The racists at Politico smelling blood in the water decided to go for the kill in an article disguised as 5 ways to rescue liberal talk radio. You can view the article in its entirety here: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/11/liberal-talk-radio-rescue-100408_Page2.html The premise of the article was that Progressives don't get it that its all about fun and entertainment and people really hate Democracy and therefore to succeed liberal shows must attack Democrats and promote anarchy and scorched earth policies.., unless of course the Republicans take over the Senate and or the White House then only the most serious discussions about ideology and policy should be the norm.
The premise is faulty for a number of reasons, namely the notion that liberal talk radio has failed when conservatives haven't legitimately won a political debate since 1950. For all of the entertainment value of conservative talk radio, they've failed to convince Americans that their Marxism and social reversion back to the seventeenth century is a better course for the nation to take."And who are they really kidding? Number one in the ratings is nothing compared to number one on election day." ~RB RADIO SHOW
Liberals, progressives and I'd add the Obama Nation-- characterized as those of us who are Moderates who don't have a problem with a black President--tend to look at Fox News or Rush Limbaugh in envy of their ratings and financial success. What we don't realize is while it would be nice to be rich and popular among ten percent of the electorate, the chances of our policy initiatives holding sway or having any influence in society are remote.
"If progressive radio really wants to get on the map, its hosts would do well to remember that one of the reasons the liberal talk radio network Air America flopped was that they forgot they were in the radio business, not in the get my candidate elected business” ~Al Peterson, MediaOnline
Nice try but no, Air America failed because they didn't have any black people on the air who were willing or able to tell the truth. Remember conservative talk radio has NEVER gotten a Mitt Romney, John McCain or Sarah Palin elected to anything. Following a conservative model for any reason would be self-defeating but to follow one thinking you'll get Democratic versions of Newt Gingrich elected President is the height of stupidity.
This notion of the radio business as separate and apart from any other business relating to the media is a red herring. Media types convinced the public is stupid and as such can be programmed by the media is at the heart of the problem. It started with books like George Orwell's 1984, and earlier with movies like the 1974 film Network.
One of the books early converts was a young aid to then President Richard Nixon who was so incensed with what he thought was a liberal media that he dreamed of a conservative network who's sole purpose was to get the conservative message out.
According to Zev Chafets’s in his 2013 book titled Roger Ailes Off Camera, it was Ailes who proposed Nixon's notion of a conservative news network to media maven and conservative contributor Rupert Murdock who was so enamored with the idea he fully funded what would be called the Fox News Network and the rest is as they say, history.
Very important to note: if you start a network with a faulty premise--you can trick and fool people into electing racist loons to public office--you will come to a faulty conclusion--that liberal radio that actually reports the truth and facts will fail.
“They failed because they failed to understand they were in the radio business - not the politics business” ~Al Peterson
You didn't fool me the first time so you certainly won't fool me twice. The media has ONE BUSINESS and that's to tell the truth and report the facts. Its not about pushing one ideology or philosophy over another. If we fall for this nonsense that truth and fact doesn't work or isn't marketable then we get exactly what we deserve and that's a ninety-eight percent conservative owned and operated media that less than 1% of the population listens to.
"Progressive radio will always be at the mercy of right-wing owners, which they are today. Until progressives take ownership of stations and control them, they’ll never be on a level playing field."
~Bill Press BP SHOW
Wrong. Of course conservatives will argue if they buy up all the terrestrial radio stations then liberal talk radio won't stand a chance but its simply not true. There's a reason that Fox continues to win in the ratings with only two million viewers, that reason; The other two-hundred and ninety-eight million Americans know its nonsense and racist propaganda and don't even bother to watch.
No if you tell the truth be it from the right or the left people who aren't stupid will embrace it. The problem is conservatives believe in their nonsense and are hell bent on pushing it whether its a successful format or not they don't care. Twitter's IPO was underwritten by conservatives who as a condition of sale forced the site to ban liberal voices like mine who didn't fit the narrative they want to push.
"We need to push the truth and the facts just as fervently as the right pushes nonsense and a return to 1950." ~RB RADIO SHOW
"If Obama's victories have taught us anything its that the truth, the facts, being correct trumps a big or loud personality(hope Governor Christie isn't listening)." ~RB RADIO SHOW
The fourth area that Politico offers will save liberal talk radio is again intended as a pump fake to get us to abandon terrestrial radio for what conservatives see as an inferior platform online. Again a faulty premise that leads them to a silly and self-inflicting conclusion. If only boring, loud, fake Benghazi, Birther, Obama's a Muslim, Socialist, Marxist, Anti-Christ talkers are on the radio then their narrative will become the reality. Its simply not so. People will simply turn it off.
The fifth and final tidbit of advice Politico offers up that would save liberal talk radio is the 2016 election, which will decide the fate of Democracy as we know it.
Again a faulty assumption because if the audience for talk radio is only two million then either nobody's listening or the fare being offered is so racist or radically skewed to the far left that very few people take the medium seriously enough to base their voting decisions on it. MSNBC's Chris Hayes reports that One-hundred and thirty million American's voted in the 2012 election. If only two million of them were swayed by the 98% conservative owned media then so what?
So am I arguing that liberal talk radio doesn't need to be saved? No but it does need to change. I called Reverend Al Sharpton's Keeping It Real radio program he had Joy Ann Reid on--who's the best there is--but they were both lying about why black kids were playing the Knock Out game to protest the murders of Trayvon Martin and Renisha McBride as well as the general hatred and attacks of young blacks coming from all sides of the spectrum.
Nobody is naive enough to think the left is correct in its tell us what they think we need to know approach to talk radio any more than the right is to lie and mislead us. Let's not be led by the belief that anything will save liberal talk radio other then the facts and the truth 24/7, if not then Twitter and Facebook will become the only legitimate source for news and information which, while all right with the masses doesn't bode too well for those in the talk radio business.
Those are my thoughts as usual, I invite yours.
TKCAL
Theron K. Cal is a Real Brother and host of The Real Brother Radio Show on Ustream who's currently seeking funds to expand the show Nationally to help you can donate to his Crowd Funding Campaign here:
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