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I view Alex Jones as relevant to the prediction of future elections not because he is vulnerable to criticism of being a "conspiracy theorist shock jock", but s

I view Alex Jones as relevant to the prediction of future elections not because he is vulnerable to criticism of being a "conspiracy theorist shock jock", but simply because of the scale of his influence. That's what makes him far more relevant as a conservative voice than Rush Limbaugh, Bill O Reilly, or Steve Bannon. And if you're viewing President Trump as an anomaly, then you have to view this whole period as an anomaly, because Trump-like candidates are bluntly replacing low energy Jebs. I remember one recent advertisement where a candidate teased how different they were from Trump with an imaginary childhood rearing situation involving building a wall, and learning language by talking about making America great again.

chrisco255 8y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most-listened-to_radio_programs https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most-listened-to_radio... This is the best source I could find. Limbaugh has 14 million listeners, Hannity 13.5M...Alex Jones is sitting at 5.9M. I don't know if Trumpism will last beyond Trump's term. I certainly hope not.
- threatofrain 8y ago
  I would also offer for the debate: By search category: https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?geo=US&q=%2Fm%2F01_6j_,%2Fm%2F01v054,%2Fm%2F01d4gx,%2Fm%2F019t77,%2Fm%2F01xdf5 https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?geo=US&q=%2Fm%2F01_... By category on Youtube: https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?gprop=youtube&q=%2Fm%2F01_6j_,%2Fm%2F01v054,%2Fm%2F01xdf5 https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?gprop=youtube&q=%2F... The latter is relevant as Alex Jones has a popular mobile app, YouTube, and podcast presence, which is not captured entirely by radio presence. If only he weren't banned, we could see how the popularity spike would've resolved.
  - chrisco255 8y ago
    The quote I shared above included online numbers (not just pure AM/FM), by Talkers methodology. I don't know about YouTube. But search trends aren't a complete metric either, as even critics of Jones could be searching for things related to him. A search is not necessarily a sign of support or devotion, just a sign of curiosity.
    - deleted 8y ago
      [deleted]

chrisco255 8y ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most-listened-to_radio_programs https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most-listened-to_radio... This is the best source I could find. Limbaugh has 14 million listeners, Hannity 13.5M...Alex Jones is sitting at 5.9M. I don't know if Trumpism will last beyond Trump's term. I certainly hope not.

threatofrain 8y ago
I would also offer for the debate: By search category: https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?geo=US&q=%2Fm%2F01_6j_,%2Fm%2F01v054,%2Fm%2F01d4gx,%2Fm%2F019t77,%2Fm%2F01xdf5 https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?geo=US&q=%2Fm%2F01_... By category on Youtube: https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?gprop=youtube&q=%2Fm%2F01_6j_,%2Fm%2F01v054,%2Fm%2F01xdf5 https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?gprop=youtube&q=%2F... The latter is relevant as Alex Jones has a popular mobile app, YouTube, and podcast presence, which is not captured entirely by radio presence. If only he weren't banned, we could see how the popularity spike would've resolved.
- chrisco255 8y ago
  The quote I shared above included online numbers (not just pure AM/FM), by Talkers methodology. I don't know about YouTube. But search trends aren't a complete metric either, as even critics of Jones could be searching for things related to him. A search is not necessarily a sign of support or devotion, just a sign of curiosity.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]