Tom Tradup, the Vice President of News and Talk Programming at Salem Radio Network, has recently become a Contributing Editor at All Israel News. He is passionate about journalism and making connections between different cultures. Tradup’s expertise in news and talk programming has prepared him well for this role.
Despite managing the coverage of major political events and nationally syndicated talk shows, Tradup is excited to work with Joel Rosenberg, a New York Times bestselling author known for his extensive knowledge of Middle Eastern affairs.
Through All Israel News, Rosenberg aims to promote understanding and communication between Israel and the evangelical world. His role involves performing consultations, providing guidance, and writing columns to support this mission, and he describes it as a “match made in heaven.”
Tom Tradup also plays a crucial role in overseeing both talk and news programming on Salem Radio Network, with a focus on developing engaging shows and meticulously supervising the news operation.
This dual responsibility has played a substantial part in Salem Media Group’s impressive achievements and its unique way of delivering news through Townhall.
Tom Tradup doesn’t shy away from discussing the challenges that conservative media outlets face when it comes to attracting advertisers and forming partnerships, especially in the face of concerns about censorship.
Despite these obstacles, he stands firmly in his belief in radio’s enduring importance and effectiveness as a medium.
During an interview with Barrett News Media, Tom Tradup shares his dedication to All Israel News and explains how he plans to balance his responsibilities to Salem Radio Network.
He also talks about the growth of SRN and how the network manages to present impartial news while featuring engaging hosts on a single dynamic platform.
Ryan Hedrick: Let’s start by talking about your new role with All Israel News. What are you most excited about for this new opportunity?
Tom Tradup: Yes, very exciting. I enjoy a challenge, and that’s not to say that as the Vice President of News and Talk Programming for SRN, I don’t already have plenty on my plate because I do, especially at this time of year when we’ve got presidential debates, and we’re heading into the 2024 campaign and we’re already making plans for our coverage (of the 2024 Republican National Convention) in Milwaukee next year.
Every time you turn around, a breaking story powers both our two news services: SRN News and Town Hall News. I also have nationally syndicated talk shows hosted by people like Hugh Hewitt, Mike Gallagher, Dennis Prager, Dr. Sebastian Gorka, Charlie Kirk, and others that keep me on my toes.
So, an opportunity came up from New York Times bestselling author Joel Rosenberg. He’s written many terrific books, including Enemies and Allies. The book is about the tumultuous change in the Middle East. In this book, he has interviews with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Eypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Jordan’s King Abdullah II, United Arab Emirates’ Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Joel is plugged into the Middle East like nobody else. He has two websites he created that are just starting their fourth year; one is called allisrael.com. It’s Israeli news. It’s news about and primarily for evangelical Christians to try and build bridges between Israel and the evangelical world. His second website is called All Arab News. Basically, the same thing. It’s an all-Arab-focused website dealing with issues in the Muslim world but obviously cross-pollinating with what’s happening in Israel and other parts of the world, and they’re both very interesting sites.
Joel was looking for somebody who could do some consulting and who could do some coaching for his new staff. Just to help them get a little bit better, we hope. And he asked me if I’d be willing to write some columns for him, and I’d love to write. So, I said yes. It was a match made in heaven. It’s a great opportunity to work with him and some terrific people. The last two weeks have been nothing short of magnificent.
RH: How do the reporters and editors at All Israel News provide readers with unbiased news?
TT: I know that the mission that Joel charged all his editors and reporters for allisrael.com is to report the news and have it be fair and factual. We have opinion columns, but not as much as some other websites do. As far as what we do, we want it to be not politically motivated one way or the other. Some articles I read there are not exactly pro-Israeli, but they’re not anti-Israeli.
We cover news and events that impact Israel and the Middle East, and the idea is to do that in a way that appeals to the evangelical world. We are trying to reach out to evangelical Christians, many of whom make pilgrimages to Israel. Some of whom live in Israel.
You know, it’s just filtering everything through a biblical worldview. But to embrace the charming differences between and among the religions. I call it bridge building.
