The Divided Dial: Episode 2 - From Pulpit to Politics
Episode 2: From\xa0Pulpit to Politics
\nHow did the little-known Salem Media Group come to have an outsized political influence? In this episode we trace the company\u2019s\xa0rise to power from its scrappy start in the 1970s\xa0to the present day \u2014 a growth that paralleled and eventually became inextricable from the growth of the Religious Right. We learn that Salem is tightly networked with right wing political strategists, pollsters, big donors,\xa0far right leaders\xa0and Republican party mainstays thanks to their involvement with the Council for National Policy\xa0\u2014 a secretive group of Evangelical and conservative leaders. For decades, the\xa0CNP has been working behind the scenes to get a specific, highly influential subset of voters to act. And Salem has been a megaphone for their cause.
\nThe Divided Dial is hosted by journalist and Fulbright\xa0Fellow Katie Thornton. Her written articles and audio stories have appeared in The Atlantic, 99% Invisible, The Washington Post, BBC, NPR, WNYC, Minnesota Public Radio, The Guardian,\xa0Bloomberg\u2019s CityLab, National Geographic, and others. She is a lifelong radio nerd who got her start in media as a teenager, volunteering and working behind the scenes at radio stations for many years. You can follow her work on\xa0Instagram\xa0or on her\xa0website.\n\n\nThe Divided Dial was edited by On the Media's executive producer, Katya Rogers. With production support from Max Balton and fact-checking by Tom Colligan, Sona Avakian, and Graham Hacia. Music and sound design by Jared Paul. Jennifer Munson is our technical director. Art by\xa0Michael Brennan.\n\nWith support from the\xa0Fund for Investigative Journalism.