Survey Shows Talk Radio Audience Unaffected by Rush Limbaugh - Sandra Fluke Controversy

Richard Harker of Harker Research talked to a wide range of listeners of various media outlets while the Rush Limbaugh – Sandra Fluke story was breaking. These are just a few highlights from the not yet released study that Harker shared exclusively with NTS Media Matters
A majority of Americans continue to consider themselves ‘conservative.’ They feel that attacks in defense of conservative values are justified. Yes, they are frustrated by lack of progress on a broad range of issues, but they don’t blame people like Rush Limbaugh.
• The central issue in this economy remains the economy. Reproductive rights are a ‘hot button’ for a minority of Americans, but a secondary issue for the majority.
• The people we talked to considered the response to Limbaugh over-the-top and disproportionate to the offense.
• We saw no evidence that talk show listeners were turned off by Rush’s comments. Based on what our participants said, there wasn’t even a temporary negative impact, let alone a lasting one.
Summing up, Harker found that the controversy gave those who already hated Rush one more reason to hate him, while those who shared, or at least respected, Limbaugh’s viewpoint were unaffected by the events.

Related Posts: Conservative Women Take Aim At Liberal Misogynist Hypocrisy
                     Limbaugh Issues Apology To Calm Down National Firestorm