{{short description|American journalist (born 1967)}}
{{Infobox person | name = Todd Starnes | image = American columnist, commentator, author and radio host Todd Starnes pictured at Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee, on Nov. 2, 2013.jpg | caption = Starnes at [[Lee University]] in 2013 | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1967|10|28}} | birth_place = [[Memphis, Tennessee]], U.S. | alma_mater = [[Lee University]] | occupation = {{hlist|[[Columnist]]|[[television personality]]|[[radio personality]]|[[writer]]|[[Radio producer|producer]]}} | known_for = {{plainlist| * ''KWAM'' owner (2020-) * ''Starnes Country'' host (2025–present)}} | awards = [[Edward R. Murrow Award (Radio Television Digital News Association)|Edward R. Murrow Award]] | website = {{URL|http://www.toddstarnes.com/}} <!-- Infobox person does not support the following parameters: | format = [[Talk show]] | runtime = 4 hours | country = United States | language = English | home_station = [[KWAM]] -->}}
'''Todd Starnes''' (born October 28, 1967) is a conservative American columnist, commentator, author, and radio host. In June 2017, Starnes began hosting a [[broadcast syndication|syndicated]] [[talk radio]] show on [[Fox News Radio]].
In January 2020, via his Starnes Media Group, he purchased [[Memphis, Tennessee|Memphis]] talk station 990 AM [[KWAM]], which would be the flagship station for Starnes' new radio show.
==Early life and career==
Starnes was born in [[Memphis, Tennessee]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Todd Starnes Show |url=https://mighty990.com/todd-starnes-show/ |access-date=2025-11-21 |website=KWAM - The Mighty 990 |language=en-US}}</ref> and raised in [[Southaven, Mississippi|Southaven]], [[Mississippi]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Todd Starnes – WSJS {{!}} News – Talk – Sports for the Triad |url=https://wsjs.com/todd-starnes/ |access-date=2025-11-21 |website=wsjs.com}}</ref> He attended high school in southeastern [[Louisiana]], where he also began his journalism career as a teenager at a small weekly newspaper.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Roach |first=David |date=2010-10-11 |title=By grace, Todd Starnes lands at FOX |url=https://www.baptistpress.com/resource-library/news/by-grace-todd-starnes-lands-at-fox/ |access-date=2025-11-21 |website=Baptist Press |language=en-US}}</ref> During the mid-1990s, he studied communication at [[Lee University]] in [[Cleveland, Tennessee]], where he was an editor of the college newspaper, ''The Clarion''.<ref>Kattie Parsons, [http://portico.leeuniversity.edu/Lists/Campus%20News/CustomDispForm.aspx?ID=841&ContentTypeId=0x0100CB62B0BA3FB1469E97F8413AAF40C26100122ECC56D94DC548B9A33C1001963DA6 "Todd Starnes to Visit Lee as Guest Lecturer"], ''The Clarion'', October 19, 2012.</ref>
Starnes was a reporter and anchor at news/talk radio station [[KFBK (AM)|KFBK]] in [[Sacramento, California]] and a writer for the [[Baptist Press]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bpnews.net/5051/starnes-to-join-baptist-press-as-sbc-services-staff-writer|title=Starnes to join Baptist Press as SBC service's staff writer|last=Staff|website=www.bpnews.net|date=January 3, 2000 |access-date=2017-09-15}}</ref> Starnes joined [[Fox News|Fox News Channel]] in 2005 as a radio news anchor.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Staff |first= |date=2023-08-10 |title=Todd Starnes: Fox & Friends Was Only Show Willing to Promote My Book |url=https://barrettmedia.com/2023/08/10/todd-starnes-fox-friends-was-only-show-willing-to-promote-my-book/ |access-date=2025-11-21 |website=Barrett Media |language=en-US}}</ref> In 2007, he was assigned to cover [[Barack Obama]]'s presidential campaign and traveled as an embedded reporter in the final weeks of the [[2008 United States presidential election|2008 election]]. During that time, he also filled in on occasion as the radio network's White House correspondent. He reported from the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Republican and [[Democratic National Convention|Democratic National Conventions]].
