Talkers magazine just released the 2013 edition of the "Heavy Hundred", the top 100 most important talk-radio hosts in the country. (tabulated using a variety of data, including estimated audience size)
Interestingly, only one Wisconsin host made the list.
Charlie Sykes? Nope.
Frequent Limbaugh fill-in Mark Belling? Nope.
Vicki McKenna or Jay Weber? Nada.
It's the guy in WTMJ's 12-3pm slot, Jeff Wagner.
http://www.talkers.com/...
http://www.620wtmj.com/...
"Jeff who?", I've heard a lot of progressives say.
While we in Wisconsin are all well aware of the bomb-throwing (and fact-deficient) ravings of Sykes, Belling, and McKenna, Mr. Wagner seems to be flying under our radar.
And it's easy to see why. Unlike his loud, belligerent, and obnoxious comrades, Jeff Wagner comes across as just your calm, soothing, and avuncular nice guy next door, dispensing his pearls of homespun wisdom and good old-fashioned "common sense"...
Which makes him even more dangerous.
For underneath the friendly facade, Wagner, a former federal prosecutor, is spewing from the same toxic, deceptive, right-wing propaganda playbook his talk-radio pals are. Selling the exact same lies, but packaged for those who find the vein-popping stridency of Sykes, Belling, and McKenna too distasteful.
For example, Wagner loves to bash social programs for the poor, often putting a spotlight on rare occasions of welfare or food stamp fraud and making them seem like a huge out-of-control epidemic. While, of course, conveniently sweeping the much-larger problem of corporate welfare under the rug.
He's kind of like an "Evil Mr. Rogers" of Milwaukee talk. So let's make sure this low-key slimeball doesn't escape our scrutiny.
Here's his blog page:
http://www.620wtmj.com/...
If you'd like to leave comments there, let me know and I'll back you up.