0 Votes
The Battle for Talk Radio
There is a new study out by the Center for American Progress that identifies what most are able to note for themselves – talk radio in America is overwhelmingly conservative. The think-tank’s analysis reveals that in the top five commercial news/talk stations 91% of the weekday broadcast is conservative in leaning, leaving 9% described as "progressive." While this imbalance is generally attributed to the poor rating performances of "progressive" radio, the new report disagrees and instead argues that the dominance of conservative radio arises from "multiple structural problems in the U.S. regulatory system, particularly the complete breakdown of the public trustee concept of broadcasting, the elimination of clear public interest requirements for broadcasting, and the relaxation of ownership rules … " The report also encourages changes that would "diversify radio station ownership to better meet local and community needs." Conservative observers see the Center’s report, a body headed by former White House Chief of Staff under Bill Clinton John Podesta, as a thinly veiled attempt to reassert a liberal control over the flow of information.
Similarly tagged OmniNerd content:
- Mountain Meadows Massacre at the Movies, by Brandon over 5 years ago
- Russia Shuts Off BBC "Propaganda", by willwaddell almost 6 years ago
- Murdoch Turning Fox Green, by gnifyus almost 6 years ago
- 50% "Positive" News In Russia, by willwaddell about 6 years ago
Print Friendly
Write an Article
If You Can't Win: Cheat by LordDilly
So conservative talk radio makes money, progressive talk radio doesn’t (Air America, anyone?) If this were, say, twenty years ago, I’d be inclined to say the one-sidedness of talk radio might bother my "get both sides of an issue" inclinationions, but the Center for American Progress’ whining rings hollow becouse of a little thing like the Internet!!! Holy, crap, people! Want a progressive opinion? read The Daily Kos, The Huffington Post, Think Progress, Democratic Underground, Pandagon, America Blog, Feministing.com, Glen Greenwald, etc. etc. you get the damn point! It’s not as if there is no voice for the progressives out there, it’s just not on talk radio. I mean, really, if they get their way and force progressive talk onto the radio waves, do they honestly believe people are going to magically listen? If they can get a host who is engaging enough or at least entertaining in the way that people who hate them will listen (Howard Stern, anyone?) then they will have success.
FOX! NEWS! FOX! NEWS! by nickfranklin
TALES FROM THE FILES OF THE UGLY AMERICAN, PART III.
so there we are, knee-deep in hand grenade pins, sitting drunk in our favorite cafe on the Schlieferplatz. a german friend, sharing a bier, asks us what we think of American media.
without prior coordination, we both smartly yell "FOX!", slamming our fists into our chests, and "NEWS!", executing crisp Nazi salutes.
the Deutschers loved it.
RE: FOX! NEWS! FOX! NEWS! by nickfranklin
what the… i blacked out. who wrote that?
anyway. what i meant to write:
becouse of a little thing like the Internet!!!
doesn’t count. i mean, yes, obviously, it counts for something, but the article claims that the penetration of talk radio is far greater than the penetration of internet. (and supposedly that’s arbitron’s numbers, not the center for american progress.) you might read the Daily Kos or Huffington or whatever, but there’s still lots more people who aren’t exposed to those dissenting or differing viewpoints.
why is that important? well, in the market that is democracy, we reach pareto efficiency when the polity knows all the policy arguments on the menu. could those folks look them up online? sure… but will they? will they even know they exist? and honestly, will they take the time?
the media is a weird beast—yes, it’s by far best off when it’s privately owned, but it also bears a public responsibility. keeping that in mind, i find the article’s claim that conservative radio programs are pushed out over the airwaves by "syndicated programming operating in economies of scale"—in other words, that media uniformly representing a certain viewpoint is pushed out by people who will benefit from that viewpoint—kind of alarming. "[The] elimination of clear public interest requirements for broadcasting, and the relaxation of ownership rules including the requirement of local participation in management" is not healthy for a democratic society.
Counter-argument to some of what I’m saying from CATO.
RE: If You Can't Win: Cheat by jmarkdavison
Perhaps it’s this simple: the kind of person who wants to listen to a talk radio show is more likely to be conservative.
Think about it, morning "drive time" is for people working traditional white-collar 9-5 jobs. If they tune in they probably commute a long distance. In my mind, they’re probably conservative.
A liberal, on the other hand, probably wants to listen to music or something. She gets her political fix online at DailyKos or from 90% of print newspapers.
And I know there are a few illogical Neanderthals like Michael Savage, but most conservative talk shows are logical, thoughtful, and grounded in long-held traditional beliefs. Liberal talk shows, I imagine, are less logical, more emotional, and "progressive"- perhaps that combo doesn’t lend itself to interesting talk radio? Who wants to listen to Jenneane Garafolo’s shrill, whiny sarcasm for an hour?
This might be ignorant speculation, as I don’t listen to any radio, ever. It’s music or books on CD for me.
RE: If You Can't Win: Cheat by guyvia
I agree you are on the right track. Although I have no basis, I would say it is reasonable to prefer that the liberal mindset is geared more towards tv/internet media (and maybe written) whereas the conservative mindset is geared more towards radio.
You can also think of the key issues – it is easy to talk about conservative hot issues on the radio (taxes and gays?) whereas liberal issues do better with pictures (social equity). Please take the gross generalization with a grain of salt, but I think the point is still representative of why you have this divide in the medias.
RE: If You Can't Win: Cheat by ldsudduth
You hit the nail right on the head; the failure of progressive radio has more to do with the American mindset. If you look at the demographics of the people that listen to talk radio, you’ll find that it’s on the higher end of the 25-54 line—-many of whom ARE conservative.
I heard today, in fact, that Senators Clinton and Boxer wanted find some way legislatively to curb conservative pundits because they ruined the American Opinion on the Immigration Bill. This was overheard by Senator Inhofe, and has been all over the news—well, the news I read anyway. Here’s his quote—he’s talking to host Jay Ziegler:
There is more to this, but the audio is here.
Have their cake and eat it too by milhous
You know, I’d almost be inclined to say, "Ok! You Smart, Smart Progressives,…go ahead, have it your way." The effect: if progressives want to start tuning into the radio, maybe then they will stop tuning into tv stations such as CNN, CNBC, ABC, CBS, PBS et al (except Fox of course). Maybe then we’ll see television less progressive-leaning; after all, you can’t listen to the radio AND watch the boob-tube at the same time and actually get something out of it….although, come to think of it, maybe that is exactly what the progressives want…hmmm…,isn’t that the same principle as "big government" => A whole lot of stuff going on, but not a lot of working gettin’ done…just people gettin’ paid!