In 2011, Starnes was named the host of ''Fox News & Commentary''.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2017-06-22 |title=Starnes & Shillue In Programming Changes On Fox Radio |url=https://radioink.com/2017/06/21/starnes-shillue-programming-changes-fox-radio/ |access-date=2025-11-21 |website=Radio Ink |language=en-US}}</ref> He became a featured Fox News columnist in 2011. His column is read online and through syndication. Starnes is a frequent speaker at churches and Christian colleges.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2012-10-18 |title=Todd Starnes to Visit Lee as Guest Lecturer |url=https://www.leeuniversity.edu/news/todd-starnes-to-visit-lee-as-guest-lecturer/ |access-date=2025-11-22 |website=Lee University |language=en-US}}</ref>
== KWAM == In March 2020 the KWAM (990 AM) radio station was acquired by Starnes Media Group, led by Starnes.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Legendary Airwaves: KWAM Radio |url=https://4memphis.com/feature/legendary-airwaves-kwam-radio/ |access-date=2025-11-22 |website=4Memphis Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref> The purchase from Legacy Media included translator W300DE and Memphis (107.9 FM) at a total price of $685,000.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2020-01-10 |title=Friday, January 10, 2020 {{!}} TALKERS magazine - talk media trade |url=https://www.talkers.com/2020/01/10/friday-january-10-2020/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220814223816/https://www.talkers.com/2020/01/10/friday-january-10-2020/ |archive-date=2022-08-14 |access-date=2025-11-22 |language=en}}</ref> Upon the close of the purchase on March 31, 2020, Starnes Media Group changed the station's branding to "The Mighty 990" (to reflect the history of the station). Starnes said at the time, "Memphis was once known as having one of the most vibrant and diverse radio communities in the nation. And we wanted to do our part to restore some of the luster to live and local radio.”
The [[Salem Podcast Network]] began distributing the Todd Starnes Podcast on April 5, 2021 after agreeing to a partnership.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Salem Podcast Network Announces Partnership with The Todd Starnes Podcast |url=https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210329005129/en/Salem-Podcast-Network-Announces-Partnership-with-The-Todd-Starnes-Podcast |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20210620042948/https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210329005129/en/Salem-Podcast-Network-Announces-Partnership-with-The-Todd-Starnes-Podcast |archive-date=2021-06-20 |access-date=2025-11-22 |language=en}}</ref> In December 2023, Starnes Media Group, signed a deal for the Newsmax cable news channel to simulcast an hour of his nationally-syndicated radio program, "The Todd Starnes Show."<ref>{{Cite web |last=TALKERS |date=2023-12-20 |title=Todd Starnes Show Inks Simulcast Deal with Newsmax |url=https://talkers.com/2023/12/20/todd-starnes-show-inks-simulcast-deal-with-newsmax/ |access-date=2025-11-22 |website=TALKERS magazine |language=en-US}}</ref> The show airs weekdays at noon ET and focuses on conservative commentary, politics, and cultural issues.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Todd Starnes - Biography |url=https://www.newsmax.com/insiders/toddstarnes/bio-778/ |access-date=22 November 2025 |website=NEWSMAX}}</ref>
After the exit of Ben Deeter in early May 2025, Starnes himself stepped in as morning host with a new show. ''Starnes Country'' began July 23, 2025, borrowing the name from a show Starnes hosted on the FOX Nation streaming platform.<ref>{{Cite web |last=staff |first= |date=2025-07-18 |title=Todd Starnes to Launch Morning Show on The Mighty 990 KWAM |url=https://barrettmedia.com/2025/07/18/todd-starnes-to-launch-morning-show-on-the-mighty-990-kwam/ |access-date=2025-11-22 |website=Barrett Media |language=en-US}}</ref> “''Starnes Country'' is a fresh new way to look at Memphis and the Mid-South,” Starnes said about the new show. == Awards, honors, distinctions == Starnes, noting how KWAM has been recognized for broadcasting excellence, said: “KWAM is the only radio station in the Mid-South to win a regional [[Edward R. Murrow Award (Radio Television Digital News Association)|Edward R. Murrow Award]]. The station has also been honored multiple times by the Tennessee Association of Broadcasters for our news coverage and our talk programs.”<ref>{{Cite web |title=Legendary Airwaves: KWAM Radio |url=https://4memphis.com/feature/legendary-airwaves-kwam-radio/ |access-date=2025-11-22 |website=4Memphis Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref>
