www.InsideRadio.com
Monday, October 20, 2003
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“ Personalities INSIDE RADIO ”
Persistence Pays Off
Despite the setbacks, however, Farah was undaunted and
sensed this medium held potential for what he was doing.
by Mike Kinosian, Air Personality Editor
The man who – for nine years -- headed the news operation
of the now defunct Los Angeles Herald-Examiner continued
exploring ways of using radio in synergy with WorldNetDaily,
“I’d sit-in for various Radio America talk show hosts fairly
frequently, especially after moving to Washington, DC about
18 months ago.”
The Talk radio world witnessed noteworthy effects when the
career paths of a retired Marine Lieutenant Colonel and the
Founder/Editor/CEO of a major independent news website
intersected four months ago.
That’s when Joseph Farah succeeded Ollie North in Radio
America’s afternoon drive (3-6pm) slot.
In a now familiar theme, neither man entered the nationally
syndicated radio arena with very much radio experience.
But as Farah explains, “Since we launched WorldNetDaily
in 1997, we always felt a close partnership with Talk radio.
It’s been one of the principal ways that WorldNetDaily has
been publicized to people.”
The Internet site wasn’t created to be a show-prep resource
for radio hosts, but that’s exactly what’s happened. “Many
discovered that it – along with `The Drudge Report’ -- was a
good tool,” Farah comments. “That’s one of the reasons why
it became so popular. We looked for ways to capitalize on
that and to get more involved in radio.”
Modest Medium Start
In fairness, Farah didn’t exactly take the reins of the North
show as a complete radio novice.
In 1998, he and his wife made their first attempt at doing a
daily talk show. “We had about 16 affiliates,” Farah recalls.
“It was a lot of work, but after about a year, we threw in the
towel. [You really can’t do much], unless there’s an affiliate
relations organization behind you.”
They then created a program around Geoff Metcalf, who
now does overnights (10pm-4am) on Talk America Radio
Networks. “We subsidized [a program with Metcalf] for two
years, before finally learning that we’re Internet people –
not radio people. We looked to create a partnership with a
syndicator, but weren’t successful. We again threw in the
towel [this time] in early-2002.”
Third Time’s A Charm
The syndicator contacted him this past June to inquire if
he’d substitute for Ollie North for two weeks. Farah agreed
and, after the first day, he recalls, “They asked if I’d be
interested in taking over the show [permanently]. I didn’t
know that Ollie was retiring -- they didn’t tell me that
[beforehand]. Things were moving too fast and I didn’t want
to fail again. I wanted the third time to be a charm and to
make sure that we had all the pieces in-place.”
Due diligence was done by both parties and as Farah
stresses, “I wanted them to be sure that I was the right guy.
`Ollie North’ might not have been the biggest show in the
country, but it was right up there and had 70 affiliates.”
Even before the two-week fill-in period was over, the two
parties were able to come to terms on a two-year contract.
“They convinced me that they’d put the necessary resources
behind the show,” Farah notes. “Sometimes when you’re trying
to make something work, it doesn’t happen. But when you
give up, it somehow comes together. That’s what happened
here. The industry is beginning to recognize the Internet’s
potential.”
Converting Listeners Into Advocates
Pleasantly surprised at the excitement shown in conjunction
with the WND partnership, Farah says, “It took us seven
years to get there. What we’re trying to do is to take our five
million viewers and not only turn them into listeners, but
into advocates of the show. In just a few months [of doing
The World Net Daily Report], we’ve been fortunate to add
about an affiliate a week and are now up to over 80. When
we started, I expected that we’d lose a bunch of stations
because of Ollie’s strong personality. You’d think that
[whoever] came along [as his replacement] would lose some
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affiliates. I’m not sure it’s the same audience that Ollie had,
but it’s going very well and I’m delighted.”
<b>Edgy & Provocative</b>
Like everyone else, Farah is trying to stand out from a rather
crowded field and says his three-hour “World News Daily
Report” show is a bit “edgier” than the rest. “[Perhaps] not
as edgy as [Talk Radio Network’s] Michael Savage, but I do
try to be very provocative,” he comments. “Unlike [ABC
Radio’s Sean] Hannity and [Premiere Radio’s Rush]
Limbaugh, it’s not a predictable, conservative Republican
show. We talk about issues that would be off the table on
those shows.”
A recent one-hour topic, for example, was the JFK
assassination. “It’s not an ideological event,” Farah notes.
“It’s a mystery that’s never been solved. We have the
potential to take 20 calls and [the switchboard was]
completely full that day; I’ve never seen that happen before.
It’s kind of surprising to me what does and doesn’t turn
people on. Sometimes I think I’m onto something very hot
and get really excited, but no one else seems to care.”
“Journalist” – Not “Conservative”
Repeatedly emphasizing he doesn’t consider himself to be
a “conservative,” Farah opines, “Most talk shows now have
a conservative on the air telling us how bad liberals are and
how conservatives have the answers. I don’t like that
conservative label and happen to think conservatives are
big `wusses.’”
