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{{Short description|American radio host and conspiracy theorist}}
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Former television news anchorman, '''Jeff Rense''', is a popular [[conspiracy theorist]] as well as the host of the Jeff Rense program which is broadcast on terrestrial radio and on the Internet. He originally became famous in the 90's with the program "Sightings". His radio program and website (See below) cover such subjects as [[UFO]] reports, paranormal phenomena, conspiracy theories, reports of new diseases and a plethora of other material rarely covered by the mainstream media. Jeff Rense leans towards a populist approach regarding politics and media. Rense does not subscribe to any conventional political standpoint and many of his views are simultaneously [[Liberal|left]] and [[Conservative|right]] leaning.
 
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==About his show==
{{update|date=April 2013}}
The Jeff Rense show is broadcast five times a week, Monday to Friday, 3am-6am [[Greenwich Mean Time|GMT]], 7pm-10pm [[Pacific Standard Time Zone|PST]] and has featured in the 2001 list of top 100 radio hosts in [[Talkers magazine]]. In September, 2004, due to the popularity of his radio show and the resultant increase in the cost of bandwidth, Jeff Rense began to charge listeners a monthly fee in order to access his radio archives. It is, however, still free to listen to his show live.
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{{infobox person
|name=Jeff Rense
|birth_name=Jeffry Shearer Rense
|nationality=American
|alma_mater=[[University of California, Santa Barbara]]
|occupation=self employed podcaster
|known_for=Propagating [[Conspiracy theory|conspiracy theories]]
|website={{URL|https://rense.com}}
}}
'''Jeffry Shearer Rense''' is an American Internet [[talk radio|radio talk-show]] host. His show, the ''Jeff Rense Program'', was broadcast via [[satellite radio]] and is now produced at his home in Ashland, Oregon, and streamed through his personal website.<ref>{{cite web |last = James B. |first = Meigs |year = 2006 |url = http://www.popularmechanics.com/military/a921/4199607/ |title = The Conspiracy Industry |work = [[Popular Mechanics]] |publisher = [[Hearst Communications, Inc.]] |access-date = 2016-07-12 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160324132219/http://www.popularmechanics.com/military/a921/4199607/ |archive-date = 2016-03-24}}</ref>
 
Rense's [[podcast]] and [[website]] propagate [[Conspiracy theory|conspiracy theories]], including those of [[9/11 conspiracy theories|9/11 conspiracists]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.adl.org/terrorism_america/ |title=What they are saying |publisher=Adl.org |access-date=2012-12-08 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120929065551/http://www.adl.org/terrorism_america/ |archive-date=2012-09-29 }}</ref> [[Ufology|ufologists]] and [[paranormal phenomena|advocates of the paranormal]], [[List of conspiracy theories#Artificial diseases|the creation of diseases]], [[chemtrails]], evidence of advanced [[ancient technology]], [[List of emerging technologies#Energy|emergent energy technologies]], and [[alternative medicine]].
Mistrust of the establishment is a common theme on his radio show and website. Rense will often run articles which purport, for example, that [[HIV]] was created in laboratories by the [[CIA]] or some other governmental organization in order to rid the world of its "undesirables" such as [[African American|blacks]] and [[homosexuals]] and to reduce the world's population. The subjects of the [[Illuminati]] and [[New World Order]] are often covered on his show and Rense believes that a secret government is in place in order to keep humanity in a position of servitude. He is often very critical of the establishment and of the US government in particular. Many of the guests on his show suggest that [[extra-terrestrials]] play a pivotal role within the secret government.
 
Rense's writings and website have been deemed pro-[[Nazi]] and [[Antisemitism|antisemitic]] by the [[Anti-Defamation League]] and the [[Southern Poverty Law Center]].<ref name="adl">{{cite web|publisher=[[Anti Defamation League]]|url=http://www.adl.org/combating-hate/domestic-extremism-terrorism/c/rense-web-site-promotes.html|title=Rense Web Site Promotes Anti-Semitic View|date=March 17, 2009|access-date=February 17, 2015}}</ref><ref name="spf-antisemite">{{cite web|publisher=[[Southern Poverty Law Center]]|url=http://www.splcenter.org/blog/2015/04/27/jeff-rense-in-his-own-words/|title=Jeff Rense: In His Own Words|date=April 26, 2015|access-date=June 7, 2016|author=Beirich, Heidi}}</ref>
A popular subject with Rense is the theory that the terrorist attacks on the [[World Trade Center]] on [[September 11]], [[2001]] were actually orchestrated by the United States government and not (at least exclusively) by [[Islamic fundamentalists]]. The theory is that the [[September 11]] attacks were a sinister coup designed to give the establishment the political leverage necessary in order to pursue a corrupt global agenda.
 
==Radio host==
Regular guests on his show include, amongst others: Brad Steiger, an expert on the paranormal; [[Barry Chamish]]; famous conspiracy theorist [[Alex Jones]]; Tim Rifat, a geopolitical analyst; [[Jim Marrs]]; expert on disease, Patricia Doyle Phd; Charles R Smith, a geopolitical military analyst; George Filer, Peter Davenport and Brian Vike, both of whom are experts in [[ufology]].
Rense's first [[radio show|on-air]] experience came while he was a student at [[University of California, Santa Barbara]] in the 1970s.<REF NAME="DAILYNEXUS04131971">[https://www.alexandria.ucsb.edu/downloads/rf55z8876 "IVCC HOLDS ELECTION, POLL"], ''The Daily Nexus'', University of California, Santa Barbara, issue April 13, 1971.</ref>
 
