Hedgecock Op-Ed: The Left Scheming To Shut Down Talk Radio

[del_griffith]

It's not a hidden fact Libby's don't like Conservative radio.
They would be THRILLED to have it silenced.
And thats the difference between conservatives and Liberals.
If a Conservative group doesn't like a show or program they simply won't listen to it.
If a Liberal group doesn't like a show they will try hard to get it thrown off the air.
plain and simple.

It may not be radio, but don't conservatives get their underwear in knots about the middle of November when the battle between Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas is unwrapped? Don't they try to impact the stores advertising by recommending that people not shop stores that don't have Christmas in their advertising or when the clerk hands the customer their credit card receipt?

Same difference. Different medium.

 

[MikefromDelaware]

If Beck/Rush/Hannity were having intelligent discussions as is done on NPR and as the late William F. Buckley had on PBS, rather than offering all the hate by saying such things as: the libs want to destroy America, they are evil, the anti-Christ, etc, etc, then you'd not be hearing libs wanting those voices to be silenced. Libs like to debate the issues, but who wants to debate anything with someone who is going to call you evil incarnate. Those types of confrontational talk shows have lowered the level of discussion to more of a bar room brawl than a forum to fix the problems where we, as Americans, work together to fix those problems. Sure conservatives should disagree with libs, if they don't agree on specific issues, but Conservative talk radio and Fox News have made it a battle as if anyone who doesn't view the world 100% as they do, as being someone who is either stupid, evil, or both. Kind of hard to build a consensus and work together with that sort of clap trap being flunk daily on the AM airwaves by conservatives.

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

It's not a hidden fact Libby's don't like Conservative radio.
They would be THRILLED to have it silenced.
And thats the difference between conservatives and Liberals.
If a Conservative group doesn't like a show or program they simply won't listen to it.
If a Liberal group doesn't like a show they will try hard to get it thrown off the air.
plain and simple.

I'm troubled by your post. You state what you believe to be a fact and end with and implication that your fact is plain and simple.

Actually, what you have may be an opinion. Your opinion. Everybody has an opinion. Not everybody has or knows or can recognize facts when they come face to face with them.

In this thread someone noted that Bill Moyers has retired and they he may have been the champion of talkers and most of us assign the description of liberal to Mr. Moyers (and I think he accepts that title, and would proclaim so himself.)

So just for discussion sake, let me propose that in the dictionary to illustrate the word 'liberal' they should put a picture or a video of Mr. Moyers practicing his art of discussion. In the last two or three years I have noticed that may one-third of his programs and guests were conservatives.

So 'splain to us if the "big daddy" of liberal talkers has conservative guests a third of the time, and he treats them with dignity and asks questions that allow them to fully explain their conservative views, how does your opinion that liberals want conservatives silenced makes any sense?

 

[DonTheTrucker]

Kind of hard to build a consensus and work together with that sort of clap trap being flunk daily on the AM airwaves by conservatives.

One could say the same thing about liberals on TV. What I think most people fail to put together is that to find a liberal counterpart to conservative AM talk, one has to go to CNN and MSNBC. Maddow and Olbermann especially are doing the exact same gimmick, except they're in front of a camera. To pretend like one side has the moral high ground isn't really fair or correct. Even the liberal talkers that do exist on radio can be just as (or more) vicious than Rush and gang. I've never heard Hannity or Glenn Beck advocate pulling someone's beating heart out and stomping on it, and I've never even heard Michael Savage say that the president should be taken out on a fishing boat and shot in the head.

I know it's not popular to say around here, but there is plenty of hateful liberal talk out there. Even on radio.

 

[mescutia]

One could say the same thing about liberals on TV. What I think most people fail to put together is that to find a liberal counterpart to conservative AM talk, one has to go to CNN and MSNBC. Maddow and Olbermann especially are doing the exact same gimmick, except they're in front of a camera. To pretend like one side has the moral high ground isn't really fair or correct. Even the liberal talkers that do exist on radio can be just as (or more) vicious than Rush and gang. I've never heard Hannity or Glenn Beck advocate pulling someone's beating heart out and stomping on it, and I've never even heard Michael Savage say that the president should be taken out on a fishing boat and shot in the head.

I know it's not popular to say around here, but there is plenty of hateful liberal talk out there. Even on radio.

You beat me to it and said it far better than I could have. Thank you.

