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Found this series of podcasts detailing the rise of right-wing talk radio and it's influence on right-wing politics. It was a very informative series. Goes from it's beginning in 1920's to 2021. The rise of Rush Limbaugh, Alex Jones and Trump. Many of these same issues also appear in today's right-wing in Canada.  
 
https://www.cbc.ca/listen/cbc-podcasts/1026-the-flamethrowers  
 
The host of The Flamethrowers was also on the podcast Hurle Burly discussing disinformation and misinformation in social media.  
 
https://www.airquotesmedia.com/thb/justin-ling-9march2022

I was just reading an interview about how countries are destabilized.  
 
An interesting read not only for the US but all democracies around the world.  
 
https://news.yahoo.com/expert-civil-wars-discusses-where-170852345.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYmluZy5jb20v&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAACcH8fIsfjVo28w3S5TgZWZSkrIHIF5rUp1ZU1j2IPXNz4gJMQ7etLeX5kf4Za3E81-yzD5o-vZSsycPf3YFDeeuD-1aXVlOlHPceB9t81I2gbXwMmY_ymiu8P4Qeg6wu99VqK3vji2U1gqGz-0PqM4E7mE3XZ1RpEm3oDdMv6zL

a good article.

I noticed that article doesn't make any mention of extreme left wing groups like antifa and blm that democrat politicians whole heartedly supported during the trump presidency, the article doesn't even mention the democrat party once, but it sure mentions the republican party a lot by name.  
 
If you're going to discuss extreme political groups and civil war shouldn't you shine light on both sides as they both seek the same outcome, destabilizing the government they don't agree with.  
 
Has everyone forgot the 6 months or so that antifa/blm laid siege to portland, resulting in numerous deaths and billions in damage, remember how democrat politicians stood up in solidarity with them while they tried firebombing courthouses night after night ?  
 
The media makes jan 6 out to be this horrendous right wing attack on democracy while ignoring any of the left wing rioting 6 months prior.  
 
In reality, when the government angers you to the point of rioting, doesn't it make more logical sense to riot where the politicians work than burning down your neighbors house or your moms business to prove your point ?  
 
The same is true of the trucker protest up here, I'm not saying they are right or wrong, but they felt the need to protest so they took their protest as close as they could to the head of our government, they didn't riot, they didn't murder but yes, they crippled the economy and sure got the attention of the government in the process.  
 
Unlike a lot of more left leaning groups who have protested in recent memory, where people were shot at, roads and rail lines were blockaded, heavy equipment was stolen and used to tear up roads or rail or gas line employees were attacked.  
 
Yet none of those people had their bank accounts frozen, were vilified in the media, were arrested in secret by the government or denied bail for periods much longer than murderers or child molesters.  
 
And still, right wing extremists get all the blame, funny how that works

Well said hutchster,couldnt have said it better myself

The OP began this thread talking about right wing I suspect (and please correct me if I am wrong Trevor) because of the increase in Right wing extremism influencing our Federal Conservative Party. So the focus of this thread may focus more on the right wing side of political slant.  
 
I do agree with you Huckster all forms of extremism left or right creates havoc in countries and has the potential to destabilize governments.  
 
However I do want to point out in the US right wing focused groups have had more impact and are still the primary sources of destabilization in the US.  
 
See following article. Long read but explains many forms of extremism.  
https://www.csis.org/analysis/escalating-terrorism-problem-united-states  
 
Canada is influenced by what happens in the US. None more so visible is the impact Trump as US president has had on far right becoming more vocal and raising its ugly head in our Federal Conservative Party

media in the US has become very loud and vocal. The BLM and ANTIFA is a very minor voice compared the right-wing media. But ofcourse the right-wing media makes it sounds likes it's far more of a driving force. BLM and ANTIFA is a response to events that have recently come out.  
 
The right-wing media has become a very large industry that is driving politics today. It's become the only source of information for many, they have poisoned other forms of media.  
 
Extremism on either ends if the political spectrum needs to be monitored. And if either end takes control of a government, bad things happen.

As a self confessed moderate right leaning person I see the fringe right wing media and tend to just ignore them, obviously a lot of others don't, yourself i:ncluded.  
 
To say right wing media is driving politics is true but its true of left wing media just the same, you make it sound like right wing media is alone in the this but our big news networks are all taking sides and driving their agendas, some are more subtle about but its happening none the less.  
 
