Rick Amato is a conservative radio talk show host, journalist, fly in the ointment to the left and editor of AmatoTalk.com.

Personal life

He was born in the western Pennsylvania steel town of Sharon, PA and raised in Pittsburgh, PA. He is the grandson of Italian and German immigrants. Rick Amato is a graduate of The Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania where he majored in Marketing and minored in Economics and Accounting.

His background includes having had worked as a Financial Advisor for Merrill Lynch. He founded Amato Wealth Management Group which prior to being sold in 2006 was named The Top Financial Advisor Firm in La Jolla, California by The La Jolla Light newspaper. 

Media career

He received his first-ever radio experience by co-hosting The Business Of Sports on XTRA radio in San Diego along with Jim Rome, America’s premier sports talk personality.

In April 2008 he became the first-ever radio host for The Washington Times newspaper with the launch of “Inside the Story with Rick Amato” a weekly show heard at WashingtonTimes.com.

Radio

He is the host of two shows: The Rick Amato Show on KCBQ in San Diego, and also of Inside the Story with Rick Amato on Washington Times Radio News.

The Rick Amato Show is an Award-Winning Show having received 1st Place both in 2009 and again in 2010 at the annual San Diego Press Club “Excellance In Journalism Awards” . Category: Talk Radio – Best Interview.

Hs show his known for it’s interactive nature and has achieved a late night cult like online following across America and in particular with listeners on twitter. Many of his listeners call themselves Amato Activists  The Rick Amato Show is simulcast in both video and audio at AmatoTalk.com

Articles

He is an Op-ed Columnist with articles appearing in The Washington Times, Townhall.com, Breitbart.com and elsewhere. The articles tend to focus mainly on military justice issues, disabled veterans issues, TEA Party activism, border security and illegal immigration and politics.

Political activities and commentary

Crowd size and fears for public safety were the reasons given for the cancellation of one of his shows. He was to broadcast ‘live’ from outside the gates of Camp Pendleton Marine base in order to raise awareness of the government’s treatment of The Pendleton 8. However the Oceanside, California police department expressed concerns over public safety due to the anticipated large crowd size forcing cancellation of the broadcast.

Instead he rallied on behalf of the Pendleton 8 from inside his San Diego studio. The Pendleton 8 were seven Marines and a Naval corpsman being held in a brig- shackled, chained and in Solitary confinement- before charges were ever formally brought against them. Seven of the eight have since been freed.

He has used his show to raise thousands of dollars in legal defense funds for lower level, enlisted military members accused of wrong doing in the War on Terror and for severely wounded veterans.

Rick has also become actively involved in the TEA Party movement and is frequently asked to emcee the events.

He supports the college campus group ‘Young Americans For Freedom’ and has made it a priority to connect with younger people in the conservative movement.

Pop culture

Rick Amato believes conservatives need to do a better job of embracing pop culture instead of pushing away from it. Conservative Hollywood actor-filmmaker Robert Davi (007, Die Hard, Show Girls) often acts as a Guest-Host for Amato on The Rick Amato Show. Several conservative Hollywood film makers, actors and directors often appear as guests on his show.