“Talk radio is one of America’s most popular and influential media formats. In his book, Shock Jocks: Hate Speech and Talk Radio, Rory O’Connor reports on the shocking number of top radio talk show hosts who regularly spout hate speech over our public airwaves. This intriguing, eye-opening and hugely important work is a must read account of the dangers of blurring
opinion, journalism and entertainment — at the expense of our democratic discourse and ideals.” – Walter Cronkite, American broadcast journalist icon
“Rory O’Connor and Aaron Cutler, in this admirable example of whistleblowing, do for talk radio in our time what Upton Sinclair and George Seldes did for the press in their time. They expose, in devastating detail, how our hallowed right of free speech has been crippled by right wing domination of the air waves. They carefully analyze the phenomenon of talk radio — its origins, its enormous power, its pretensions, its covert and overt agendas . But they also present alternatives that could restore some semblance of fairness to a marketplace of ideas so far
dominated by corporate and military interests.” – Howard Zinn, author
“There is too much talk — imbecilic, often hateful talk — on much of talk radio, as this provocative book demonstrates. O’Connor and Aaron Cutler deliver a lively, well deserved punch in the nose to these powerful bloviators.” — Ken Auletta, journalist and media expert
“Rory O’Connor is one of the smartest media guys around. He knows who’s spinning, who’s pandering, and who’s putting money in his own pocket at the expense of logic, reason, and the public good. O’Connor’s book is a devastating portrait of the avarice, cynicism, and psychopathology of one of the strangest media phenomenons of our time: the shock jock.” – Michael Wolff, media critic of Vanity Fair
“Talk radio is running America. We have to deal with that problem.” — Senator Trent Lott