Starnes himself has received numerous awards and honors throughout his career in broadcasting and journalism, including:
* RTNDA Edward R. Murrow Awards<ref>{{Cite web |title=Todd Starnes |url=https://yaf.org/people/todd-starnes/ |access-date=2025-11-22 |website=Young America's Foundation |language=en-US}}</ref> * Associated Press Mark Twain Award for Storytelling<ref>{{Cite web |last=Radio 1150 |first=KSAL News |title=Todd Starnes Joins KSAL Afternoon Lineup |url=https://www.ksal.com/todd-starnes-joins-ksal-afternoon-lineup/ |access-date=2025-11-22 |website=KSAL.com |language=en-US}}</ref> * National Religious Broadcasters Board of Directors Award (2014)<ref>{{Cite web |title=NRB Media Award Recipients |url=https://nrb.org/membership/awards/nrb-media-award-recipients/ |access-date=2025-11-22 |website=NRB |language=en-US}}</ref> * First Liberty Institute's Defender of the Faith Award<ref>{{Cite news |title=Salem Podcast Network Announces Partnership with The Todd Starnes Podcast |url=https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210329005129/en/Salem-Podcast-Network-Announces-Partnership-with-The-Todd-Starnes-Podcast |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20210620042948/https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210329005129/en/Salem-Podcast-Network-Announces-Partnership-with-The-Todd-Starnes-Podcast |archive-date=2021-06-20 |access-date=2025-11-22 |language=en}}</ref> * Vision America's National Hero of the Faith Award<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-03-04 |title=Fox News Host Todd Starnes Joins Alex McFarland for Truth for a New Generation Annual Banquet - Alex McFarland |url=https://alexmcfarland.com/fox-news-host-todd-starnes-joins-alex-mcfarland-for-truth-for-a-new-generation-annual-banquet/ |access-date=2025-11-22 |language=en-US}}</ref> * Bott Radio Network's Watchman on the Wall Award<ref>{{Cite web |title=Todd Starnes |url=https://www.jlwilkinsonconsulting.com/todd_starnes |access-date=2025-11-22 |website=JL WILKINSON CONSULTING AND MANAGEMENT}}</ref> * Pacific Justice Institute's Light in Media Award<ref>{{Cite web |title=Todd Starnes |url=https://patriotmobile.com/solutions/todd-starnes |access-date=2025-11-22 |website=Patriot Mobile {{!}} Mobilizing Freedom |language=en}}</ref> * Americans for Prosperity Grassroots Journalism Award<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-11-21 |title=Todd Starnes |url=https://www.myhometowntoday.com/onair/todd-starnes/ |access-date=2025-11-22 |website=MyHometownToday.com |language=en-US}}</ref>
Starnes was also awarded honorary citizenship from the State of Texas.
==Views== Starnes' strongly conservative views, which he likes "to spice it up a little bit" to generate reader interest, have also generated controversy.<ref name="banner">{{cite news |last=Weber |first=Joyanna |date=February 23, 2012 |url=http://www.clevelandbanner.com/view/full_story/17630319/article-Todd-Starnes-gives-views-on-journalism-and-politics?instance=latest_articles |title=Todd Starnes gives views on journalism and politics |newspaper=[[Cleveland Daily Banner]] }}</ref> For example, In 2015, Starnes referred to [[Removal of Confederate monuments and memorials|removing symbols]] of the old [[Confederate States of America|Confederacy]] from public places as "cultural cleansing" on his radio show.<ref>{{cite news |last=Fang |first=Marina |date=June 24, 2015 |title=Some Republicans Compare Taking Down Confederate Symbols To ISIS Destroying Cultural Monuments |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/24/confederate-flag-isis_n_7658866.html |accessdate=25 June 2015 |newspaper=[[Huffington Post]]}}</ref> His 2017 book, ''The Deplorables' Guide to Making America Great Again'' debuted on the ''[[USA Today]]'', ''[[Publishers Weekly]]'', and Conservative Book Club's best seller lists. ''[[The New York Times]]'', however, did not list the book as one of its [[The New York Times Best Seller list|top 10 non-fiction paperback books]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Ha |first=Thu-Huong |date=February 24, 2017 |title=A book about making America great again is a national bestseller—but not to the New York Times |url=https://qz.com/918164/how-do-the-new-york-times-amazon-and-nielsen-make-bestselling-book-lists/ |accessdate=2018-09-14 |website=Quartz}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=February 22, 2017 |title=FOX News laments absence of Todd Starnes' book 'Deplorables' on NYT best-seller list |url=https://www.aol.com/article/news/2017/02/22/fox-news-laments-absence-of-todd-starnes-book-deplorables-on/21719893/ |accessdate=2018-09-14 |publisher=[[AOL News]]}}</ref>
