The Patriot Post® · Soros to Propagandize Radio Stations?

George Soros, billionaire and left-wing activist, is going after media companies that are floundering. Last August, a Soros front company called Fortress joined a consortium of other buyers to purchase bankrupt Vice Media — the former home of investigative journalist Tim Poole that went woke and broke. And last week it was made public that Soros is poised to purchase a big share in the second-largest radio broadcast network, Audacy.

Radio, largely considered the arena of conservative political voices, can be viewed as under attack. Soros is a well-known leftist who has already helped further destabilize several U.S. cities around the country by funding his preferred district attorneys’ election campaigns. Soros believes in soft-on-crime policies and undermining if not defunding the police — in general, allowing chaos to reign in places where he doesn’t have to face the consequences of those actions.

Now Soros is interested in controlling a radio broadcast network that has political personalities and talk-show hosts like Dana Loesch, Guy Benson, Mark Levin, Rich ZeoliIn, and Sean Hannity.

Why is Audacy selling? Well, in spite of being the second-largest network, Audacy declared bankruptcy on January 7 with the amount of debt piling into the billions. This debt was caused by a dramatic fall in advertising revenue and the company is in the midst of Chapter 11 restructuring in bankruptcy court.

In the restructuring of Audacy, Soros is expected to be paid back in stock for his helping to buy the debt. We can assume from this that Soros will be able to use his position as one of the primary shareholders to influence the types of programs broadcast on the various Audacy-owned radio stations. It is a calculated business and political move.

As the Washington Examiner’s Christopher Tremoglie points out: “Objectively, it’s a shrewd move by the affluent left-wing political activist. Of course, this could all just be a conjectural overreaction. However, if Soros were to implement a Republican talk show purge nationwide, it would undoubtedly be seen as a political power play to influence public opinion. And in many ways, if this does happen, it should be considered the Left’s countermaneuver to Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter, now known as X. It should make Republicans at least a bit uneasy.”

Aside from being a countermove to Musk’s purchase of X (formerly Twitter), Soros’s purchase of Vice and Audacy can be a tool to influence voters ahead of the 2024 election. Though some may consider radio a dying medium that’s losing out to easier, more tailorable listening experiences such as Spotify or podcasts, Pew Research still finds that a majority of Americans listen to the radio.

One thing that would work in Soros’s disfavor should he seek to banish conservatives from the Audacy platform is that the majority of people who listen to the radio are in the older demographic (50 to 64), whereas the youngest generation that is easily influenced and less politically decided uses other forums to get political information. He could potentially officially kill radio by alienating those who generally still listen to it.

Whatever Soros’s reasons may be, this is something Republicans should be aware of. Don’t be surprised, should the deal go through, if your favorite stations start to change in a direction you don’t like.