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Salvo 02.28.2024 4 minutes

Radio Ga Ga

2016 Concordia Summit Convenes World Leaders To Discuss The Power Of Partnerships – Day 2

Will George Soros turn the airwaves blue?

Unless you happen to live under a rock on a distant planet, you’re probably familiar with George Soros—and his politics.

For the uninitiated, Soros is a Hungarian-American billionaire hedge fund manager and philanthropist. Politically speaking, he leans so far Left that he makes Bernie Sanders look conservative.

Which makes Soros Fund Management’s recent $400 million investment in Audacy, the nation’s second-largest radio company, so worrisome. Audacy owns more than 220 stations nationwide, including New York’s WFAN and the Los Angeles-based KROQ.

On February 20, Audacy was granted court approval to exit bankruptcy proceedings, with Soros’s investment fund poised to become the primary shareholder of the company.

Well, who listens to the radio anyway?

Tens of millions of Americans, that’s who.

Contrary to the prevailing notion that radio is obsolete and lacks relevance among younger demographics, it remains the most widely accessed medium with the greatest reach, making it an effective tool for amplifying advertising campaigns, especially politically-oriented ones. Some 82 percent of Americans over the age of 12 listen to terrestrial radio in a given week, according to Pew.

In fact, in any given week, more Americans listen to the radio than use Facebook. Fifty-five percent of Generation Z in the United States tunes in to AM/FM radio daily. And the average adult in the U.S. spends 104 minutes listening to the radio each day, totaling 12.2 hours per week. The radio industry is currently experiencing growth due to the increasing use of smart speakers and online listening. Radio advertising, strange as it may seem, holds the highest level of trust among all advertising channels, with 77 percent of radio listeners willing to try a brand or product recommended by their favorite radio personality. If this allegiance extends to political brands, one imagines that Soros is well aware of it.

The Audacy investment must be viewed through a much broader lens. That’s because it’s just the latest in a long line of Soros-driven dealings that have implications for the political direction of the nation. In August of 2023, the financially (and morally) bankrupt Vice Media, once worth close to $6 billion, was sold for $350 million to a consortium of former lenders that include a fund linked to the 93-year-old investor.

According to an extensive report by the Media Research Center (MRC), wherever Soros, his foundations, or his investments have ventured, turmoil has ensued. He has played a role in inciting revolutions, destabilizing national currencies, and financing radicals across the globe. Soros has been found guilty of insider trading in France, receiving a $3 million fine, and has been fined an additional $2 million in his home country of Hungary. His foundations have been accused of protecting spies and violating currency laws, while his investment strategies have been blamed for damaging multiple national currencies. Even his contributions to higher education raise significant concerns. Soros has donated hundreds of millions of dollars to colleges and universities, including many prestigious institutions in the United States. He was instrumental in establishing the Central European University, which uses its resources to advance his vision of an “open society.” If you’re imaging open borders, then, yes, you’re on the right track.

In the United States, Soros’s financial support underpins liberal organizations advocating for causes ranging from same-sex marriage and drug legalization to prison abolition. Not surprisingly, his donations primarily benefit liberal groups with strong ties to the Democratic Party, and his political contributions overwhelmingly support Democratic candidates.

Soros has established a wide-reaching network of nonprofits, media outlets, and activist groups, thereby gaining significant influence in American elections. His impact on the American political Left has been and continues to be profound.

As MRC notes, Soros and his family have contributed hundreds of millions of dollars to politicians and political organizations over the past decades. In 2004, for example, Soros personally allocated more than $32 million toward funding the anti-Bush campaign, with liberal grassroots organizations such as MoveOn.org, Joint Victory Campaign 2004, and America Coming Together being among the primary beneficiaries. These figures only scratch the surface of Soros’s political funding endeavors. He has donated billions of dollars to support the liberal infrastructure in the United States, encompassing causes such as pro-abortion, pro-euthanasia, pro-gay marriage, pro-drug legalization, pro-union, pro-government-funded media, as well as anti-faith, anti-death penalty, and anti-conservative initiatives. To provide context, Soros has, in the past, significantly outspent the Koch network—constantly promoted as the last word in evil billionaire buyers of influence—in terms of individual political contributions, by an 8 to 1 ratio. By promoting left-wing ideology across various spheres, from judicial elections to immigration reform, Soros has wielded considerable influence over the nation’s liberal political establishment.

One needn’t be a tin foil hat-wearing nutcase to worry about the intentions of George Soros, a man whose actions and history betray a drive to subvert America and destroy every institution worth salvaging. The idea of a single individual deciding an election might sound ridiculous. However, when you examine the influence of Soros, and his latest move to absorb a massive segment of the telecommunications broadcast bandwidth, the possibility becomes far less unreasonable, and far more troubling.

The American Mind presents a range of perspectives. Views are writers’ own and do not necessarily represent those of The Claremont Institute.

The American Mind is a publication of the Claremont Institute, a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, dedicated to restoring the principles of the American Founding to their rightful, preeminent authority in our national life. Interested in supporting our work? Gifts to the Claremont Institute are tax-deductible.

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