Here's a curious question: Is there a newsmagazine/interview/discussion show [broadcast or podcast] that's a conservative-leaning counterpart to NPR's offerings? I'm honestly curious.

 

[DonTheTrucker]

Here's a curious question: Is there a newsmagazine/interview/discussion show [broadcast or podcast] that's a conservative-leaning counterpart to NPR's offerings? I'm honestly curious.

John Batchelor. He's doing the whole NPR shtick, right down to the focus on foreign issues. He does a very good show. Not a bit angry or confrontational.

 

[listener-in]

If a Conservative group doesn't like a show or program they simply won't listen to it.
If a Liberal group doesn't like a show they will try hard to get it thrown off the air.
plain and simple.

You might be more convincing if it wasn't so easy to prove that you're wrong. It's not so long ago that conservative pressure on Geico led to them firing their (previously anonymous) voice-over guy for daring to make a critical call to Freedom Works on his own time as a private citizen. And he wasn't even doing a talk show.

Here's a curious question: Is there a newsmagazine/interview/discussion show [broadcast or podcast] that's a conservative-leaning counterpart to NPR's offerings? I'm honestly curious.

John Batchelor. He's doing the whole NPR shtick, right down to the focus on foreign issues. He does a very good show. Not a bit angry or confrontational.

Lets' leave aside the assertion that somehow a conservative counterpart to NPR is needed. NPR isn't liberal, even though its audience may be. Information is only liberal or conservative to the extent that ideology may determine what news is covered, and NPR is right down the middle on that.

Now on to John Batchelor. On the rare occasions I have heard him he has been a real pleasure to listen to. I disagree with most of his positions but I learn something from listening to him. It says something about the low caliber of conservative talk and the program managers who put it on the air that Batchelor's show is on so few stations.

On the liberal side, Olbermann plainly goes over the top, but I would compare Maddow with Batchelor. She's on the same intellectual level and equally informative, even though their styles are different. (As I write this, I'm thinking what a great opinion show they could put together as co-hosts). Maddow has conservative guests whom she interviews toughly but fairly. She lets them talk at length, which is perhaps why Rand Paul got himself into so much trouble.

In another post Don C you talk about liberal talk being found on MSNBC and CNN. MSNBC yes, but they just about balance it with Morning Joe. As for CNN - it's a TV clone of NPR but not as good. Like NPR its audience may be liberal but its output isn't. CNN International is far superior to the domestic version.

 

[DonTheTrucker]

MSNBC yes, but they just about balance it with Morning Joe.

I hate to detour into TV here, but anyone who watches Fox News knows that Shep Smith is their answer to MSNBC's Morning Joe. Pretty liberal. As are some of the more minor anchors.

Lets' leave aside the assertion that somehow a conservative counterpart to NPR is needed.

I don't think anyone has said that. I think most conservatives are fine with the way things are now. Liberals have NPR and some other minor shows, and conservatives have their shows. It's the way the market worked out. Conservatives aren't the ones trying to cook up schemes to silence anyone here. Your example of the Geico voice-over guy is valid, but they also didn't engage in manipulating the FCC to get him fired, like is being proposed here to eliminate conservative radio shows.

 

[satech]

I don't think anyone has said that. I think most conservatives are fine with the way things are now. Liberals have NPR and some other minor shows, and conservatives have their shows. It's the way the market worked out. Conservatives aren't the ones trying to cook up schemes to silence anyone here. Your example of the Geico voice-over guy is valid, but they also didn't engage in manipulating the FCC to get him fired, like is being proposed here to eliminate conservative radio shows.

Either you are sadly misinformed or you are knowingly spreading mistruths. Even if it was re-enacted as-is, the Fairness Doctrine would do nothing to "eliminate conservative radio shows." It would simply give opposing viewpoints a chance to be heard. And furthermore, all the major progressive talk hosts are not in favor of reinstating it, because they know that the conservative bias of talk radio is an ownership issue, not a programming issue. Reinstating the Fairness Doctrine would not cause talk stations to suddenly replace Rush with Ed Schulz; the only chance you'd likely hear the same 8 hours a day of Rush, Hannity, et al, with the addition of a few short, heavily screened, and heavily disclaimed call-in "counterpoint" segments buried in the dark hours of the early morning or late night.

 

[DonTheTrucker]

Either you are sadly misinformed or you are knowingly spreading mistruths.

