Why the Liberals Can't Keep Air America From Spiraling In
By Brian C. Anderson
The liberal Air America Radio, just past its first birthday, has
probably enjoyed more free publicity than any enterprise in recent
history. But don't believe the hype: Air America's left-wing answer to
conservative talk radio is failing, just as previous efforts to find
liberal Rush Limbaughs have failed.
Wait a second, you say, didn't I read that Air America has expanded to
more than 50 markets? That's true, but let's put things in
perspective: Conservative pundit and former Reagan official William J.
Bennett's morning talk show, launched at the same time as Air America,
reaches nearly 124 markets, including 18 of the top 20, joining the
growing ranks of successful right-of-center talk programs (Limbaugh is
still the ratings leader, drawing more than 15 million listeners a
week).
And look at Air America's ratings: They're pitifully weak, even in
places where you would think they'd be strong. WLIB, its flagship in
New York City, has sunk to 24th in the metro area Arbitron ratings —
worse than the all-Caribbean format it replaced, notes the Radio
Blogger. In the liberal meccas of San Francisco and Los Angeles, Air
America is doing lousier still.
So why do liberals fare so poorly on air? Some on the left say it's
because liberals are, well, smarter and can't convey their
sophisticated ideas to the rubes who listen to talk radio. Former New
York Gov. Mario Cuomo, whose own stint as a talk-show host was a
ratings disaster, gave canonical expression to this self-serving view.
Conservatives "write their messages with crayons," he maintained. "We
use fine-point quills."
Yet even if we were to grant the premise that conservative talk radio
can sometimes be crudely simplistic — a tough charge to make stick
against, say, one-time philosophy professor Bennett or Clarence
Thomas' former law clerk Laura Ingraham — how can anyone plausibly
believe the right has a monopoly on misleading argument? Moreover,
talk-show fans aren't dummies. Industry surveys show that talk-radio
fans vote in greater percentages than the general public, tend to be
college-educated and read more magazines and newspapers than the
average American.
Successful talk radio is conservative for three reasons:
• Entertainment value. The top conservative hosts put on snazzy,
frequently humorous shows. Kathleen Hall Jamieson, dean of the
University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg School for Communication,
observes: "The parody, the asides, the self-effacing humor, the
bluster are all part of the packaging that makes the political message
palatable." Besides, the triumph of political correctness on the left
makes it hard for on-air liberals to lighten things up without
offending anyone.
• Fragmentation of the potential audience. Political consultant *****
Morris explains: "Large percentages of liberals are black and
Hispanic, and they now have their own specialized entertainment radio
outlets, which they aren't likely to leave for liberal talk radio."
The potential audience for Air America or similar ventures is thus
pretty small — white liberals, basically. And they've already got NPR.
• Liberal bias in the old media. That's what birthed talk radio in
the first place. People turn to it to help right the imbalance.
Political scientist William Mayer, writing in the Public Interest,
recently observed that liberals don't need talk radio because they've
got the big three networks, most national and local daily newspapers
and NPR.
Unable to prosper in the medium, liberals have taken to denouncing
talk radio as a threat to democracy. Liberal political columnist
Hendrik Hertzberg, writing in the New Yorker, is typically venomous.
Conservative talk radio represents "vicious, untreated political
sewage" and "niche entertainment for the spiritually unattractive,"
Hertzberg sneers.
If some liberals had their way, Congress would regulate political talk
radio out of existence. Their logic is that scrapping Air America
would be no loss if it also meant getting Limbaugh and Sean Hannity
and Bennett off the air.
To accomplish this, New York Democratic Rep. Maurice D. Hinchey has
proposed reviving the Fairness Doctrine to protect "diversity of
view," and John Kerry recently sent out some signals that he too
thought that might be a good idea.
Under the old Fairness Doctrine, phased out by Ronald Reagan's FCC in
the late '80s, any station that broadcast a political opinion had to
give equal time to opposing views. A station running, say, Hannity's
show, would also have to broadcast a left-wing competitor, even if it
had no listeners.
Pre-Reagan, talk radio in today's sense simply didn't exist. What
station could risk it? But people listen to conservative talk because
they want to, not because the post-Fairness Doctrine regulatory regime
forces them to. To claim that "diversity of view" is lacking in the
era of blogs and cable news, moreover, is downright silly. Complaints
about fairness are really about driving out conservative viewpoints.
Sure, talk radio is partisan, sometimes overheated. But it's also a
source of argument and information. Together with Fox News and the
blogosphere, it has given the right a chance to break through the
liberal monoculture and be heard. For that, anyone who supports
spirited public debate should be grateful.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brian C. Anderson is senior editor of City Journal and author of
"South Park Conservatives: The Revolt Against Liberal Media Bias,"
newly released from Regnery.
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| User: "Woodswun" |
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| Title: Re: Liberal Radio ratings are sinking |
19 Apr 2005 04:28:21 PM |
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wrote:
Why the Liberals Can't Keep Air America From Spiraling In
By Brian C. Anderson
The liberal Air America Radio, just past its first birthday, has
probably enjoyed more free publicity than any enterprise in recent
history. But don't believe the hype: Air America's left-wing answer to
conservative talk radio is failing, just as previous efforts to find
liberal Rush Limbaughs have failed.
Thus explaining why Clearchannel is adding it to some of their markets ....
Woods
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| User: "" |
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| Title: Re: Liberal Radio ratings are sinking |
21 Apr 2005 09:09:34 AM |
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Sandy wrote:
itwill@happen.com wrote:
Why the Liberals Can't Keep Air America From Spiraling In
By Brian C. Anderson
The liberal Air America Radio, just past its first birthday, has
probably enjoyed more free publicity than any enterprise in recent
history. But don't believe the hype: Air America's left-wing answer to
conservative talk radio is failing, just as previous efforts to find
liberal Rush Limbaughs have failed.
Thus explaining why Clearchannel is adding it to some of their markets ....
Woods
Guess CC execs aren't very smart.
Tony
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| User: "Woodswun" |
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| Title: Re: Liberal Radio ratings are sinking |
21 Apr 2005 04:24:49 PM |
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wrote:
Sandy wrote:
wrote:
Why the Liberals Can't Keep Air America From Spiraling In
By Brian C. Anderson
The liberal Air America Radio, just past its first birthday, has
probably enjoyed more free publicity than any enterprise in recent
history. But don't believe the hype: Air America's left-wing answer to
conservative talk radio is failing, just as previous efforts to find
liberal Rush Limbaughs have failed.
Thus explaining why Clearchannel is adding it to some of their markets ....
Woods
Guess CC execs aren't very smart.
Their track record indicates otherwise.
Woods
Tony
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| User: "" |
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| Title: Re: Liberal Radio ratings are sinking |
24 Apr 2005 10:46:14 AM |
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itwill@happen.com wrote:
Sandy wrote:
itwill@happen.com wrote:
Why the Liberals Can't Keep Air America From Spiraling In
By Brian C. Anderson
The liberal Air America Radio, just past its first birthday, has
probably enjoyed more free publicity than any enterprise in recent
history. But don't believe the hype: Air America's left-wing answer to
conservative talk radio is failing, just as previous efforts to find
liberal Rush Limbaughs have failed.
Thus explaining why Clearchannel is adding it to some of their markets ....
Woods
Guess CC execs aren't very smart.
Their track record indicates otherwise.
Woods
LOL!!!
That's what the people who built the Titanic thought.
Tony
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