Skip to main content

Headline Roundup February 17th, 2021

Rush Limbaugh Dead at 70

Summary from the AllSides News Team

Rush Limbaugh, the controversial conservative talk radio host, died Wednesday at the age of 70. Limbaugh was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer in January 2020, and he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from former President Donald Trump in April 2020. His death was announced by his wife on “The Rush Limbaugh Show,” the AM radio show Limbaugh started in 1988. Coverage of Limbaugh’s death varied widely across the spectrum, describing him as “influential,” “controversial” and “a pillar of right-wing media.” Coverage in right-rated outlets was generally positive, describing him and his career as “legendary” and “iconic,” and focusing on how he changed the political media landscape by giving social conservatives a prominent media voice. Coverage in left-rated outlets was generally critical of Limbaugh, often focusing on criticisms of his purportedly partisan attacks, characterizing him as malicious or divisive, and describing some of his remarks as “sexist, homophobic and racist." Some coverage from left-rated sources also focused on his relationship with Trump and his role in Trump's 2016 election victory.

Featured Coverage of this Story

Rush Limbaugh, ‘voice of American conservatism,’ has died
Rush Limbaugh, ‘voice of American conservatism,’ has died

Associated Press Fact Check

News

Rush Limbaugh, the talk radio host who ripped into liberals and laid waste to political correctness with a merry brand of malice that made him one of the most powerful voices on the American right, influencing the rightward push of conservatism and the rise of Donald Trump, died Wednesday. He was 70.

Limbaugh said a year ago that he had lung cancer. His death was announced on his show by his wife, Kathryn.

Unflinchingly conservative, wildly partisan, bombastically self-promoting and larger than life, Limbaugh galvanized listeners for more than 30...

Open on Associated Press Fact Check
Rush Limbaugh, conservative radio titan, has died of lung cancer at age 70
Rush Limbaugh, conservative radio titan, has died of lung cancer at age 70

USA TODAY

News

Rush Limbaugh, the talk titan who made right-wing radio financially viable in American media and himself a Republican kingmaker years before Fox News, died Wednesday, after he revealed in 2020 that his lung cancer was terminal. He was 70.

His death was confirmed by his wife, Kathryn, at the beginning of Limbaugh's radio show, from which he's been absent for almost two weeks.

A longtime cigar smoker who stocked the humidors in his homes and studios with the finest, Limbaugh succumbed to cancer after battling drug addiction and loss of...

Open on USA TODAY
Rush Limbaugh, conservative talk radio pioneer, dead at 70
Rush Limbaugh, conservative talk radio pioneer, dead at 70

Fox News Digital

News

Rush Limbaugh, the monumentally influential media icon who transformed talk radio and politics in his decades behind the microphone, helping shape the modern-day Republican Party, died Wednesday morning at the age of 70 after a battle with lung cancer, his family announced.

Limbaugh's wife, Kathryn, made the announcement on his radio show. "Losing a loved one is terribly difficult, even more so when that loved one is larger than life," she said. "Rush will forever be the greatest of all time."

The radio icon learned he had Stage IV lung...

Open on Fox News Digital

More headline roundups

More News about Media Industry on AllSides

News from the Left

News from the Center

News from the Right