| Rush Receives "Freedom of Speech Award" from Talkers Magazine |
|
June 6, 2009 |
|
Watch It!  Via Newsmax.com BEGIN TRANSCRIPT
|
 |
|
RUSH: Freedom of speech is something that we Americans, I think, have always taken for granted. We were born to it. We think that it's part of our natural spirit, which it is. Freedom is. But what we all have come to know -- at least I have over the course of my 20 years -- is that I have been made aware that there are people who don't like what other people say.
For it offends them or whatever reason. And rather than just leave it alone, turn it off, or run away, there are people who want to silence those who say things that they don't agree with. And that is an ever-present danger, and it is something that we all have to be vigilant against. And the best way to engage in free speech is to engage in free speech, to not be afraid of what somebody is going to think of what you say.
I got a piece of advice when I moved to Sacramento in 1984. That was actually my first full-fledged talk show, and the guy who took me out there -- who has passed away, Norman Woodruff, one of the most important people in my career -- said, "Look, we want controversy." I was replacing Morton Downey Jr., who had been fired for telling a "Chinaman" joke and not apologizing for using the word "Chinaman." And one of the city councilmen was Tom Chinn, and the joke was about him, and Mort refused to apologize. So it was curtains. I didn't know that 'til I got there, and they told me, "We want controversy, but..." (audience laughter) "We want controversy, but don't make it up. If you actually think something -- if you actually believe it, and you can tell people why -- we'll back you up.
"But if you're going to say stuff just to make people mad -- if all you want to do is rabble-rouse, if all you want to do is offend and get noticed -- that's not what we're interested in and we won't back you up," and I've never forgotten it. The best way to practice free speech is to do it and to not care what people say. The best way to get the people off your case who want to shut you up is to keep shouting louder. Well, we do it within the context of something I think a lot of people need never to forget. We're broadcasters first. The evolution of talk radio has been amazing in the 20 years. When I started in 1988, I was it. And the only cable network that mattered was CNN, in terms of news. The rest was CBS, ABC, NBC, the newspapers and the magazines.
And look what it's become now. A hundred and twenty-five radio stations were doing talk in 1988. Today it's 2,000, or maybe more. If you want to hear a discussion on Chinese opera, you can. The idea that points of view are being censored -- that points of view are not being heard, that somebody can't find what they want to listen to -- is ridiculous. There's more available now than there has ever been, and it's because the Fairness Doctrine was rescinded, but it was because everybody's interested in the whole concept of free speech. Now, we do it within the context of broadcasting, and those of us in broadcasting, I think, should never forget that we are broadcasters first. It's easy, given the evolution of what's happened to us, to think that we are issue oriented, involved in the public scene, the political scene, and that that is something that will define our success.
Mistake. None of us in this room can raise anybody's taxes. None of us in this room can send anybody off to war. None of us in this room can make sure that somebody gets elected. And none of us in this room can make sure that somebody gets defeated. Our job is to attract an audience, to hold that audience for as long as we can. (audience member snapping a photograph) Excuse me. (smiles) Did you get it? (audience laughter) Do you want a pose shot? (poses) (audience laughter and applause) Thank you. Attract the audience. We hold it for as long as we can for the purpose of charging confiscatory advertising rates. This is a business, and that's how we stay on the air. We don't stay on the air because we lead millions of people to a specific end or result of an issue.
We stay on the air because we attract an audience. If we don't attract an audience and don't hold it, all the rest is academic. Now, despite what people -- some of you in this room, outside the room -- might think, that is always my first, foremost objective: the business side of radio, the acquiring an audience and the holding it. I was first and foremost -- it's a close second, by the way, now, don't misunderstand. But if I were first and foremost interested in moving public opinion to the point that I was affecting policy, I'd get out of radio and I would move to Washington where that happens. I don't want to do that. I don't want to live in Washington, and I don't want to get involved with policy. I love what I do. I have never been happier.
