Romney?s Bain Capital Owns Clear Channel Hosts Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, Mark Levin
 

Activists are expressing serious concerns that Mitt Romney?s private equity firm Bain Capital owns one of America?s largest media conglomerates, Clear Channel Communications, Inc., which broadcasts numerous popular talk-show hosts with incalculable influence in the 2012 GOP primary. Among the radio personalities syndicated by Clear Channel or aired on hundreds of stations it owns nationwide are Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, Glenn Beck, Michael Savage, and many others.

Because of the San Antonio-based media giant?s enormous influence ? it is the largest owner of radio stations in the United States, and experts point out that it essentially owns what has come to be known as the conservative talk-radio industry ? Romney critics, supporters of Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich, Tea Party groups, and elections commentators are all raising the alarm. Some analysts are even calling for the firm to disclose the fact that Romney?s Bain Capital owns a station or syndicates a show whenever a media personality is reporting on the Republican presidential campaign.

Former Politico.com reporter Ben Smith, now the editor-in-chief of BuzzFeed, called out Rush Limbaugh on Thursday for defending Romney and Bain Capital without disclosing that his employer is owned by the candidate?s firm. ?Talk radio king Rush Limbaugh has emerged as a key defender of Mitt Romney?s tenure at Bain Capital, where ? his Republican and Democratic critics charge ? layoffs at companies Bain owned should be blamed on Romney,? noted Smith. ?But Limbaugh hasn?t mentioned his own tie to the venture capital firm: Bain owns Clear Channel Communications, whose subsidiary inked a $400 million, eight-year syndication deal with Limbaugh in 2008.?

It turns out the talk-radio titan had actually revealed the connection later on in the show, and Smith updated his article to include that fact when he was made aware of it by readers. But the explosive story attracted more media interest in the subject nonetheless.

Bain Capital joined with private-equity firm Thomas H. Lee Partners to buy Clear Channel in 2008, with the announcement made shortly before Romney?s 2008 run for the GOP nomination. The $25-billion deal included around 1,000 AM and FM stations, as well as dozens of televisions stations that were later sold off.

Clear Channel subsidiary Premiere Radio Networks ? the largest radio syndication service in America with talk-show hosts including Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, and Sean Hannity ? was also part of the package. According to the company?s website, its radio programs reach nearly two-thirds of the American people each week through some 5,000 radio affiliations.

?Think about that the next time you're flipping channels on the radio and realize that Rush Limbaugh calls the candidates ?Romney,? ?Non-Romney,? and ?Loony,?? noted Delaware elections examiner Angel Clark in a piece detailing the connections. ?Why do these other candidates get called ?Non-Romney???

Today, of course, Romney no longer leads the firm he co-founded, though Bain Capital and Bain & Co. are shoveling gargantuan sums of money into his campaign. But Romney still owns a huge stake in the company and profits handsomely from it, according to his financial disclosure report. And analysts say he undoubtedly still wields at least some degree of influence.

?If you have been wondering why so many conservative talk show hosts are being so incredibly kind to Mitt Romney, this just might be the answer,? explained a popular blogger commenting on the Bain Capital-Clear Channel connection, saying it was improper for one of the Republican front-runners to have such an overwhelming financial stake in talk radio. ?In the media world, there is a clear understanding that you simply do not bite the hand that feeds you?. If you were making tens of millions of dollars a year, wouldn't you be very careful to avoid offending your boss??

It remains unclear how much influence Bain Capital actually exerts over the day-to-day operations of its employees at Clear Channel. However, even the perception of a potential conflict of interest has led to severe and growing criticism of both the media behemoth and Romney.

Clear Channel and its subsidiaries have been criticized on several other fronts in recent times, too. Last year, for example, its Premiere Radio Networks syndication service was exposed using paid actors to call into talk shows and read scripts. Some cynics have even suggested that pro-Romney callers on conservative shows may have actually been well-paid propagandists reading from a prepared script.

What is clear is that very little serious scrutiny and criticism of Romney or Bain Capital has been broadcasted by Clear Channel radio stations and talk-show hosts in recent years. More than a few, however, have been very vocal in their support for Romney.

http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews...mbaugh-hannity

and the plot thickens..

Don't be paranoid. I am sure it is completely coincidental that they all support the boss that is paying them hundreds of Millions of dollars.

if ron paul was a good businessman he would own radio stations and hosts that he could control as well. don't hate the player hate the game.

Evil Genius at work.

and on the flip side a jew hating jew and financier of Obama's socialist policies, George Soros own all the left wing liberal media. That includes Politico.com

Why stop there? Might as well just auction off the Presidency and all Congress seats to the highest bidder. Oh wait... we already do that. Nevermind.

