ST. LOUIS, MO (KMOX) - "I didn't leave over politics," explains Marc Cox about his decision to step away from television journalism and join conservative radio.
Cox is the at the helm of the Marc Cox Morning Show on KFTK 97.1 FM Talk. He's the latest guest of the KMOX-produced "What the Media?!!?" podcast, taking listeners behind the scenes with content creators. Trying to fit stories into a "brand" where they had to be investigative and advocative led the Emmy Award winning Cox to step away from TV. "If you're advocating for something as a journalist, you're not telling both sides of the story fairly. I became very uncomfortable in that environment."
While Cox says he kept his conservative views largely to himself during his years as a reporter, his move to talk radio gave him new freedom, "I was able to call things out in a way I didn't think I could do in television news." He tells "What the Media?!!?" hosts Megan Lynch and Julie Smith, "I feel a lot of people cloak their political point of view, they have an invisibility cloak called journalism. As long as you're cloaked in journalism you're allowed to let your liberal bias show through. The minute conservative bias shows through its frowned upon and shut down."
Cox says there's a stereotype that conservative radio is the medium of "disgruntled older white men". Who are his listeners? Cox says data shows there are surprising numbers of younger listeners and women. When it comes to the growth of conservative talk, Cox believes "people were hungry for a point of view they had in their own heads, and they weren't getting that from the national media."
Cox calls himself an information junkie, getting his news from multiple outlets. "One of the biggest problems in the country is low-information voters," says Cox. "Regardless of where you stand on the political spectrum, you've got to take in as much information and make your own mind up. It's one of the problems in this country right now, not enough people do that."
"What the Media?!!?" is a produced by Audacy St. Louis, which owns both KMOX and KFTK. The podcast is part of KMOX News Media Literacy Project, helping you think critically about the media messages you consume. Click here for all of our episodes, special features and our Media Minute.
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