Author Topic: REPORT: The Right Wing Domination Of Talk Radio And How To End It (Read 2538 times)

Desertdog · « **on:** June 21, 2007, 08:25:24 AM »

Are you a Conservative? If you are, the Progressives (Democrats/Communist) are after you. I wonder if they checked out NPR. TV is probably 95% Liberal.

REPORT: The Right Wing Domination Of Talk Radio And How To End It
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/06/20/radio-report

The Center for American Progress and Free Press today released the first-of-its-kind statistical analysis of the political make-up of talk radio in the United States. It confirms that talk radio, one of the most widely used media formats in America, is dominated almost exclusively by conservatives.

The new report — entitled “The Structural Imbalance of Political Talk Radio” — raises serious questions about whether the companies licensed to broadcast over the public radio airwaves are serving the listening needs of all Americans.

While progressive talk is making inroads on commercial stations, right-wing talk reigns supreme on America’s airwaves. Some key findings:

– In the spring of 2007, of the 257 news/talk stations owned by the top five commercial station owners, 91 percent of the total weekday talk radio programming was conservative, and only 9 percent was progressive.

– Each weekday, 2,570 hours and 15 minutes of conservative talk are broadcast on these stations compared to 254 hours of progressive talk — 10 times as much conservative talk as progressive talk.

– 76 percent of the news/talk programming in the top 10 radio markets is conservative, while 24 percent is progressive.

Two common myths are frequently offered to explain the imbalance of talk radio: 1) the 1987 repeal of the Fairness Doctrine (which required broadcasters to devote airtime to contrasting views), and 2) simple consumer demand. Each of these fails to adequately explain the root cause of the problem. The report explains:

Our conclusion is that the gap between conservative and progressive talk radio is the result of multiple structural problems in the U.S. regulatory system, particularly the complete breakdown of the public trustee concept of broadcast, the elimination of clear public interest requirements for broadcasting, and the relaxation of ownership rules including the requirement of local participation in management. […]

Ultimately, these results suggest that increasing ownership diversity, both in terms of the race/ethnicity and gender of owners, as well as the number of independent local owners, will lead to more diverse programming, more choices for listeners, and more owners who are responsive to their local communities and serve the public interest.

Along with other ideas, the report recommends that national radio ownership not be allowed to exceed 5 percent of the total number of AM and FM broadcast stations, and local ownership should not exceed more than 10 percent of the total commercial radio stations in a given market.

Read the full report here; http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2007/06/pdf/talk_radio.pdf

ONE-SHOT-ONE · « **Reply #1 on:** June 21, 2007, 08:32:44 AM »

might just be that the liberal pinnheads can't figure out how to work the mike! laugh

Manedwolf · « **Reply #2 on:** June 21, 2007, 08:35:50 AM »

Funny, I thought it was because people were listening to one and not the other, thus ensuring advertiser dollars went to one...and not the other. Hence popularity.

It could also be that attempts like Air America were a comedy of errors, as they fired actually sensible, intelligent hosts with some valid points to dissent about, and replaced them with screaming make-up-facts leftists like the harpy Randi Rhodes.

I have two channels on XM, America Right and America Left. Let's see. I could listen to Laura Ingraham be sensible and sharp about a number of things, right now ripping, from the right, on BUSH about immigration nonsense that he deserved to be ripped on for, or I could listen to Al Franken be painfully unfunny with some painfully tired Jewish-stereotype jokes that...uh...sort of say that all Republicans are bad, without saying why.

Yeah.

Today, she also had some good points about this issue, comparing it to the Soviet government radios in hotel rooms that came on in the morning and turned off at night, that you couldn't turn off. That that's what the leftists want to do. And that government determining what's on talk radio is a bad, dangerous thing.

HankB · « **Reply #3 on:** June 21, 2007, 09:16:00 AM »

I think talk radio is dominated by conservative-leaning programming for one very simple reason: liberal market saturation.

Consider NBC . . . CBS . . . CNN . . . ABC . . . New York Times . . . Los Angeles Times . . . the Atlanta paper . . . and so forth and so on, all unrelentingly liberal.

Liberalism dominates the national media . . . and even the most dyed-in-the-wool lefty can't simultaneously listen to Air America as he watches Oprah and reads the New York Times while sipping a peppermint latte at Starbucks. "Liberal" talk radio is an attempt to offer another "Me Too" liberal product into an already-saturated liberal media market.

Conservatives have been successful in making talk radio "their" medium because the dominant media does NOT provide a product for conservatives - and talk radio does.

It's as simple as that.