In 2003, when employed by the ''[[Baptist Press]]'', Starnes misquoted U.S. Secretary of Education [[Rod Paige]] from an interview.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/09/how-todd-starnes-is-compromising-fox-news-credibility/405118/|title=How One Fox News's Contributor Is Compromising the Network's Credibility|last=Merritt|first=Jonathan|work=The Atlantic|access-date=2017-09-15|language=en-US}}</ref> The interview spawned national headlines and several members of Congress called on Paige to resign over comments on religion and the public schools.{{citation needed|date=January 2020}} Ultimately, the ''Baptist Press'' issued an apology noting "factual and contextual errors" and "misrepresentations" made by Starnes and saying that he "no longer will be employed to write for the ''Baptist Press''".<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2002/04/16/31paige_web.h22.html|title=Ed. Dept. Says Paige Remarks Mischaracterized - Education Week|last=Cavanagh|first=Sean|date=2002-04-16|work=Education Week (Web)|access-date=2017-09-15}}</ref>
== Publications ==
=== Books ===
* {{cite book |first= Todd |last= Starnes |title= Dispatches from Bitter America: A Gun-Toting, Chicken-Eating Son of a Baptist's Culture War Stories |publisher= [[B&H Books]] |location= [[Brentwood, Tennessee]] |date= February 1, 2012 |isbn= 978-1433672750 }} * {{cite book |first= Todd |last= Starnes |title= God Less America: Real Stories From the Front Lines of the Attack on Traditional Values |publisher= Frontline |location= [[New York, New York]] |date= May 6, 2014 |isbn= 978-1621365914 }} * {{cite book |first= Todd |last= Starnes |title= The Deplorables' Guide to Making America Great Again |publisher= Frontline |location= [[New York, New York]] |date= January 1, 2017 |isbn= 978-1629991856 }} * {{cite book |first= Todd |last= Starnes |title= Culture Jihad: How to Stop the Left from Killing a Nation |publisher= [[Post Hill Press]] |location= [[New York, New York]] |date= September 10, 2019 |isbn= 978-1642931662 }} * {{cite book |first= Todd |last= Starnes |title= Twilight's Last Gleaming: Can America Be Saved? |publisher= [[Post Hill Press]] |location= [[New York, New York]] |date= March 19, 2024 |isbn= 978-1637584781 }}
== Personal == Starnes maintains a discreet personal life. In 2005, he underwent surgery for a near-fatal heart valve condition exacerbated by obesity, the subject of his first book, ''They Popped My Hood and Found Gravy on the Dipstick'' (2009).<ref name="Club">Mimi Elliott, [http://www1.cbn.com/700club/todd-starnes-lose-weight-or-die "Todd Starnes: Lose Weight or Die"], Christian Broadcasting Network.</ref> He currently lives in Memphis, Tennessee, where he owns and operates the news talk radio station KWAM.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Todd Starnes Podcast |url=https://mighty990.com/starnespodcast/ |access-date=2025-11-21 |website=KWAM - The Mighty 990 |language=en-US}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category|Todd Starnes}} <!-- per [[WP:ELMINOFFICIAL]], choose one official website only --> *{{Official website|https://www.toddstarnes.com/}} *{{IMDb name}} *{{C-SPAN|104696}}
{{authority control}} {{Portal bar|Biography|Tennessee|Radio|Journalism|Politics|Conservatism}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Starnes, Todd}} [[Category:American columnists]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:American broadcast news analysts]] [[Category:American political commentators]] [[Category:American political writers]] [[Category:American male non-fiction writers]] [[Category:American conservative talk radio hosts]] [[Category:Baptists from Tennessee]] [[Category:Fox News people]] [[Category:1967 births]] [[Category:Christian fundamentalists]] [[Category:21st-century American journalists]] [[Category:21st-century American male writers]] [[Category:21st-century American non-fiction writers]] [[Category:21st-century American male journalists]] [[Category:Writers from Memphis, Tennessee]] [[Category:Journalists from Tennessee]] [[Category:Lee University alumni]] [[Category:Newsmax TV people]]