I'm not an Obama supporter. However, having said that, the issue you raise has been discussed many times in many media outlets. The relationship between Romney and Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity et al has not been.

It is my understanding that Romney left Bain Capital in 1999.

LOL, yeah, I knew it was only a matter of time when I posted this that some brain dead moron such as yourself would try to assert that this makes it completely coincidental that all these sellout talking heads support this guy.

Serious question: are you really that stupid, or are you just faking it?

Where did I make the assertion "that this makes it completely coincidental that all these sellout talking heads support this guy."?

I know why they support Romney but apparently you don't.

BTW...you are now dismissed.

Since when does Glenn Back support Romney? And how many other companies does Bain Capitol have investments in? And didn't Romney leave the firm over 10 years ago? And just because certain talking heads don't agree with YOUR personal political position, does that automatically make them "sellouts"?

In that case, are all the Rachel Maddows, Keith Obermanns, etc, etc, etc... "sellouts" because they work for Soros? Or do they say what they believe and are hired by certain broadcasters because that is what those broadcasters want?

Rush had the same views when he started in a small affiliate in fresno over 20 years ago. He hasn't changed at all. He has simply grown and negotiated a larger and larger audience, until he finally made a deal with Clear Channel.


. (BTW, I hate Romney, I think he would be just the other side of the same coin as Obama)




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Your ability to do that presupposes an authority over me which you do not possess, sorry.

You will just have to "choke on it" or put me on ignore.

Nice avatar. :)

If he does own that and exert influence over it, then he should be ineligible

He retired from being their CEO, so legally there is nothing that can be done, but anyone that thinks that he does not exert influence over the company still, or that there is not some symbiotic relationship that still exists between Bain and Romney, especially when they are one of his most prolific donors, is kidding themselves. Those that would write off the relationship as immaterial are the same types that think that when Dick Cheney retired from Halliburton that they no longer had any meaningful ties despite them getting no bid contract after no bid contract. But then again, the willful ignorance of the American public knows no bounds so nothing would surprise me at this point.

does he control the company with his mind beams?

In a years time he'll just join them as their newest loser.

He must be pretty peeved at Glenn Beck and Mark Levin then, since they both support Santorum and oppose Romney.


And in regards to your allusion to Hallitburton, how do you explain the no bid contracts awarded to Haliburton by Clinton?. (NB, it may have had something to do with the fact that there are only two companies with the infrastucture large enough to handle the specs of the contracts that were up.... and the other is French)


(once again, as in my earlier post in this thread, which you did not reply to, I am TOTALLY against Romney, as he is the other side of the same coin as Obama)



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I dont listen to any of those douchebags unless they intrude on my consciousness by being on when I am flipping channels or happen to see a youtube vid of them or something. I dont seek them out. Whether they directly support Romney publicly or not is immaterial, it is not always what you say, but sometimes what you dont say. I dont hear them going after him with any hard hitting questions.

You ask way to many questions for me to bother answering all, but yes, most of them are outright whores. Some might actually believe their b.s. which is why they were hired in the first place. Yes, Soros is just as a POS as Romney if that makes you feel better LOL.

As for Rush Limbaugh he is a disgusting human, I would not even know where to start with him but offhand let's start with him wanting the throw the book at drug offenders all the while being hooked on oxycodone was it? With how many prescriptions? LOL Whats the difference between oxy and weed? Give me a break bro.

He's so full of shit on so many issues, I really dont care to debate it because everyone with a brain already knows it so it's a moot point. I have seen you say some really stupid shit on this board, but also some intelligent things as well. There is still hope for you bro, open up your mind, seriously. It's not too late for you. :2 cents:

Thanks! I happen to feel precisely the same way about you bud!


:)



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:1orglaugh ok then, fair enough. Though I think the difference may be that I spend 99% of my day reading news and world events. I probably read 50-100 news articles a day. Bad for my wallet, but I guess I am a news junkie. That does not make me any smarter than you, since it's just an allocation of time, however with all due respect, it does probably make me more informed than you. Just sayin' :2 cents:

Be well-

If you were well informed, you would be listening to Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, Mark Levin instead of bitching about who owns the channel they are on! :321GFY

I have heard them enough to know they are paid propagandists who profit from suckering in weak minded losers like you. And when the USA collapses economically because of their furtherance of horrible policies, and you are dead or starving to death, you will cry to the heavens: "Oh why God? What did I do to deserve this?"

And don't fool yourself... you will have it coming. :1orglaugh