[BC] liberal versus conservative radio

[Paul Smith W4KNX]

I see O'Reilly as a middle of the road guy.  It's funny, those on the right
see him as left, those on the left see him as conservative.  Conservative he
is not.
Hannity??  Dont know what his beliefs are, he spends so much of his airtime
promoting whats coming up and his TV show, he has little time for a show of
his own.  He seems to copy the right's belief of the day and whines alot
Limbaugh?  He doesnt have the heart anymore.  The fire is gone.  I used to
love his bits, and the phoney commercials done by Johnny Donovan of WABC
production dept.
Franken... way out there left field.
Jerry Springer does a pretty good left show.  But here is what Springer has
and Rush has if he will use it.  They have showmanship.  They are
entertaining.
Glenn Beck probablly does the best right wing show.  He is a radio guy to
start with, and uses all the bits and production value he knows to put on a
great show.  Very entertaining.
Humor has to have a basis in fact to be funny and I find that lacking.
Randi Rhodes has zero humor.  She still sounds like a whiney Miami Beach
princess.  Her show used to be fairly good on WIOD when she was on the same
station with Neal Rogers.  They both could whine and be funny back then.  At
least Neil Rogers doesnt take himself seriously on the air.

Paul Smith
W4KNX
Sarasota, FL



-----Original Message-----
From: broadcast-bounces at radiolists.net
[mailto:broadcast-bounces at radiolists.net]On Behalf Of Donna Halper
Sent: Saturday, October 15, 2005 1:08 PM
To: Broadcast Radio Mailing List
Subject: [BC] liberal versus conservative radio


So here is what I don't understand.  I have spent over 25 years as a radio
consultant and my clients have carried right wing shows for years-- if they
are popular, that's the reason to carry them, and I never interfere with
meeting the needs of a market.  And over the past year or so, I am now
absolutely seeing certain markets where progressive and left wing shows are
doing very well; again, if they are popular, that's the reason to carry
them, and I advise GMs and PDs to put their own ideologies aside and make
sure the audience feels that *their* needs are being met.   But what
mystifies me is that some people on this list (and while I love them and
have talked with several of them off-list, I can't understand their point
of view about this subject) seem to only see whining and complaining and
bad radio when it comes from the left.  If the right spends endless hours
bashing liberals and calling them godless, unpatriotric or worse, that is
okay.  If Rush Limbaugh insults feminists, if Michael Savage insults gay
people, if Bill O'Reilly accuses the left of not wanting to keep America
safe, my friends on the right thing that's just splendid-- it's not
negative or nasty or rude, it's just the truth.  But if a liberal host
bashes the policies of the president, or accuses right wing hosts of
stretching the truth (or even, gasp, of lying to make a political point),
suddenly liberal radio is a failure, it's not entertaining, and ooo it's
bad radio.

How come my friends on the right can only see the truth of their position
and defend their own talk show hosts, while offering only contemptuous
dismissal of the other side?  I have yet to read an objective critique of
today's talk radio-- partisans on both sides spin their points of view, and
in the torrent of accusations, not much exchange of ideas occurs.  I wish I
knew how progressive talk is REALLY doing-- and I wish I knew whether
people are just getting fatigued by so much negativity from both sides,
because as a programmer, I want my audience to feel they are getting both
entertainment and information.  These days, I just don't know, and when I
try to find out, I run into a ton of spin.  The right absolutely wants left
wing talkers to fail.  The left absolutely dislikes the tactics of the
right.  And on and on we go.

So, in my personal view, Rush Limbaugh is often pompous and dishonest.  So
is O'Reilly.   But their audience loves them, and since survey after survey
states that the majority of talk radio fans identify as conservative and
Republican, I expect they will continue to say what they need to say in
order to please their base.  My question is-- when liberal and progressive
hosts try to create a base and make it happy, why is that so terrible and
why do some of our listmembers rise up in horror?  I find it quite
horrifying the way the right wing talk shows portray liberals and
progressives-- I see myself as a moderate, but according to some of the
right wing shows, I am a godless commie pinko who hates America just
because I don't support many of the president's policies and because I
believe strongly that the separation of church and state is a good thing.
Still, even when these shows misrepresent my views, I don't think we should
ban right wing talk shows.  I do however wish there were more opportunities
for listeners to get both sides of today's issues, and right wing talkers
still dominate the playing field.  So, whether you like Al Franken or Ed
Schultz or Stephanie Miller or Alan Colmes, that's not the real issue.  I
still believe a few successful left or progressive shows are just what
America needs.  But of course, I could be wrong, and I fully expect to be
taken to task by some of the folks on this list.  Go ahead:  bring it on!


_______________________________________________
This is the BROADCAST mailing list
To send to the list, email: broadcast at radiolists.net
For sub changes, archives and info on this other lists:
http://www.radiolists.net/