene, which was exemplified when the President of the United States was received in his show as a guest.

Rush Limbaugh’s career in radio started off in 1970s when he worked as a Top40 disc jockey at WIXZ. In this decade he continued to move from station to station (mostly in Pittsburgh, PA) until he finally settled in Kansas City, MO, where he eventually took a break from music programming and radio altogether by accepting a non-broadcasting job as a director of promotions for the Kansas City Baseball Club.

In the mid-1980’s, he moved to California to become a talk show host. His entry into the format coincided with the repeal of the FCC’s Fairness Doctrine – a mandate that required stations that broadcast editorial commentaries to present opposing views – which signaled a new era in American radio talk shows. Rush Limbaugh was one of the first people who took advantage of the new liberties enacted by this repeal and in 1988, he moved to New York City to start broadcasting his nationally-broadcast show. In the decade that followed, Rush Limbaugh’s show gained even more popularity that it eventually expanded to 650 stations in the United States.

Aside from his manner of delivering his stance, Rush Limbaugh’s views capture equal attention as well. His conservatism permeates almost every issue that he and his show discuss every day. For one, his declaration of his love of being a conservative has gotten himself an equal share of supporters and detractors. His highly skeptical views on the climate problem and environmentalism are also well-represented in his views, as he believes that the scientific consensus that most scientists claim is politically motivated.

Limbaugh’s take on feminism is rather harsh, as he was quoted as saying that feminism was borne out of a need to “allow unattractive women easier access to the mainstream of society.” He has also used the term “feminazi” to refer to radical feminists. He has also voiced out his views on illegal immigration and capital punishment. More recently, his reference to the Abu Ghraib prison controversy involving US military personnel implementing torture on its detainees merely as “having a good time” has raised some eyebrows from several fronts.

While Rush Limbaugh’s views may always be tainted with some form of controversy, it is this same factor that makes people tune in to his radio talk show daily when the clock hits noon.