RH: What is at the core of Salem Media Group’s rapid growth and the success of its numerous talk shows?
Tom Tradup: Most of the people I work with, like Hugh Hewitt and Mike Gallagher, are people you would be happy to have as your next-door neighbor. Dr. Sebastian Gorka was a national security strategist for President Trump when he was in the White House. If you read things in The New York Times or The Washington Post, he’s supposed to be some sort of right-wing activist. I find him to be just an interesting guy with a great worldview and a lot of experience in foreign policy.
Charlie Kirk is one of our hosts. He has created one of the largest young activist groups in the country, Turning Point USA. When they have a convention, they generally turn out thousands of young people, college-age or high school-age people, who thirst to get involved in the political system.
Brandon Tatum is one of our guys. He was a Scottsdale, Arizona, police officer for several years. He has two million followers on YouTube. That doesn’t happen if you’re banging the same drum every day.
These are people who have interesting things to say. They are engaging and love talking to men and women around the country. People have a lot of choices, and the great thing about America is that there are choices everywhere.
Our job is to generate the largest possible audience we can and to deliver the most people to our advertisers. We’re pretty good at it; we’ve been doing it for a long time.
RH: How does Townhall’s delivery style differ slightly from other network options like Fox News, CBS News, or ABC News?
TT: Townhall is different because they report news based on what’s happening in the world, not on some political worldview based in a conference room at The Washington Post or The New York Times.
For example, Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz (R) may be trying to push forward a motion to vacate as they call in Congress to remove Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) as House Speaker. Even though they’re both Republicans, they have their differences. Gaetz doesn’t like McCarthy, so he will try to get a vote to remove him. Whether or not that’s going to happen, we have people from both sides talking about this story on Townhall. You don’t hear that on a lot of networks.
For example, when I listen to CBS Radio, invariably, you only hear Chuck Schumer (D-NY). You don’t hear Mitch McConnel (R-KY). Our business model is not geared towards political affiliations. We aim to attract a diverse audience with a thirst for factual information. We believe in presenting the facts and allowing our audience to make their own informed decisions.
On our talk shows, it’s entirely different. We cover breaking news and then explain to people what they should think about it from the viewpoint of our hosts. If you agree or disagree with the hosts, that’s the beauty of talk radio. You pick up the phone, call in, and have a whole country listening while they’re wrong.
But for the news, we just want it to be fair and balanced. I know Fox News probably copyrighted that phrase, but it’s a good one. And that’s what we want.
RH: Who is the most important and influential media figure right now?
Tom Tradup: Charlie Kirk cuts a wide swath through both radio and podcasts. He is hugely successful. I see him on Fox News a lot, I see him on all the major networks. Whenever he goes to a college campus, some nutty activists turn out, trying to muzzle him and block him from making a speech that he was invited to make.
I think Charlie Kirk would probably be the most influential media figure right now because he is having such a big impact not only on the body of politics but, more importantly, on young people who are the next generation of voters. Charlie Kirk is one of the loudest voices of the government’s encroachment on the rights of individuals, and you would think these Antifa or BLM or whatever groups they are on college campuses, you would think they would be happy to have someone like him there because he’s defending their rights to speak as well as his.
But that’s not what happens these days and it’s kind of sad but it’s very scary.
RH: How challenging is it for conservative media outlets to attract new advertisers and establish partnerships when they face censorship and unjust labeling?
Tom Tradup: The selling atmosphere in this country for radio generally, whether it’s talk radio or music radio, is very challenging, probably the most challenging that’s ever been because people have decided, wrongly — in my opinion — that radio is this relic of the past and they need to move into podcasts, or they need to move into digital-only or only on websites.
If you have a media mix that includes everything, you’ll likely sell a lot more pillows, vitamins, and cars. Some agencies are challenging and don’t always want to listen to reason. All we can do is present our case and hope that it works.
We’ve been very successful so far, but I know many people I talk with at other radio networks say the same thing. The answer is to believe in radio.
