Rush Limbaugh's Website Lists Names Of Group Of Activists Targeting His Advertisers

Limbaugh

RUSH LIMBAUGH's website has posted the names of the small group of people he believes are responsible for most of the social media posts targeting his advertisers.

The post, headlined "The Hidden Story Behind Stop Rush," says, "Only 10 Twitter users account for almost 70% of all StopRush tweets to advertisers, amplified by illicit software. In addition, almost every communication from a StopRush activist originates from outside the State of the advertiser. Thus, these activists are not and never would have been customers … their only role is to harass small businesses in an attempt to interfere with their operations, as long as they are advertising with RUSH."

The article names MEDIA MATTERS FOR AMERICA EVP ANGELO CARUSONE as the man behind the campaign and lists names, locations, screen identities and, in some cases, e-mail addresses for the individuals.  Among the people termed "activist bullies" by the PREMIERE NETWORKS host are a KENT STATE UNIVERSITY staffer who, the article alleges, uses her school e-mail address to harass LIMBAUGH's advertisers, a DAILY KOS writer with two aliases, and several who post one-star reviews of LIMBAUGH advertisers on websites despite having "no relationship" with the companies.

The post also enumerates "Top 10 Facts About #StopRush," including that the campaign is not a grassroots consumer movement but instead was "created and developed by ... MEDIA MATTERS FOR AMERICA EVP ANGELO CARUSONE" (with an excerpt from a 2012 VILLAGE VOICE post crediting CARUSONE with Stop Rush and a similar campaign against GLENN BECK), that the campaign members are "politically-motivated activists who send out tens of thousands of bullying tweets and FACEBOOK posts," that they publish targeting lists while remaining anonymous themselves, that they refuse to prove their claims of being threatened that justify their anonymity, that "80% of all #StopRush attacks are from activists not even in the same state as their target" and 70% of the Twitter #StopRush tweets come from 10 Twitter accounts, and that they use automated software and UniteBlue software to let them use others' accounts for thousands of retweets.

LIMBAUGH spokesperson BRIAN GLICKLICH said, "A small number of politically motivated out of-state activists are distributing target lists indiscriminately, and annoying small businesses until they give up the advertising deals that help them grow, or risk being unable to conduct business at all. It’s not even activism… it’s blackmail."

Media Matters Disagrees

MEDIA MATTERS EVP ANGELO CARUSONE said, "RUSH LIMBAUGH's show has reportedly lost millions of dollars in revenue for radio companies, thousands of advertisers big and small refuse to run ads on the program and radio stations are dropping the show. After initially insisting there were no troubles with advertisers, two years later LIMBAUGH's crisis team comes out with a report attributing this massive exodus to just 10 people? The numbers just don't add up. This is a grassroots effort that grows every day. Instead of attacking people on the Internet, LIMBAUGH's team would better fill their role by advising their client not to excuse rape in some situations (as he did just last week). RUSH LIMBAUGH is bad for business -- and the only thing LIMBAUGH has to blame for that is his own repeated conduct."

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