Studying Time: 10 minutes
Main as much as this previous spring’s Wausau mayoral election, conservative discuss radio host Meg Ellefson of WSAU introduced mayoral candidate Doug Diny on her present, and collectively they blamed incumbent Mayor Katie Rosenberg for prime property taxes, raised water charges and an absence of financial improvement within the metropolis.
“There appears to be numerous dysfunction that follows this mayor round,” Ellefson stated of Rosenberg.
On the finish of the phase, Ellefson plugged Diny’s marketing campaign web site and inspired listeners to donate to his marketing campaign or volunteer to knock on doorways on his behalf.
The day after Diny defeated Rosenberg in April, Ellefson invited him again to her present to have a good time. In that very same broadcast, Ellefson additionally introduced a brand new focus of her consideration: making certain Donald Trump’s presidential election.
“That’s what now we have to do, is take this victory as motivation to win once more in November,” Ellefson informed a caller.
A strong drive in Wisconsin politics for 3 a long time, conservative discuss radio continues to wield vital affect on the state and native degree.
For years, radio personalities like Mark Belling and Jay Weber at WISN, Vicki McKenna at WIBA and Charlie Sykes at WTMJ have banged the drum for conservative concepts and Republican politicians. Ellefson and others like Joe Giganti in Inexperienced Bay symbolize a brand new era of conservative hosts using related strategies.
Though much less common than native tv and another types of media, native radio typically beneficial properties robust belief from those that hear, in accordance with Mike Wagner, a College of Wisconsin-Madison journalism and mass communication researcher and professor. In Wisconsin, in the course of the 2016 election, radio stations have been airing round 200 hours of conservative discuss day by day, in accordance with one UW-Madison examine.
In 2022, forward of his re-election to a 3rd time period, Sen. Ron Johnson had made lots of of discuss radio appearances — the New York Instances reported they tallied greater than 4 full days of listening.
Meeting Speaker Robin Vos, who often seems on conservative discuss radio exhibits within the state, informed Wisconsin Watch he tunes in day by day for as a lot as a half hour whereas driving.
“I’d say it’s as highly effective because it’s ever been,” Vos stated of conservative discuss radio.
Liberal radio has struggled to achieve a foothold within the state, giving Republicans a bonus over the airwaves. With massive audiences and little partisan competitors, conservative radio hosts wield vital affect over elections, politicians and extra in Wisconsin.
And people with political pursuits within the state are keenly conscious of their energy. Republican politicians, conservative lobbying organizations and even attorneys serving to Trump attempt to overturn the 2020 election have turned to conservative radio to advance their political goals.
‘With out Charlie Sykes, I don’t assume there would have been a Scott Walker’
Maybe most famously, Sykes, the previous WTMJ host, had a singular relationship with former Gov. Scott Walker and boosted his profession via on-air endorsements going again to Walker’s days as a state consultant and Milwaukee County govt. Having publicly exited the discuss radio sphere in 2016 after refusing to endorse Trump, Sykes now takes duty for this function and what got here of it.
“As I look again on my profession … I’m not making an attempt to make the identical errors that I made early on. I don’t ever wish to be a cheerleader for a politician,” Sykes stated. “At that time, your present … turns into advocacy and propaganda, and it turns into extra about successful and scoring factors than it does about what’s proper and what’s true. I actually do understand how you get sucked into that.”
Sykes’ WTMJ present was Walker’s major connection to a statewide viewers, in accordance with Lew Friedland, distinguished journalism and mass communication professor emeritus and researcher at UW-Madison.
“With out Charlie Sykes, I don’t assume there would have been a Scott Walker,” Friedland stated, calling Sykes “one of many prime three most necessary political actors” on the time.
Walker informed Wisconsin Watch that Sykes had a singular listener block at WTMJ, made up of not simply historically white males, but additionally stay-at-home mothers and non-conservatives tuning in in the course of the morning commute. Sykes had a bigger affect as a result of it was extra than simply conservatives listening, Walker famous.
