Rush Limbaugh Boycott Spreads To Local Advertisers and Radio Stations

Last updated on February 7th, 2013 at 04:58 pm

The National Organization for Women has announced a campaign to hit Rush Limbaugh in the wallet by pressuring local businesses and radio stations to stop doing business with him.

NOW President Terry O’Neill said, “For more than two decades, Rush Limbaugh has degraded women, people of color and anyone who doesn’t look or think like him. Like bullies everywhere, Limbaugh uses the age-old tactic of savaging one woman for the purpose of intimidating all women away from the public square. Rush’s hostile, hateful speech is destructive to our public discourse, our communities and our democracy…NOW is proud to stand with Sandra Fluke and everyone Limbaugh has degraded and insulted over the years. We hope that women’s rights and social justice supporters around the country will join us in this campaign.”

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Some of the cities where protests of Limbaugh’s local affiliates will be held include, Washington, D.C., New York City, Phoenix, AZ, Indianapolis, IN, Columbia, MO, Toledo, OH, Grand Rapids, MI, and West Palm Beach, FL.

On Monday, Rush Limbaugh tried to minimize the movement against him by blaming Bill Maher for the war on women, while he claimed that the outrage against him was phony, “By the way, you ought to see all the blog posts on the left. “Can we get rid of this phony outrage?” they’re asking. “Can we stop this? It was fine to manufacture phony outrage during Sandra Fluke, and it was fine to keep that going for three weeks, but this? There’s no point here. This is ridiculous. Aren’t we just outraged out? Can we just get rid of the outrage?”

According to the Stop Rush Project, 168 advertisers have already dropped or are avoiding advertising on Limbaugh’s program. Thus far, Rush has replaced the departed with a handful of new advertisers. However, many local businesses continue to advertise on his show. This is who the National Organization for Women will be targeting. Limbaugh can survive the loss of some national advertisers, but his empire is built on local stations paying big bucks to carry his show. If local advertisers bail, Rush Limbaugh’s show will be become financial loser for the local stations who carry him.

The message that the National Organization for Women is sending is that the pressure is not going to stop. Any advertiser who supports, or radio station that carries Rush Limbaugh will be held accountable. Contrary to what Limbaugh wants to think, the outrage isn’t phony. The opposition is real and the protests and boycotts will go on.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association