Brad Johnson · « **Reply #4 on:** June 21, 2007, 09:19:26 AM »

They just can't understand the reason something becomes so popular is because a huge number of people align themselves with those particular ideals. *gasp*

It also helps that most people who work for a living - blue collar, white collar, or no collar - spend a lot of their day with a radio playing in the background. This segment of the population also tends to be very conservative, making for a very receptive audience.

Brad

crt360 · « **Reply #5 on:** June 21, 2007, 10:35:33 AM »

Quote from: Brad Johnson on June 21, 2007, 08:19:26 AM

It also helps that most people who work for a living - blue collar, white collar, or no collar - spend a lot of their day with a radio playing in the background. This segment of the population also tends to be very conservative, making for a very receptive audience.

I was thinking the opposite and wondering when anyone has time to listen to radio talk, be it left or right. But, I guess plenty of folks do listen at work now that you mention it. It's not too common in lawyers' and doctors' offices, banks, corporate offices, etc., but I have noticed auto repair shops, dry cleaners, and some low traffic mom & pop shops seem to have it on all day. I don't see how people can concentrate on their work and pay attention to talk radio at the same time, unless the work is fairly repetitive and the talk just breaks up the monotony.

I don't see the right wing domination of talk radio coming to an end any time soon, which really wouldn't bother except that some people who listen to it too much like to repeat it with a lot of authority and little understanding.

cordex · « **Reply #6 on:** June 21, 2007, 11:46:59 AM »

Quote

The new report entitled The Structural Imbalance of Political Talk Radio raises serious questions about whether the companies licensed to broadcast over the public radio airwaves are serving the listening needs of all Americans.

A fine goal! There is an awful lot of music on the radio that is just not serving the listening needs of all Americans ...

Monkeyleg · « **Reply #7 on:** June 21, 2007, 01:27:34 PM »

Hmmm...a liberal study finds that people listen to conservative talk radio overwhelmingly more often than to liberal talk radio.

Instead of suggesting that the quality of liberal talk radio shows be increased, the authors propose government regulation.

Duh! That's why people listen to conservative talk radio!

I was driving through the Madison, WI area on a Saturday, returning from a gun group board meeting. I picked up Air America on the radio. One of the Kennedy's (the young one who got busted for driving while under the influence of some sleep aid) was the guest host.

I didn't need any sleep aids. Even though it was mid-afternoon, I just about fell asleep and drove off the road.

He sounds like a whiney toddler with a northeastern accent and a really bad cold.

Boomhauer · « **Reply #8 on:** June 21, 2007, 01:49:00 PM »

Quote

I was thinking the opposite and wondering when anyone has time to listen to radio talk, be it left or right. But, I guess plenty of folks do listen at work now that you mention it. It's not too common in lawyers' and doctors' offices, banks, corporate offices, etc., but I have noticed auto repair shops, dry cleaners, and some low traffic mom & pop shops seem to have it on all day. I don't see how people can concentrate on their work and pay attention to talk radio at the same time, unless the work is fairly repetitive and the talk just breaks up the monotony.

We run a dental lab and listen to talk radio all day long- and our work is anything but repetitive...It isn't a distraction, but a nice addition. I enjoy Neal Boortz, but Rush Limbaugh gets on my nerves for some reason...

Maybe it is the only political discussion, not letting his program manager or broadcast engineer participate, or using terms such as Reolinda, Dittohead, etc Boortz is a lot more entertaining, and talks about stuff other than political (and he pisses off the fundie Christians). Boortz also lets Belinda and Royal (his program manager and broadcast engineer), participate.

The leftists want to get rid of talk radio because it threatens their dominance. They are having a lot harder time because of talk radio and the internet. Look for internet restrictions to follow the death of talk radio. Trent Lott and Lindsay "Grahamnesty" Graham have already called for the elimination of talk radio because of the interference with their precious shamnesty bill.

grampster · « **Reply #9 on:** June 21, 2007, 03:00:27 PM »

And America wanted to teach the naughty Republicans a lesson and stack the congress with Democrats. If a Democrat is elected President in 2008 and they maintain dominance in the House and Senate the sound of the rubber stamp of the loss of many more of our freedoms will be heard around the world. Just listen to what they are saying on a daily basis for crying out loud. Sen. Loutenback (sp?) from the PR of NJ and the US Attorney General as well as all of the co-sponsors of the latest Communist dreck that would prevent you from purchasing and take away your guns if someone happened to secretly mention your name or a name that sounds like your name, because maybe, might possibly, well he's got a shifty look to him, to the Attorney General, without any due process or right of redress. Trent Lott is livid that talk radio and the Innertube exposes their daily sneaking around folly that lines their pockets with cash. So he wants to shut it down. My God. He should be tossed out of the Senate on his ass for the remarks he made a couple days ago. Our own Republican President signed McCain/Feingold, said he'd sign a new restrictive gun law and wants a "comprehensive" immigration bill that basically disolves our borders.
Harry Reid's resurrection of the Zombie Immigration Bill borders on treason if not for what the bill proposes, then for using a law for political purposes to hopefully break down the two party system. Never mind it makes Mexico a defacto 51st state, and a welfare state at that.

