Dangerous transmissions: anti-vax radio shows reach millions in US while stars die of Covid

Media watchdogs suggest that some basic level of responsibility to the public should be required to keep a broadcast license

Adam Gabbatt
@adamgabbatt
Tue 21 Sep 2021 07.00 BST

Phil Valentine, a prominent Tennessee rightwing talk radio host, had released a song called Vaxman, an anti-Covid vaccination ditty based on the Beatles track Taxman.

Marc Bernier, a host in Daytona Beach, Florida, had declared himself “Mr Anti-Vax”. Dick Farrel, also from Florida, urged his listeners not to get vaccinated, and Jimmy DeYoung asked on air whether the vaccine could be a “form of government control of the people”.

All four men died in August of coronavirus. A fifth conservative radio host, Bob Enyart, died on 13 September, weeks after he told his listeners to boycott vaccines that were “immorally developed”.

The death of the men, just weeks apart, illustrated both the depth of anti-vaccine feeling among some conservatives, but also hinted at the problems rightwing talk radio, along with other conservative media, is causing as vaccination rates in the US have slowed.

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Fox News and even more extreme rightwing television channels like Newsmax and One America News draw the headlines, and Facebook is often noted as a source for conspiracy theories, but behind the scenes thousands of small radio stations make up a patchwork of conservative media across the US that is enjoyed by millions.

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