Oh, really? I disagree with you, so I'm dumb or lying. :

Even if it was re-enacted as-is, the Fairness Doctrine

You can stop right there. No one said anything about the Fairness Doctrine.

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/seton-...fficer-co-wrote-liberal-groups-structural-imb

The new way of attack is to harass advertisers and file FCC complaints. The Fairness Doctrine is old hat.

So, I suppose now you're going to accuse me of lying?

 

[Silkie]

Kind of seems they're busier shutting the whole country down than shutting down talk radio.

 

[MikefromDelaware]

None of the stations in the Philly/Wilmington market carry John Batchelor, so I've not had a chance to hear him. However, if he's as you've described maybe his brand of GOP talk will be the next big thing for right wing talk replacing the ranting of Rush/Beck/Hannity.

I agree with you that yes, MSNBC is the left wing version of Fox. Both are irritating. There may be lib talkers that are as full venom as Beck/Hannity/Rush, etc, I've not heard them as they aren't available in the Philly/Wilmington market.

NPR's informational / newscasts al la ATC, ME, etc, are very balanced. The talk shows have a balance to them as well, but if you listen regularly to the talk shows (Talk of the Nation, Fresh Air, in Philly- Radio Times, etc, you'll be able to tell that the various hosts are liberals, but they don't go out of their way to tell you or to sell a liberal left wing agenda as the right wingers on AM talk do, but they are liberals. I personally don't have a problem with that, because they do such a good job and try to present a balanced program, again, not to keep hammering the point, unlike the right wing talkers on AM radio.

Could a right wing version of NPR be successful? I'm inclined to say probably not. I've spoken with a number of Tea Party people. If they represent the biggest segment of conservative's out there, then I'd have to say, NO, a right wing version of NPR wouldn't survive. Those folks are yelling very loudly: Let's bash, let's hate, let's get rid of those evil leftist socialist, (insert your favorite adjective here), because they want to destroy America. I can't picture those folks picking a conservative version of Talk of the Nation over Beck/Hannity/Rush.

If you don't believe me, check out a You Tube video of a very conservative group of Republicans (the tea party type - I don't remember if they are a part of the tea party movement, but it wouldn't surprise me if they were) in Delaware meeting with Congressman Mike Castle, a moderate Republican. In the video, they are yelling at him, and one guy gets in Castle's face yelling, prove right now you are a loyal American, say the Pledge to the flag, NOW!! I don't remember where on You Tube it is ( I saw this a few months ago).

 

[listener-in]

I think most conservatives are fine with the way things are now.

The understatement of the century - of course they are, why on earth wouldn't they be? And they are trying to keep it that way by persisting with the myth of the "liberal media" (which William Kristol acknowledged years ago is a ploy to "work the refs")......

Your example of the Geico voice-over guy is valid, but they also didn't engage in manipulating the FCC to get him fired, like is being proposed here to eliminate conservative radio shows.

.....and by spreading myths like this to scare the pants off conservative talk listeners. As members of a very under-served audience segment, liberals do try to influence stations to give the left a platform where it doesn't currently do so. If the "market" were truly working, you would have a bunch of talkers from across the spectrum competing on a more or less level playing field. The market has been frozen in place by conservative talk having the lions' share of 50 kW transmitters, by stations having an financial interest in conservative talk because their parent corporations also own the shows, and by the reluctance of managements to displace low-performing conservative shows that they would boot off the air in a week if they were liberal and performing twice as well. Coinservatives seem to fear a genuine free market of opinions.

Oh yes, you also insist that "liberals have NPR". NPR certainly has liberal listeners but that's not the same as liberal listeners having NPR as an outlet for liberal opinion, which it most certainly is not. NPR is fine as a news source and I would recommend it to those on the right of the political spectrum who mistakenly think it's liberal - they might actually learn something. But it is no substitute for liberal talk, about the only place in the mass media where you can learn some American history which conservatives do their best to airbrush out of our national memory. For example, we have the Texas State Board of Education re-writing text books to suit their own biases, and a group of conservative economists promoting a revisionist history of the FDR era - aided and abetted by willing media allies.

None of the stations in the Philly/Wilmington market carry John Batchelor, so I've not had a chance to hear him. However, if he's as you've described maybe his brand of GOP talk will be the next big thing for right wing talk replacing the ranting of Rush/Beck/Hannity.

