Joe Scarborough
Book industry finally opening doors to conservatives
http://www.NewsAndOpinion.com | The book publishing business has not been kind to conservative readers- or authors. But that's all about to change. If you want to know why, here's 'The Real Deal.'
RONALD REAGAN always talked about the power that could be harnessed by a free economic market. The Gipper knew that if government regulators kept their hands off of America's economic engine, our economy would grow like never before. Unfortunately, Washington politicians and bureaucrats have never seemed willing to embrace Reagan's free market philosophy.
The same could be said about the book publishing industry. For years, book publishers silenced conservative critics of the New Deal and Great Society by refusing to sign, service, and publicize authors that wrote of their conservative vision for America. The same could be said of America's media outlet - that is until Rush Limbaugh revolutionized talk radio, Drudge revolutionized the internet, and Fox revolutionized cable news. The conservative earthquake has even shaken the once isolated publishing industry.
Just as broadcast news viewers turned their sets to Tom Brokaw during the war because he really was fair and balanced, the book-buying public began pressuring big book publishing companies to print works by conservative authors-and they cast their votes with their pocketbooks.
Conservatives like Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity, and the king of cable Bill O'Reilly, all produced books that sold exceedingly well. That sent a message to the publishing house that was too loud to ignore.
Maybe that's why they are beginning to open their doors to conservatives who would have been thrown out on their ears only months earlier. And having a more diverse range of opinions published by the major book companies is not only good for conservatives; it's good for America.
Thomas Jefferson spoke of the free marketplace of ideas, where Americans could debate all points of view and work together to form a governing consensus. Well, that marketplace is a bit freer these days because of the liberalization, in the classic sense, of course, of the publishing industry.
Now if conservatives could only get their views heard
on college campuses and in newspapers.
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Former Congressman Joe Scarborough (R-Fla.) hosts “Scarborough Country,” 10 p.m. ET, weeknights on MSNBC. Comment by clicking here.
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