“Years in the past, earlier than the surge of podcasts … this was the place for lots of conservative candidates or officeholders to get their message out in methods they felt like they couldn’t elsewhere,” Walker stated.
Walker used Sykes’ present as a testing floor for quite a few political speaking factors. Personal faculty vouchers have been a key problem that created an avenue to assault the lecturers unions and Milwaukee public faculties, Friedland famous.
Vos stated Walker’s early use of discuss radio constructed his credibility amongst Republicans.
“The rationale that I feel Charlie Sykes had such an affect on folks is as a result of he was there for 3 hours a day for many years, so folks simply thought they knew Charlie Sykes they usually trusted him,” Vos stated. “That’s why I feel Governor Walker had such a big impact as a result of he had that publicity on Charlie’s present.”
Sykes’ affect amongst Republicans was widely known, in and out of doors of social gathering circles.
“The Sykes Republicans from southeastern Wisconsin are fearful that he’ll castigate them by calling them RINOs, ‘Republicans in identify solely.’ So (he makes it) very troublesome for Republicans to be unbiased of the social gathering line on any problem,” Jay Heck, govt director of the nonpartisan group Frequent Trigger in Wisconsin, stated in a 2005 speech.
The ultimate testomony to Sykes’ affect as a number got here in the course of the 2016 Republican presidential major. Sykes interviewed Trump dwell on air and hit him with hardball questions on Trump’s disparaging feedback about opponent Ted Cruz’s spouse. Sykes gave a much more supportive interview to Cruz, who went on to win the Wisconsin major.
Quick-lived bipartisanship in the course of the pandemic
The pandemic’s 2020 onset prompted a quick interval of bipartisanship during which even Republican state lawmakers and conservative teams like Individuals for Prosperity-WI supported the COVID-19 reduction invoice that Democratic Gov. Tony Evers rapidly signed into regulation.
Evers’ deputy chief of employees on the time, Melissa Baldauff, stated the invoice fell in need of what was wanted, and it mirrored what Republicans had wished to see within the laws. However the governor signed it as a result of fast reduction was crucial.
However, WISN’s Belling used his conservative radio program to criticize the reduction measures and the Republican lawmakers and teams supporting the invoice, accusing them of “promoting themselves out” and caving to Evers with out preventing tougher in opposition to stay-at-home restrictions.
“This degree of frustration that I’m making an attempt to speak to you is actual,” Belling informed then-Senate Majority Chief Scott Fitzgerald, a Republican, on his present. “And other people don’t know who to show to as a result of on the one hand they know Evers isn’t going to hearken to them, however this can be very obvious to me that conservative assume tanks and Republican legislators should not listening.”
In accordance with Baldauff, Republicans within the Legislature have been initially prepared to let Evers lead on these troublesome coverage selections. However she stated the narrative began to shift after radio hosts like Belling loudly condemned the pandemic-era restrictions, fomenting Republican opposition to Evers and COVID-19 insurance policies.
“They really feel the warmth. They’ve a number like a Mark Belling speaking about it and saying they need to do that or they shouldn’t do that, after which lo and behold, a short while later they’re taking that place,” Baldauff stated. “I feel that’s numerous the place the ability is in conservative discuss radio. Republican politicians know that it might actually make or break their profession.”
Vos had a unique take. He informed Wisconsin Watch that conservative radio hosts wish to be the voice of what conservatives actually assume, quite than political influencers.
“I have a look at discuss radio as being a mirror to what actual folks assume, not being the one which leads actual folks to say x, y or z,” Vos stated. “They’re a megaphone for what the typical particular person thinks, quite than being a mouthpiece that individuals simply copy as in the event that they didn’t have a mind.”
Alec Zimmerman, previously a prime Republican communications strategist for Sen. Johnson and Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch, stated state politicians are conscious of what’s typically being stated on conservative discuss radio.
“You could have to concentrate on what they’re saying,” Zimmerman stated. “I feel all conservative electeds are. … That energy does come from the viewers and the listener that they’ll attain.”