I haven't heard him recently - he has been on C-SPAN a time or two - but Wikipedia has a list of his stations and some of them must surely have a live audio stream on the web. If the conservatives were smart they would look to him to represent their media "face", rather than the Becks, Limbaughs and Savages of this world - all they know is the insult and the put-down. (And if what I've heard of Limbaugh recently is typical, he has become just plain boring; if he keeps this up, the people who contracted to pay him all those $millions will be wanting their money back). It may be good short-term politics for the Republican Party to embrace these guys, but it's ultimately suicide. Don't take my word for it, pay attention to David Frum, Bush 43's speech-writer.

 

[DonTheTrucker]

they might actually learn something

Do you realize how arrogant this sounds? You can say it all you want, but liberals don't have a monopoly on truth, and conservatives aren't evil James Bond villain types trying to erase history.

Don't take my word for it, pay attention to David Frum, Bush 43's speech-writer.

Frum is a bitter hack with an axe to grind against the conservative hosts that called his boss out when he started straying from what he promised to do.

 

[gr8oldies]

After all this, just today I read 2 items in which liberals wish to shut down those they disagree with. One being a move in Michigan to license journalists, and a story in "The Hill" in which 30 activist groups are demanding that the FCC crack down on "hate speech" (which of course is saying anything that disagrees with a liberal position)

 

[DonTheTrucker]

After all this, just today I read 2 items in which liberals wish to shut down those they disagree with. One being a move in Michigan to license journalists, and a story in "The Hill" in which 30 activist groups are demanding that the FCC crack down on "hate speech" (which of course is saying anything that disagrees with a liberal position)

Of course this is happening. Any attempt to deny it is just silly.

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

My aren't we an intelligent and sophisticated bunch! We come here to discuss RADIO and News/Talk Radio in particular. What we end up doing time and time again is getting into a "My daddy's truck can outrun your daddy's truck" conversation suitable for junior high school boys on a Southern school yard.

Liberals always to this because they are liberal. Conservatives always do this because they are conservative. And when you match up all those statements it becomes obvious we are all (me included to often) really preaching the gospel of the ideology we personally believe to be "holy and righteous".

Is it possible that we might focus more on the "what this does to radio.... and what radio can do to help the listeners, and what radio can do to help this 200 year old experiment in self government.

The original topic is something about "the left scheming to shut down Talk Radio." I read a lot of messages a bout the evils of the left, but very little talk about what schemes we are actually observing. A lot of talk about the "communist we are sure is hiding under our bed" but not much description of what the critter under there3 is really doing.

 

[Mike Schwartz]

Just when you thought you had read enough on this topic; I recently read a convincing piece on the liberal Mother Jones website basically asserting that NPR is indeed the radio of choice for left leaning listeners. It is important to remember that while NPR is NOT a liberal version of Rush Limbaugh, it is THE destination of more liberals then any other option on the radio. Over two hundred comments follow this article-several of which are well stated. However, I greatly would appreciate reading the opinions of my fellow R-I posters to that article on this thread.

http://motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2010/04/rush-vs-npr

 

[amfmxm]

Just when you thought you had read enough on this topic; I recently read a convincing piece on the liberal Mother Jones website basically asserting that NPR is indeed the radio of choice for left leaning listeners. It is important to remember that while NPR is NOT a liberal version of Rush Limbaugh, it is THE destination of more liberals then any other option on the radio. Over two hundred comments follow this article-several of which are well stated. However, I greatly would appreciate reading the opinions of my fellow R-I posters to that article on this thread.

http://motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2010/04/rush-vs-npr

Couple of things.

One, there are huge swaths of this country--including many major markets (DC & Baltimore & Philly & Boston, etc.) that do not have any lib-talk available on terrestrial radio, so NPR is the "default" position.

As the article mentions, NPR doesn't directly deal with politics. So it's not a direct competitor to conservative talk radio, which is very focused on politics.

If the tables were turned, and lib-talk dominated commercial terrestrial radio and conservative talk was largely unavailable, this same kind of research might find that rock or country or religious radio might be the "default" position for righties. In other words, the absence of a truly direct "mirror image" of a given format sends the underserved listener all over the format map--in all sorts of directions.

Given that women outnumber men among liberal (Democratic) voters, the reality might be that the highest concentration of liberals listen to AC & CHR.

 

[gr8oldies]

The Hill article

http://thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-valley/technology/100833-groups-want-fcc-to-police-hate-speech