Take the cbc up here, they are a tax dollar funded news media (kind of like russia and china lol), when one political party wants to make cut backs to government spending and the other is more than happy to increase spending, who do you think they will support deep down in their hearts ?  
 
Is there a news media outlet in the US that is government funded ?  
 
Edited by hutchster, 2022-03-13 10:50:58

While I do not agree with government funded new agencies, I disagree strongly with your comparing CBC to Russia or China state run media.  
There is a world of difference comparing a government run news agency in a democratic country versus an autocratic country. When you factcheck CBC by an independent source, CBC does run left of centre but they are accurate in their fact reporting. See attached.  
 
https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/cbc-news-canadian-broadcasting/

If you are willing to stretch your wings and if you follow politics in the USA and Canada, you should be well aware that the U.S. has NPR.  
National Public Radio  
 
Most developed countries offer public radio.  
 
If you think CBC is 'kind of like Russia and China', I believe you need to become more educated in your analysis of global media.

With Hutchster. Somebody from China came to North America and said, “you guys watch the ‘news here?! Nobody in China watches news because we all know it is propaganda”. OK, it’s not THAT bad here… but journalism training in this country actually teaches you how to present facts with a significant bias. It’s how you present those facts and how you decide which ones will NOT be presented. Still maybe honest…but…biased. Our media is quite educated in this. That is what happens here….and it’s one thing for an essentially “private” discussion platform to filter out content that doesn’t suit their ideology, but you say or imply the wrong thing in the right setting and somebody complains… suddenly it appears that the ADVERTISERS control the media. “We’re pulling our ads if you write such-and-such or keep so-and-so.” Large media outlets have much to lose, and we are in a time when news reporting is significantly influenced by ‘ratings’ (higher ratings=advertiser money) so those ratings are pretty important. Maybe still all truth and fact but…from a slight angle.

I was thinking of NPR but couldn't remember if it still existed or not, the only radio I listen to is sirius/xm.  
 
I can agree the CBC isn't controlled the same way russian or chinese state media outlets are, but doesn't the fact that its wholly dependent on financial backing from the sitting government kind of sway its bias towards a government that is willing to pour billions into it vs the party that wants to make cut backs ?  
 
At its core is it not a case of conflict of interest ?

talking about the opinion talk show hosts more than the actual news. The likes of Rush Limbaugh, Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, Ronald Reagan, Glen Beck, Alex Jones and others.

Part where you say CBC is accurate in their fact reporting may have changed a bit over the last couple days. They’ve now redacted 2 articles in the last couple days they wrote about the convoy in Ottawa because they said things that weren’t true. Just because they tell the truth one day and you know is fact doesn’t mean everything they say must be reliable. It is the same with all media. Even telling the truth about something and leaving out certain parts isn’t lying, but you can paint whatever picture you want by reporting on the things that pushes people in the direction you want.  
 
We chose to follow certain media sources that suit our views because it supports our opinions and makes us feel right, but it’s something we have to be cautious of. Unfortunately it’s not easy to jump to Ottawa or Alberta or the Ukraine to look for ourselves and we have to rely on others to give us the story. If you can tolerate also reading the media source that you know you disagree with and o:bjectively look through both sides there’s often a middle ground where you can understand a situation without needing to hate or blame someone. Which is what we should be receiving from the media.

I agree and do so on a regular basis. I have checked out a few sources like True North and Rebel News but find they twist facts to cater to their right wing followers.  
 
While I am showing distaste PP in this thread I will keep an open mind. Listen to what all contenders for the conservative leadership have to say.

This is the most reasonable approach to consuming news. I'm linking a video that shares statistics about the news sources trusted by at least 40% of American Democrats vs 40% of Republicans. (The statistic is at the 4:50 mark [https://youtu.be/sv0dQfRRrEQ?t=290]). The only news source trusted by at least 40% of American Republicans is Fox News. This is in contrast to the 11 news sources trusted by at least 40% of Democrats.  
 
There is also a notable statistic at the 5:55 mark [https://youtu.be/sv0dQfRRrEQ?t=356]. The media forms most consumed by those who said they would "Definitely Not" get the Covid vaccine were Fox News and Social Media.  
 
As a side note, I think that this video is fantastic in general, though the general topic at hand isn't necessarily related to the topic of this thread. I'm sharing it because it offers some valid statistics about the kinds of media consumed most by people on both sides of the political spectrum in the USA (which definitely influences the way we consume media here in Canada). Those who lean right to far right are exposed to far less variety in media than those on the left.