Charles Coughlin (1891-1979), a former Catholic priest and one of the early pioneers of broadcast news, died on October 27th at the age of 88. Known as "The Father of Hate Radio," Coughlin began broadcasting in 1926 and was the first Roman Catholic priest to host a nationally syndicated broadcast in the United States. His weekly radio sermons from the Shrine of the Little Flower in Royal Oak, Michigan, were wildly popular during the 1930s, gaining sponsors, merchandising, and an estimated audience of 30 million listeners. Coughlin was initially praised for his anti-establishment and pro-labor sermons, but his message gradually changed in the mid-1930s to include religious and financial themes critical of Jews and capitalist bankers. As anti-Semitism grew, so did Coughlin’s popularity. However, in 1940, the Roman Catholic Church declared Coughlin’s broadcasts to be divisive and marked as morally unacceptable, so he was ordered to cease broadcasting. His death in 1979 marked the end of one of the most heated eras in radio broadcasting history.