Parent of radio’s The Patriot buys Hot Air

OK, maybe it’s not quite the vast rightwing conspiracy, but the expansive conservative multimedia entity Salem Communications — which runs local radio stations including AM 1280 The Patriot and the national TownHall.com, home to Michele Bachmann’s blog — is getting bigger. The Washington Independent reports that the company has purchased HotAir.com from pundit Michelle Malkin.

Managed by Minnesota’s Ed Morrissey and blogger AllahPundit, Hot Air was among the top 25 most influential blogs in the Internet last year, according to Mediaite, which broke the story. And according to an open thread posted by Morrissey, that’s unlikely to change: “Hot Air’s current mission and direction will not change… [B]oth [AllahPundit] and I will continue being part of Hot Air for the foreseeable future.” (I emailed Morrissey for comment, but his Hot Air post states he won’t officially make a statement until tomorrow.)

Salem — a “leading U.S. radio broadcaster, Internet content provider, and magazine and book publisher targeting audiences interested in Christian and family-themed content and conservative values” — runs some 95 radio stations, nationwide, including Twin Cities stations The Patriot, business station KYCR-AM 1570 and Christian station KKMS-AM 980.