Faux electors sought to tip off radio hosts
In 2020, Kenneth Chesebro and Jim Troupis, two of former President Trump’s attorneys, crafted a plan to overturn the outcomes of the presidential election in Wisconsin and different swing states. The scheme was for 10 Republicans to pose as faux electors and file paperwork falsely stating that Trump had received Wisconsin.
Paperwork launched following a March lawsuit settlement embody texts that reveal Chesebro and Troupis deliberate to make use of conservative discuss radio in Wisconsin to hold out their scheme.
In November 2020, as a Supreme Courtroom choice loomed concerning Trump’s try to invalidate 1000’s of votes in Wisconsin, Troupis texted Chesebro, suggesting they “tip off” conservative discuss radio hosts McKenna, Dan O’Donnell, Belling and Jay Weber, “Largely to maximise the possibility that SCOW (Supreme Courtroom of Wisconsin) justices hear about this rapidly and prejudge the case?”
In one other message concerning his memo urging the Trump marketing campaign to push again in opposition to his loss, Chesebro reminded Troupis to ship copies to plenty of conservative radio hosts, together with McKenna and Belling.
Lower than two weeks after the primary textual content, Troupis joined McKenna on the air to debate why the lawsuit in search of to invalidate over 200,000 ballots was “the strongest authorized problem within the nation,” in accordance with McKenna. The Wisconsin Supreme Courtroom rejected the problem 4-3.
Discuss radio flexes energy in energy line debate
In February, the Meeting handed a controversial invoice associated to transmission line building by way of a voice vote that Vos accepted, leaving no file of how every consultant voted. The laws, which had failed earlier than, died with out a vote from the Senate in March.
It will have blocked out-of-state competitors on long-distance energy line tasks in Wisconsin, granting house owners of in-state transmission traces the precise of first refusal to construct new tasks.
Conservative lobbying teams like AFP-WI, nonpartisan shopper advocacy teams like AARP and free-market conservatives like WISN’s O’Donnell opposed the invoice, claiming the dearth of competitors may drive up utility prices for Wisconsin ratepayers. Supporters, together with Wisconsin-based American Transmission Firm, stated the invoice would have protected in-state corporations bidding on transmission line tasks with out elevating prices.
LS Energy, an out-of-state transmission line firm, has lobbied in opposition to related payments in different states, however didn’t register in opposition to it in Wisconsin. Ellen Nowak, a lobbyist for ATC, stated in an e-mail to a lawmaker that an LS Energy lobbyist informed her the rationale the New York-based firm didn’t register was as a result of it turned to AFP-WI to deal with lobbying in order to not appear like a “carpetbagger.” The e-mail was first reported by the Wisconsin State Journal.
AFP-WI turned to conservative discuss radio to encourage listeners to oppose the in any other case low-profile laws.
Shortly after the invoice was launched in October final 12 months, Ellefson invited Megan Novak, state director of AFP-WI, to debate opposition on her present. When Novak returned to Ellefson’s present to repeat her criticism in February, Ellefson famous that she used to work for AFP.
On Feb. 15, the day the Meeting voted on the invoice, Jerry Ponio, legislative director of AFP-WI, tagged three distinguished conservative radio hosts in a social media submit.
“Why does nobody wish to put their identify behind a invoice that eliminates competitors and resulting in increased utility payments for households and companies in #Wisconsin?” Ponio posted.
McKenna, one of many tagged hosts, responded that very same day, posting:
“The GOP-controlled WI Meeting handed a invoice on a VOICE VOTE with no debate that offers utilities a MONOPOLY in WI. Not as a result of anybody who can pay the speed will increase requested for the invoice. Not as a result of WI companies are begging to see their electrical energy payments skyrocket. No … they did it as a result of utility lobbyists PAID them. To f***ok over WI.”
Belling, who winters in Florida and solely sometimes seems on his WISN present throughout that point, devoted his one February look to railing in opposition to the invoice.