In 1994, Rense self-financed a radio show on Santa Barbara's [[KTMS]]. The show was originally broadcast as ''Sightings on the Radio'', the title being a direct reference to the television series ''[[Sightings (TV series)|Sightings]]''. The show was originally distributed by [[Premiere Radio Networks]] but was dropped in the late 1990s after it was deemed hate speech and banned in Europe. [[Talk Radio Network]] then carried the show through the early 2000s, when all references to ''Sightings'' were dropped and the title ''Jeff Rense Program'' was adopted.
==Alleged Anti-Semitism==
Rense has been accused of [[anti-Semitism]]{{ref|anti}} and [[Holocaust denial]], though he claims only to be [[anti-Zionist]]. He believes that [[Zionism|Zionists]] are "in control of the world" and trying to "control civilized society" in order to bring in a "[[New World Order]]". His guests, many of whom are Jewish, have criticized the Jewish religion, including repeating false quotes from the Jewish ''[[Talmud]]''. He also gives airtime to Holocaust deniers such as [[Ernst Zündel]] and [[Institute for Historical Review|Mark Weber]], and backs theories that [[the Holocaust]] has been greatly exaggerated and used in various ways by "[[Jewish]] supremacists" for political power and that "Jewish financiers and bankers were ultimately responsible for hostility towards Jews."
 
[[Genesis Communications Network]] took over distribution and carried the show through August 2009, when Rense accused fellow GCN host [[Alex Jones]] of threatening to "destroy" him.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dailypaul.com/node/88061 |title=Alex Jones threatens Jeff Rense, has him kicked off GCN &#124; Peace . Gold . Liberty |publisher=Dailypaul.com |access-date=2012-12-08 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090831091050/http://www.dailypaul.com/node/88061 |archive-date=August 31, 2009 }}</ref> ''Jeff Rense Program'' is now streamed through Rense's personal website.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Beirich|first1=Heidi|title=Rense Radio Network Apparently Kicked off its Satellite Provider|url=http://www.splcenter.org/blog/2015/04/30/rense-radio-network-apparently-kicked-off-its-satellite-provider/|website=Southern Poverty Law Center|date=20 August 2014 |access-date=13 May 2015|ref=global-star}}</ref>
His website contains reprints from the white supremacist ''[[Liberty Lobby|Spotlight magazine]]'', known anti-Semitic forgeries such as the ''[[A Racial Program for the Twentieth Century]]'', and Holocaust denial material reprinted from the [[Institute for Historical Review]], which the journal ''History Teacher'' called "shockingly racist and anti-Semitic". (''History Teacher, Vol 28, No.4, p 526'')
 
Guests on the show have included former [[United States Congress|Congresswoman]] [[Cynthia McKinney]], host of ''[[The Political Cesspool]]'' James Edwards, [[Brad Steiger]], British conspiracy theorist [[David Icke]], [[Texe Marrs]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2015/04/26/jeff-rense-his-own-words|title = Jeff Rense: In His Own Words| date=27 April 2015 }}</ref> and [[David Duke]].
He has justified this by claiming he is defending free speech and does not necessarily support all of what his guests have to say, and states that he is anti-Zionist rather than anti-Semitic. Jeff Rense has interviewed many Jews on his show including [[conspiracy theory|conspiracy theorist]] [[Barry Chamish]] and he has also advertised the [[Neturei Karta]] affiliate ''[http://www.jewsagainstzionism.com Jews Against Zionism]''). Rense also claims that he and a number of his guests have been victims of death threats and intimidation from critics that he considers "Zionists." [http://www.rense.com/general69/zattk.htm], [http://www.rense.com/general69/threat.htm] and [http://www.rense.com/general69/zzi.htm]
 
==Criticism of anti-Semitic content==
The [[Anti-Defamation League]] and the [[Southern Poverty Law Center]] have stated that Rense disseminates antisemitic and pro-Nazi speech while promoting people with similar ideologies.<ref name="adl" /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2015/04/27/new-report-jeff-rense-and-his-rense-radio-network|title=New Report on Jeff Rense and His Rense Radio Network|author=Beirich, Heidi |date=April 26, 2015|work=[[Southern Poverty Law Center]]|access-date=7 June 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2015/04/28/used-canard-salesman|title=Used Canard Salesman|work=Southern Poverty Law Center|access-date=2017-08-21|language=en}}</ref>
 
==Notes==
{{reflist|30em}}
 
==References==
* Silva, Veronica C. "Cyberspace: Host to Host". ''BusinessWorld'' ([[Philippines]]). 4 September 1997. p.&nbsp;18.
*{{note|anti}} Among those making this accusation: [[Art Bell]] (March 5, 2005), Paul Kimball, The David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies.
 
==External links==
*[http://www.rense.com Jeff Rense Program] – official site
 
*[http://rensewatch.blogspot.com/ RenseWatch, criticism of Rense]
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[[Category{{DEFAULTSORT:Conspiracy theorists|Rense, Jeff]]}}
[[Category:InternetLiving forums|Rense, Jeffpeople]]
[[Category:HolocaustYear denial|Rense,of Jeffbirth missing (living people)]]
[[Category:9/11 conspiracy theorists]]
[[Category:American conspiracy theorists]]
[[Category:American talk radio hosts]]
[[Category:John F. Kennedy conspiracy theorists]]
[[Category:American critics of Islam]]
[[Category:Antisemitism in the United States]]
[[Category:Radio personalities from St. Louis]]
[[Category:University of California, Santa Barbara alumni]]
[[Category:UFO conspiracy theorists]]
[[Category:American neo-Nazi propagandists]]