The Democrats are statists. A lot of the Republicans are too. They don't believe we deserve our freedom because we abuse it by doing nasty things that annoy them like speaking our mind, challenging their wisdom, owning guns, working hard and being successful, having fun, eating good food, drinking fine booze, owning property, and going around willy nilly without having to show our papers, not buckling up, not wearing a helmet, requiring that those who would immigrate here identify themselves and assimilate into our culture inter alia.

I'm not just angry about what is happening, I'm beginning to wonder if we should not start being afraid of what is around the corner.

crt360 · « **Reply #10 on:** June 21, 2007, 03:25:36 PM »

Quote from: Avenger29 on June 21, 2007, 12:49:00 PM

We run a dental lab and listen to talk radio all day long- and our work is anything but repetitive...It isn't a distraction, but a nice addition. I enjoy Neal Boortz, but Rush Limbaugh gets on my nerves for some reason...

If it's a nice addition, I think that's fine. My old mechanic could listen to it and do non-repetitive work all day and night (maybe that's why my car was sometimes missing a nut or bolt when I got it back laugh

). I can't personally deal with it. I've tried listening to talk radio while working after hours, which mostly involves researching law, drafting documents, etc., and I get totally distracted. Maybe I'm just retarded.

Standing Wolf · « **Reply #11 on:** June 21, 2007, 03:34:19 PM »

Leftists are sore losers.

jamz · « **Reply #12 on:** June 22, 2007, 11:01:03 AM »

I was about to post something smarmy about how free market determines the programming.... what brings in advertising dollars is what gets run, and ha-ha-ha, people want to listen to conservatives!

Then, I thought, does the reverse apply to the MSM? If not, why not? So my argument proved to be bogus, unless conservatives have a strange affinity for AM radio, which seems socioeconomically unlikely.

Desertdog · « **Reply #13 on:** June 22, 2007, 11:38:34 AM »

Quote

Then, I thought, does the reverse apply to the MSM? If not, why not? So my argument proved to be bogus, unless conservatives have a strange affinity for AM radio, which seems socioeconomically unlikely.

I don't think the same marketing forces are on most news programs. On my local ABC, CBS, and NBC and Fox News on TV only have about 1/2 hour of national news per day, if that much.

CNN, MSNBC, CNBC and Headline News are normally listened to by only 1/2 of the numbers that listen to Fox News Channel.

griz · « **Reply #14 on:** June 22, 2007, 02:23:17 PM »

Besides their conclusion that an imbalance means big brother should regulate it, I disagree with their methodology. Most people, including me, would agree that talk radio leans conservative. But why would you assume that all talk radio must be either conservative or "progressive". (that term rubs me the wrong way for some reason. It just sounds perfectly PC) I have heard shows about gardening, UFOs, buy&sell, and other things that don't fit the either label. So why would all their conservative/progressive numbers always add up to 100 percent?

Firethorn · « **Reply #15 on:** June 22, 2007, 03:53:45 PM »

Quote from: griz on June 22, 2007, 01:23:17 PM

Besides their conclusion that an imbalance means big brother should regulate it, I disagree with their methodology. Most people, including me, would agree that talk radio leans conservative. But why would you assume that all talk radio must be either conservative or "progressive". (that term rubs me the wrong way for some reason. It just sounds perfectly PC) I have heard shows about gardening, UFOs, buy&sell, and other things that don't fit the either label. So why would all their conservative/progressive numbers always add up to 100 percent?

Heck, one of my favorite shows on NPR is Click&Clack, and that's a show about car repair. How the heck can that be considered conservative or progressive? Heck, there's a talk show about computer stuff as well. Financial advice, etc...

Now, for the fraction of talk shows that are about political things*, yes, the majority I hear about are conservative. On the other hand, what about Howard Stern? I'd tend to say that he'd be considered a 'progressive' talk show host.

*I'll go so far as to say that some relationship shows could be considered 'conservative'.

Headless Thompson Gunner · « **Reply #16 on:** June 22, 2007, 07:18:39 PM »

Quote from: jamz on June 22, 2007, 10:01:03 AM

I was about to post something smarmy about how free market determines the programming.... what brings in advertising dollars is what gets run, and ha-ha-ha, people want to listen to conservatives!

Then, I thought, does the reverse apply to the MSM? If not, why not? So my argument proved to be bogus, unless conservatives have a strange affinity for AM radio, which seems socioeconomically unlikely.