In an announcement to Wisconsin Watch, Novak stated AFP-WI spoke to a wide range of extra information shops to precise its place, together with WPR, the Wisconsin State Journal and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
“AFP-WI’s aim for educating and informing Wisconsinites concerning the probably dangerous affect of (proper of first refusal) was to achieve as broad of an viewers as we may,” Novak stated.
Eric Bott, state director of AFP-WI, and LS Energy’s senior vp Sharon Segner denied the claims made by Nowak, the ATC lobbyist. They didn’t reply to Wisconsin Watch’s request for additional remark.
The Wausau mayoral race
On this 12 months’s Wausau mayoral race, Rosenberg misplaced to Diny even after the Democratic Celebration of Wisconsin spent $191,000 in ads on her behalf, in accordance with WisPolitics. Republicans spent closely on Diny within the nonpartisan race.
Diny blamed Rosenberg for a rise in water charges following the invention of PFAS contamination in metropolis wells — a hike Rosenberg known as crucial, however which many constituents opposed. Rosenberg stated in an interview that problem formed the race’s consequence greater than some other, with Ellefson’s program taking part in a task.
On her Jan. 8 present, Ellefson learn Diny’s marketing campaign message stating that ratepayers needs to be “outraged” over these “unacceptable” and “pointless” water invoice will increase. She launched the message saying “please God let him win” and adopted that by calling Rosenberg “unfit” to be mayor.
“It did whip folks up into frenzy,” Rosenberg stated. “It linked this race to a extra statewide community.”
In an interview with Wisconsin Watch, Ellefson downplayed her function within the election of Diny, who has been within the information just lately for eradicating the town’s poll drop field, an motion beneath investigation by the state Division of Justice.
“I maybe performed a tiny little function in serving to to get him elected,” Ellefson stated. “I’d say it was simply giving him the chance to share his imaginative and prescient of what he wished to do, and I’ll admit, being very crucial of the previous mayor.”
Ellefson’s advocacy for Diny, which doesn’t need to be disclosed as a marketing campaign donation, is authorized due to the Federal Communications Fee’s 2014 choice to cease imposing the Zapple Doctrine. The doctrine used to require radio stations to supply one other alternative for the opposing facet to come back on the air.
The FCC’s choice to ditch the doctrine got here after a 2012 criticism made by supporters of Tom Barrett, the Democratic candidate for governor of Wisconsin. The Barrett supporters claimed they weren’t being given free airtime on WISN, whereas WTMJ and WISN often aired statements supporting Walker, the Republican candidate.
The FCC determined that whereas WISN and WTMJ had violated the Zapple Doctrine, it was not enforceable due to its ties to the Equity Doctrine, which the fee eradicated in 1987.
Trying forward in an election 12 months
In April, O’Donnell of WISN interviewed Trump, then the presumed GOP presidential nominee, forward of his rally in Inexperienced Bay. O’Donnell known as himself the “formally Trump-endorsed host.”
In contrast to Sykes’ hardball interview of Trump in 2016, O’Donnell, referring to the prison indictments in opposition to Trump, requested how all of this “lawfare” in opposition to him has affected him and his household.
“I’m capable of discuss on exhibits like yours, that are essential exhibits. I’m capable of speak about it,” Trump informed O’Donnell of his prison trials. “As a result of if I couldn’t speak about it … no one would have the ability to clarify that it’s a hoax.”
Share your views on discuss radio
Discuss radio nonetheless wields numerous energy and affect in Wisconsin politics, however the panorama is altering. Investigative journalism college students on the College of Wisconsin-Madison in partnership with Wisconsin Watch spent the spring 2024 semester reporting on these adjustments, leading to a six-part sequence: “Change is on the Air.”
One piece lacking from that sequence: the views of radio listeners. Do you hear to speak radio in Wisconsin? Do you hearken to each conservative and liberal voices, or do you keep in a single media bubble? Do you hearken to native or nationwide packages? Or throughout your commute have you ever switched fully to podcasts?
Share your ideas on the state of discuss radio in Wisconsin, and we could publish your response in a future a part of our sequence. Ship an e-mail to: changeisontheair@wisconsinwatch.org.
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