I am one of the most fortunate people on the face of the earth. I'm doing what I was born to do. I have had people that I've worked for who have been just fabulous, who got out of my way, let me try it the way I thought it ought to be done. They invested trust and faith in me. As our business goes forward, you have arguments, "Well, there's too many syndicated programs now. There's not enough local talent. We don't have the local programming. We're not giving an opportunity for local hosts to develop." There may be some truth to that, but the way to find -- no matter where you are, regardless how much syndicated programming you take, you still have local hosts somewhere.
And it is a concern building a talent base, the bench that's going to take over and keep this business thriving. Now, based on my experience, you find somebody who really loves this -- and I'm talking to program directors and general managers. Find somebody who really loves this, who you can't keep out of the radio station, who you can't kick out of the radio station. Get out of their way for a while and let 'em see what happens, and you find out what happens. The only way you're going to find out if true talent exists is to let it blossom. We have the perfect vehicle for that. Radio. I've done television and I've done radio -- and radio, to me, is incomparable and irreplaceable. The other night I was on Hannity. I did a two-part interview on Fox.
Nine out of ten e-mails: "Gosh, you looked good." Didn't even hear what I said. (audience laughter) "Yeah, you looked good." I've never had anybody listening to me on radio say, "You know, I wonder what you were wearing when you made that brilliant point" that they can cite word for word. Radio is intimate, spoken-word radio that captivates the audience. You own that audience member. It's not Muzak. They're not doing anything else. This is direct, hands-on. This is primary listening. This is not secondary. They are listening to you if you've captivated them. That's why talk radio, as an advertising vehicle, surpasses anything else. The host has credibility, captive audience; audience loves the host, thinks the host tells the truth. Host advises a product is worthwhile, product moves off the shelves.
Bingo, success. I don't know about you, but that's what keeps me on the air. Not what I think about issues. Not what I think about who the president is or what he's doing. That matters; it's a close second, don't misunderstand. But we're in radio. We're broadcasters. We have the opportunity to move more people in a substantive way for the good of the country because of that intimacy that radio affords, that television doesn't. Television provides the pictures. Radio doesn't. The host either paints them or the listener paints the image him or herself. But once that starts happening, you've got them locked. Television, people sit there and watch it as a sponge, just soaking it all up, paying half attention to what they're seeing, very little attention to what they're hearing. Radio provides an entirely different opportunity and reward.
And the thing that makes it work is free speech. Don't be afraid of what somebody else thinks. It's just words. They can't hurt you. I learned... It took me about three years. One of the toughest things I had to learn as a human being. I had never -- growing up, nobody who knew me thought I was a racist, sexist, bigot, homophobe, nor did anybody hate me. (audience laughter) Except some old girlfriends (audience laughter) and now three ex-wives. (laughter) But nobody hated me. Nobody hated me, until I started on the radio. Then statistically, I'm told, half the country hates me -- and I had to learn how to take "hate" as a measure of success. None of us are raised wanting to be hated. We all want to be loved. We all want to be adored. We want everybody to like us.
In fact, so many of us want everybody to like us, we'll go out of our way and be who we are not trying to figure out who they want us to be, and then we try to be that. That means you lose who you are. You become phony. That's what happens if you start responding to critics. For all of you on the radio, we're all going to be criticized. We're all going to get ripped to shreds. We're all going to be compared to a bag of manure, the only difference between the bag and us is the manure. We're all going to have that said about us. But we know in our hearts whether we're being honest with the audience. We know in our hearts if we're being honest about what we believe and what we care about. And so, don't give anybody the power to offend you.
You turn that power over, and you're giving away who you are. You're giving them way too much power. We have so many special interest groups in this country based on being offended, and that's led to whole groups of people thinking that they're victims of an unfair, unjust society-- in the greatest country in the world, with more opportunity still today than ever before in human history. And every day in this country... Paul Harvey used to say this: "Every day in America is better than the day before." It still is the case. We can help make that remain true by focusing on our free speech and our job and our responsibility. Michael, thank you very much for this award. I'm very honored to have it. (audience applause) It's great to be here, folks. (audience applause) Thank you. And all the best to Talkers magazine! (continued applause) |
|
|
| END TRANSCRIPT |
|
|
| *Note: Links to content outside RushLimbaugh.com usually become inactive over time. |
|
|
