Tom Olohan
Tom Olohan joined the Media Research Center as a staff writer for MRC Free Speech America and MRC Business in April 2023. Previously Tom worked for America Rising as a field researcher and media monitoring associate and interned with Heritage Action and AIPAC. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 2016 before graduating from Boston College in 2018 with an MA in Political Philosophy.
Leftist billionaire George Soros has reportedly acquired a massive stake in America’s second-largest radio company, igniting concerns about potential influence ahead of the 2024 election.
Soros Fund Management purchased $400 million of bankrupt radio company Audacy’s debt or about a 40 per cent stake in the company, the New York Post reporters Josh Kosman and Ariel Zilber unveiled on Wednesday. According to the Post, citing bankruptcy filings, Audacy is “the No. 2 US radio broadcaster behind iHeartMedia with stations including New York’s WFAN and 1010 WINS, as well as Los Angeles-based KROQ.” Notably, Audacy features or streams at least 16 powerful 50,000-watt radio stations, which means that their coverage is especially widespread.
The Soros purchase may implicate the following 50,000-watt radio stations, as described by RadioStation.info: WVEE Atlanta, WZRH New Orleans, WFUN St. Louis, 1010 WINS New York, 1020 KDKA Pittsburgh, 830 WCCO Minneapolis, KCBS 740 San Francisco, WWL New Orleans, KYW Philadelphia, 1120 KMOX St. Louis, KNX News Los Angeles, WCBS New York, Talk Radio 1210 WPHT Philadelphia, 92-9 The Game Atlanta, 105.3 The Fan Dallas and 670 The Score Chicago. Additionally, Audacy has a deal with CBS News Radio that greatly expands Audacy’s reach.
A source described the Soros purchase as “scary” in statements to the Post. “One insider close to the situation, noting that he was a Republican, said he believed it was possible Soros was buying the stake to exert influence on public opinion in the months leading up to the 2024 presidential election,” the Post reported.
Soros’s reported purchase is only the leftist billionaire’s latest media venture. As previously reported by MRC Business, Soros “gave $131,111,250 to journalism and media organizations around the globe” to push leftist positions on a range of issues between 2016 and 2020 alone.
Soros has also donated massive amounts of money to the International Fact-Checking Network, which coordinates with a vast network of fact-checkers, including The Associated Press, FactCheck.org, The Dispatch, The Washington Post and PolitiFact. Specifically, Soros gave $492,000 to the IFCN between 2017 and 2019.
Beyond this, Soros has ties to 34 legacy and leftist media personalities, detailed extensively in a Media Research Center report “George Soros: Propaganda Powerhouse.”
Conservatives are under attack! Contact ABC News (818) 460-7477, CBS News (212) 975-3247 and NBC News (212) 664-6192 and demand they report on Soros’ ties to American and global media.