The Liberal Lament About Talk Radio

[MORTARDUDE]

http://tampatrib.com/News/columns/MGA81W9NUDD.html


The Liberal Lament About Talk Radio
EDWIN A. ROBERTS, JR.
Published: Mar 30, 2003

Ellen Goodman, whose syndicated column appears regularly in our opinion pages, recently described a motor trip through Florida in which her chosen source of entertainment was talk radio. I'm surprised she didn't drive off the road.
Goodman is, as you might know, a liberal, and for reasons that some people find puzzling, almost all the political commentators on talk radio support conservative principles.

But particularly vexing to Goodman is what she characterizes as ``a list of fact-free opinions delivered by a cast of angry baritones.'' (Because she is a devout feminist, you have to wonder if she would be less aggrieved if the fact-free opinions were delivered by a cast of angry sopranos.)


A Medium `Ceded To The Right'


She goes on: ``I am normally protected from talk radio by my day job, but it was no surprise that the hosts were all right-wing. ... Today it's as if one medium has been thoroughly ceded to the right, and in this case pro-war, wing.''

For the same reason, in addition to others, I don't listen to much talk radio either, except for a fishing program on Sunday mornings. But over the years there have been opportunities to catch Rush Limbaugh, whose enthusiasms have not struck me as bereft of facts, and his humorous chiding of leftist notions is, to my mind, entertaining and fair sport.

But why, Ellen, has one medium been thoroughly ceded to the right? It's a question you should ponder, and you might ponder as well why so many leftist talk shows have wound up on the scrap heap. The answer is uncomplicated. They can't attract an audience. But why not? Could it be that most Americans recoil from the combination of anti-U.S. rants and politically correct treacle?

Which is not to say I entirely disagree with Goodman. One of her targets is Bill O'Reilly, a boastful loudmouth of the first order. It's impossible for me to understand why anyone would appear on his television program, to be told when to talk, when to stop, and suffer rude interruptions and general bullying.

O'Reilly appears on the Fox News channel, which has left CNN in its dust by offering a news report that, overall, is to the right of its competitors. In judging Fox it's probably a good idea to distinguish between its excellent reporting staff and one or two of its prime-time screamers.

Some sour Washington columnists, particularly Maureen Dowd, who frequently refers to the president as ``Dubya'' and to his family as ``the Bushies,'' attempt to dismiss Fox as the ``Bush Television Network.''

Regular viewers of Brit Hume's nightly news program might be hard to convince. The program approaches the perimeter of balance. In truth, objective journalism on the national level exists only in the minds of old reporters with bad memories.


A Wide Variety Of Offerings


But getting back to talk radio, which includes a wide variety of offerings, including chatter about community issues, sports and gardening, my view is that Ellen Goodman protests too much. It's not as if radio were the only or the most important medium.

Here's what Jay Leno had to say on the subject:

``According to The New York Times, a group of venture capitalists are in the process of developing their own liberal radio network to counter conservative shows like Rush Limbaugh. They feel the liberal viewpoint is not being heard - except on TV, in the movies, in music, by comedians, magazines and newspapers - other than that, it's not getting out.''




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[1IDVET]

Liberal radio doesn't work because the liberal left needs the emotions to get going, (no pictures), just using the brain doesn't work with a liberal. It has to be touchy feely for them to get it.