I can see this thread getting close to being sent to the Radio-Info dung heap known as Take It Outside. I would request the Mods hold off on the urge to do so because we are exploring territory here that, as political as it may lean, explores the undercurrents of talk radio.
Personally, I've long felt that politics, despite my fervant interest, is boring to most listeners; but when the country is debating health care, two wars, a crushing economy and unemployment flirting with the 10 per cent mark, all national politics becomes local. So talk radio gets noticed. Being somewhat skeptical, I'd say Beck is taking advantage of the envirnoment and shrewdly bought himself some two day running pub by hiring a bodyguard. Randi Rhodes should have hired one too. Missed opportunity, Ms. Rhodes. Maybe Beck thinks he needs a bodyguard to protect him from the loons on the right if and when he strays off point and wanders into moderate territory.
I'd like to think most sane adults and listeners can leave the polarization at the door. But years ago, the assassination of Denver talk show host Alan Berg proved there's a lunatic fringe that can't leave it at the door.
What's clear about the current flavor of talk radio is that it's polarizing and paralyzing to the 40% of Americans who actually pay any attention to it . "Yes I did... No you di-int..." It sounds like dogs barking at each other across backyard fences.
Political polsters would label me a fiscal conservative and social moderate; I'd say I'm an Independent by registration, an ex-radio guy who's been working in another field for a while, but still trolls these boards to stay connected.
From what I've observed in the little un-scientific (but probably as reality-based as any other) focus group called kids, nephews and neices who are in the demo, none of this Rush-Beck-Fox vs MSNBC-bruhaha has brought 18-34's (back) to talk radio. People in that demo think the artform is bullsh*t. They laugh at Rush. He's old and nuts. A nephew who did a tour of Iraq once commented, "that guy would sh*t himself about two minutes out on patrol, but he can talk tough." There's no "next generation" of Rush fans on the horizon as far as I can see. Since Rush is the #1 brand in (conservative) talk radio, what does this portend for guys like Beck, Savage and others?
The 18-34's that I've observed think Keith Olbermann is a sports geek who does politics "kinda, sorta" in the Jon Stewart mold, but Stewart is the gold standard of news-talk-opinion in their eyes and they watch him not on TV but their computers, phones and pods.
In each case, the appeal of the right wing-left wing talkers is to the 30% at opposite ends of the spectrum. The 40% in the middle are trying to figure it all out and survive best they can. They don't carry guns to rallies, they don't buy into tea parties. They read more than they react and they have a shrewd sense of buyer beware about the talking heads on either end of the political spectrum.
