Media, Pulpit, and Populist Persuasion: Evidence from Father Coughlin

Abstract

I study the political impact of the first populist radio personality in American history. Father Charles Coughlin blended populist demagoguery, anti-Semitism, and fascist sympathies to create a hugely popular radio program that attracted 30 million weekly listeners in the 1930s. I find that exposure to Father Coughlin’s anti-Roosevelt broadcast reduced Franklin D. Roosevelt’s vote share in the 1936 presidential election. Coughlin’s effects were larger among Catholics and persisted after Coughlin left the air. Moreover, places more exposed to Coughlin’s broadcast were more likely to form a local branch of the pro-Nazi German-American Bund and sold fewer war bonds during World War II. (JEL D72, L82, N32, N42, Z12)

Can Social Media Rhetoric Incite Hate Incidents? Evidence from Trump's "Chinese Virus" Tweets

“…Our work complements a handful of other studies that have examined anti-social effects of the specific content disseminated through media, including research showing that radio programming in Rwanda calling for the extermination of the Tutsi minority had a significant impact on participation in killings by militia groups and ordinary civilians (Yanagizawa-Drott 2014); that radio content incited anti-Semitic and pro-Nazi acts by ordinary citizens (Adena et al 2015 andWang 2021); and that the fictional portrayal of the KKK in the film The Birth of a Nation caused lynchings and race riots in the United States in the early 20 th century (Ang 2020). Our work also complements recent research on social media showing that county-level Twitter penetration reduced the Republican vote share in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections without having any effects on Congressional elections and previous presidential elections (Fujiwara, Müeller, and Schwarz 2021).…”

Competing for Attention - The Effect of Talk Radio on Elections and Political Polarization in the US

“…Talk radio, a type of radio program that discusses and debates prominent social issues considered topical at the given point of time, were typically hosted by a prominent host, and the talk show itself was closely reflective of the host's own personality and perspectives. Early examples of this format trace back to the highly influential political talk radio show by Catholic priest, Father Charles Coughlin in the 1920s (Wang, 2021). While the AM listenership continued to decline with the rising competition from FM stations in the mid-20th century, one policy that changed the AM radio horizon was the repeal of the Federal Communication Commission (FCC)'s Fairness Doctrine in 1987.…”

“…Political commentators have argued that a more traditional form of media, talk radio, has been the breeding ground for a more populist form of political discourse in the U.S., long before the emergence of populist TV channels, the internet and social media. While Wang (2021) studies the effects of populist radio with a historical perspective, a systematic, empirical analysis of the impact of talk radio on contemporary U.S. elections is absent in the literature.…”

“…Strömberg (2004) showed how the expansion of radio in the 1920s led to more informed voters which in turn affected the allocation of relief spending under the New Deal program. More related to our paper, Wang (2021) studies exposure to populist radio with a historical perspective, to the best of our knowledge, we are the first to study the effects of contemporary talk radio on political outcomes. To our knowledge, Barker (1999) and Lee and Cappella (2001) are the only other papers to empirically study the relationship between exposure to the Rush Limbaugh Show and voting outcomes.…”

Covid-19 and the 2020 presidential election

“…The opposite occurs in counties with high concentrations of employment in industries hurt by globalization. This bifurcation effect can snowball as the regions of a country in economic decline becomes more likely to move towards populist and other extremist candidates who promise to reverse the economic malaise that they face, restore social conditions, or alter immigration polices (Margalit, 2019 ; Boleslavsky & Cotton, 2015 ; Burden & Wichowsky, 2014 ; Colantone & Stanig, 2019 ; Wang, 2021 ).…”