BEN SHAPIRO: The House That Rush Built. How Rush Limbaugh broke the liberal hegemony in broadcast media:

On Wednesday, after a yearlong battle with lung cancer, Rush Limbaugh died.

To virtually all conservatives born after 1960, Rush Limbaugh was a seminal figure. To understand his role in the conservative movement, and in America’s politics more broadly, it’s necessary to understand the state of the media B.R. — Before Rush. Before Rush Limbaugh, there was virtually no broadcast conservative media. There were print magazines like National Review; there were conservative books. But conservatives appeared in broadcast media at the sufferance of liberal overlords: Milton Friedman’s “Free to Choose” appeared on PBS; so did “Firing Line” with William F. Buckley Jr.

Then, in 1987, the Federal Communications Commission finally rejected the ill-advised and ridiculous fairness doctrine, which required those with a broadcast license to present controversial issues in a “balanced” way — a standard that, in practice, allowed for the domination of broadcast media by liberals, with sporadic commentary by conservatives.

The end of the fairness doctrine opened the market for ideas. And consumers would have their say.

Enter Rush Limbaugh.

Since Shapiro’s article is in the New York Times, expect therapists near their offices to make a killing this week from their safetyism-obsessed crybully staffers, as editor Dean Baquet checks off the days remaining on his contract before retirement.