Organization’s Objective
Beginning in the late 1970s and early 1980s, conservatives began building up their infrastructure to articulate their ideas and drive public debate and the public agenda. They invested heavily in multi-issue policy centers in Washington and in the states, such as Colorado’s Independence Institute. They established a vast network of conservative radio programs to continuously echo their ideas, featuring conservative personalities such as Rush Limbaugh, Laura Schlessinger, and James Dobson. Through these organizations, they began training an army of spokespeople to serve as advocates on television news programs. They began developing large activist networks, such as Jerry Falwell’s Moral Majority and James Dobson’s Focus on the Family, to pressure politicians and the media and drive their agenda in state capitols and on Capitol Hill. Rupert Murdoch, an arch conservative, effectively created 24/7 television propaganda with his $500 Million investment in the Fox News Network.
While this was happening, progressives failed to respond. Progressives remained divided and had comparatively little capacity to ensure that conservative views were met with a response and that progressive views were clearly articulated and disseminated through the airwaves and activist networks.
Colorado was much like the rest of the nation. Until 2003, the messages fed through the media were controlled primarily by conservatives. James Dobson’s Focus on the Family, the Independence Institute, and radio hosts such as Mike Rosen dominated the public dialogue. When the information fed through the media is so one-sided, it impacts public opinion and, ultimately, choices about our leaders and public policies. Throughout the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s, state government was dominated by conservatives. During this time, Colorado voters passed a number of right-wing ballot initiatives, including the anti-government Taxpayer Bill of Rights and Amendment 2, which was a drastic diminution of the rights of gay and lesbian citizens earning Colorado the moniker, “the hate state.”