It's your premise that's wrong, not your argument. What we all call the mainstream media, isn't. The MSM isn't the dominant market force in news you think it is. It may have been in the past, but it isn't today.

If you look at the ratings numbers, I think you'd find there are as many conservatives turning to center/right news sources as there are liberals turning to left-leaning sources. For instance, Foxnews gets more viewers than all the other cable news channels combined. Rush Limbaugh's audience is larger than the audience of the ABC, NBC, and CBS evening news shows combined.

The MSM dominates in the number of different outlets. They have 5 major TV networks, countless newspapers, dozens of news magazines, NPR, and Hollywood. All told, there are probably 100 or more prominent left-leaning news sources in the country. By contrast, the only prominent center or right-leaning sources are Foxnews, AM talk radio, and maybe a opinion/news magazine or three.

PPGMD · « **Reply #17 on:** June 23, 2007, 08:42:03 AM »

I find it interesting that people think they dominate because they are simply pandering to conservatives, take a look at WIOD, it's the most popular english talk radio station in the MIA market, which is a market dominated by democrats. Liberals already have two different outlets for their views on talk radio, they got Air America, and NPR. So it's not a question of content, it's already there, it's that liberals don't listen to it for one reason or another.

Anyways I think the reason that conservatives dominate talk radio, is because many aren't into popular culture so they aren't one likely to be tuning into a pop radio station, and finally they are established hosts that know their way around radio, they know that in order to keep an audience you not only have to be informative, you have to be funny.

Silver Bullet · « **Reply #18 on:** June 23, 2007, 10:08:36 AM »

If talk radio has to give equal time to lefty propaganda, does that mean

television
the movies
NPR
the newspapers
news magazines
schools
colleges

will have to give equal time to righty propaganda ? I think the righties will come out way ahead on this deal.

roo_ster · « **Reply #19 on:** June 23, 2007, 12:12:15 PM »

Quote from: jamz on June 22, 2007, 10:01:03 AM

I was about to post something smarmy about how free market determines the programming.... what brings in advertising dollars is what gets run, and ha-ha-ha, people want to listen to conservatives!

Then, I thought, does the reverse apply to the MSM? If not, why not? So my argument proved to be bogus, unless conservatives have a strange affinity for AM radio, which seems socioeconomically unlikely.

Barrier to Entry.

The barrier to entry in the market of major broadcast network news is huge in terms of money, gov't regs, and bandwidth. AM radio, OTOH, is relatively easy to bust into. That is why there are a bunch of talk radio bigs and only one non-lefty news network.

MechAg94 · « **Reply #20 on:** June 23, 2007, 04:50:09 PM »

Also, most non-conservative leaning radio listeners I have ever met listen to NPR already. I agree with the post above that said they are often not political/pop culture discussion junkies either.

Honestly, I would rather listen to a conservative talking head on radio than a TV show. The discussion is a bit more in depth on radio and callers often bring up the points I am interested in. TV is extremely scripted and timed so that you rarely get any deep discussion.

Boomhauer · « **Reply #21 on:** June 23, 2007, 07:05:09 PM »

Quote

will have to give equal time to righty propaganda ? I think the righties will come out way ahead on this deal.

No. It will only apply to "opinion shows" The news programs, and programs such as Meet the Press will not be affected. Movies won't, either. It will be a small loss to them to lose the NPR programs, if they even abide by thier own rules. Movies won't be affected. Neither will newspapers, etc.

Chuck Dye · « **Reply #22 on:** June 24, 2007, 05:33:11 AM »

Not to worry! As supposedly reported by Senator Inhofe, Senators Clinton and Boxer have seen the need for a "legislative fix" for the imbalance in talk radio and are presumed to be working on one. Cheesy

Manedwolf · « **Reply #23 on:** June 24, 2007, 06:31:14 AM »

Quote from: Huck Phinn on June 24, 2007, 04:33:11 AM

Not to worry! As supposedly reported by Senator Inhofe, Senators Clinton and Boxer have seen the need for a "legislative fix" for the imbalance in talk radio and are presumed to be working on one. Cheesy

Let them try. Their 14% approval rating will drop to about 5%.

They're going to be so, so surprised when they're all kicked to the curb next election cycle...

MechAg94 · « **Reply #24 on:** June 24, 2007, 07:07:41 AM »

The Dems would have been in a better position had they not won the majority last year. They could have screwed with all the legislation and made sure the Repubs took the fall for everything. Now they are in charge in Congress. The Repubs just have to hope Bush doesn't sign any screwed up legislation. I doubt he will be smart about that.

News:

Author Topic: REPORT: The Right Wing Domination Of Talk Radio And How To End It (Read 2538 times)

Chuck Dye