The advent of FM radio opened up the radios for excellent music. But that did not kill AM radio. Far from it. Because that left AM radio open for those who wanted to produce political hate. Radio also benefitted from the dismantling of government restrictions on broadcasting.

Paul Matzko wrote the book called The Radio Right: How a Band of Broadcasters Took on the Federal Government and Built the Modern Conservative Movement. He wrote about how in recent years trust in traditional media has declined sharply. As a result, many people in North America no longer believe what they hear or see on traditional or mainstream media and have started to turn to “echo chambers” where they see themselves reflected. This has led in turn to the ideology of their group cementing the bonds of the group. According to Matzko this is not the first time this has happened.

In his book Matzko writes about the far right that was frustrated by what they saw as liberal bias in the mainstream media. This started with what many of them think of as a sycophantic relationship between the media and the administration of John F. Kennedy. They saw Kennedy as their golden boy from Harvard, rich, liberal, educated and haughty. The people who resented this turned in reaction to news and particularly commentary from a resurgent ultra-conservative mass media on the radio.

Truckers in particular, driving across the country took up the right-wing causes with passion and exuberance. Networks turned to television so radio provided a home for hundreds of popular right-wing radio programs, programmers and pundits. The more bombastic the better. There was no premium for moderation. Extreme opinions were in vogue.