Explaining he’d rather be tagged a “journalist” than a
“conservative,” Farah says, “I have strong opinions about
subjects and am much more radical in my approach.
Libertarians are very comfortable with most of my positions,
although I have some worldviews that turn some of them
off. I’m not 100% in anyone’s camp, especially when it
comes to things like our borders. Libertarians are nuts for
wanting more open borders -- we don’t even have borders. I
have some eclectic opinions because they don’t fit 100%
in anyone’s camp. I’m a news guy -- not a broadcaster.”
Political Compromise
As a journalist, he’s avoided the political entanglement and
claims he’s not registered with any political party. “It
compromises you and you begin to become a rooter. As
journalists, we have to be free to expose corruption wherever
we find it. We’ve always done that at WorldNetDaily. It
sometimes angers our core constituency when we do an
expose on someone -- or something -- near and dear to
their hearts. But that kind of unpredictability lends itself to
a more universal appeal. Many people all over the political
spectrum read WorldNetDaily; we’re anti-establishment.”
Faux Pas Fear
Monday, October 20, 2003
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But he hasn’t been able to get everyone he’s wanted on the
talk show. “We’ve invited all the Democratic presidential
candidates and not one has taken our bait,” he says.
“Perhaps they think our audience leans a little too much to
the right, but there could be a few [listeners] they could win
over with their ideas. I talk with people who vehemently
disagree with me, because I know there are people listening
who I’m going to win over. Maybe they don’t know [what
they’re missing] by turning down [the opportunity to be
heard] on a nationally syndicated radio show. There are also
thousands of people listening on satellite and the Internet.”
Having recently dissected Connecticut Senator Joe
Lieberman’s tax plan apart on the air, Farah comments, “You’d
think he’d want to be there to defend it. I think [presidential
candidates like Senator Lieberman] are afraid they’re going
to make a faux pas or they’re going to get tripped up. There’s
no doubt that I’d ask them tough questions, but I’m going to
do that if they’re here or not.”
Attempts have also been made to get representatives of
the Council on American-Islamic relations to appear, but
they’ve refused. “They’ll go on any [other] show, but are
afraid to come on mine,” Farah claims. “They know that I
know [that particular] issue backward and forward; they don’t
want to debate with an Arab-American who has a different
point of view. They want to portray that there’s one point of
view for Arab-Americans and Muslim-Americans. They don’t
want to tangle with me because I’ve destroyed them too
many times on various television shows. People who don’t
come on know they’ll have their hands full. It isn’t a chance
to just give their sound bite and get off the hook.”
Surrounded By Challenges
In addition to hosting the daily three-hour Radio America
show, the 49-year old father of five also runs the business
at WorldNetDaily, writes a daily WND piece and a twiceweekly syndicated newspaper column. “That’s only the
beginning -- I’m always working on a book,” he jests. “I’ve
always been [WND’s] editorial director, although I get a lot
of help there from a very good editorial staff. My Managing
Editor, David Kupelian, has taken a tremendous burden off
my shoulders. I certainly couldn’t do the radio show without
him picking up the slack. My on-air commentary [usually]
turns into a column the next day.”
Possibly because it’s a new challenge, the radio show is
what Farah currently enjoys most. “It’s not mundane or the
same thing and that’s really good for me at this point in my
life,” he comments. “I never saw myself doing this. I thought
that if we ever did a WorldNetDaily radio show, we’d hire a
professional host. I was taken aback when Radio America
came to me. But it makes sense, because WND has a
personality and it’s a reflection of my personality. There’s
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no getting around that. I’ve spent seven years developing
this WND personality and that’s what Radio America wanted.”
Told You So
Somewhat joking that he’s “always” working on a book, Farah
has actually finished writing three, including a collaboration
on Rush Limbaugh’s 1994 “See, I Told You So.”
Commenting on that talk show host’s current drug rehab
plight, Farah remarks, “It’s terribly tragic, but I draw a
distinction between addiction and dependency. Most people
suffering from addiction are people who made some
deliberate choices about abusing drugs as some kind of
escape. Most people you think of as being dependent on
drugs got there through the same route as Rush. They were
dealing with tremendous physical pain. He’ll overcome it
and be back as strong as ever.”
Platform Potential
There’ve been certain advantages for Farah not having
substantial radio experience prior to taking the Radio
America job.
Monday, October 20, 2003
Page 3 of 3
He’s learning a great deal from the radio people he works
with, but at the same time adds, “I have ideas that most of
them might not think of and I also came in with the
WorldNetDaily platform. We haven’t even begun to tap that
resource to get those people listening to the radio show.
Radio America thought that was a good thing, but I don’t
think they realized just how big it could be.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------WHO: Joseph Farah
WHAT: “World Net Daily Report
With Joseph Farah”
WHERE: Radio America
WHEN: 3-6pm (ET)
HOW MANY AFFILIATES:
Approximately 80
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Published by INSIDE RADIO.com October 20, 2003. Written by
Associate Editor, Mike Kinosian. All rights reserved. No alterations
to the content of this story are permitted.